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Chapter 3:- Youth
The description of the area in which I lived, comes from later memories, observations and interesting people much older than I was, as they talked about old times. This is just to give you an idea of the beauty and tranquility of the area in which I lived.
The “Green Point” and Green Point Station were near the Swatara Creek in Northern Lebanon County, beyond the mountain. The “Green Point” itself was west of the dirt road and Green Point Station was to the East. The Green Point could be seen from quite a distance as it was at least two to three hundred feet above the surrounding landscape. It was a rounded knob of a hill. The Swatara Creek at that point was about one hundred feet wide and still five feet deep. It was the water supply for a northern extension of the Union Canal. This canal was to bring coal from Schuylkill County south to Philadelphia.
Where the first Blue Mountain pinched the creek at Swatara Gap, there had been an earthwork dam twenty-five feet high. It blew out in floods twice to my knowledge. About a mile north of the dam, the canal barges were shot across the upper end of the canal before it widened too much at the dam, then to be hitched to mules on the west side. From there, they proceeded south to Green Point Station. Often, some of cargo of coal was lost into the creek. No one seemed to care as long as the losses were not too great. Below were the locks and the dam breast. Passengers rested at the station before continuing the voyage down the canal.
When the dam finally blew out for the last time, the coal company realized the towpath made an excellent railroad track bed with a few alterations. The name of the railroad changed three times in five years, but coal and passenger trains still went north and south, eventually joining a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. For convenience sake, we will use the middle name, the Swatara Railroad.
The description of the area in which I lived, comes from later memories, observations and interesting people much older than I was, as they talked about old times. This is just to give you an idea of the beauty and tranquility of the area in which I lived.
The “Green Point” and Green Point Station were near the Swatara Creek in Northern Lebanon County, beyond the mountain. The “Green Point” itself was west of the dirt road and Green Point Station was to the East. The Green Point could be seen from quite a distance as it was at least two to three hundred feet above the surrounding landscape. It was a rounded knob of a hill. The Swatara Creek at that point was about one hundred feet wide and still five feet deep. It was the water supply for a northern extension of the Union Canal. This canal was to bring coal from Schuylkill County south to Philadelphia.
Where the first Blue Mountain pinched the creek at Swatara Gap, there had been an earthwork dam twenty-five feet high. It blew out in floods twice to my knowledge. About a mile north of the dam, the canal barges were shot across the upper end of the canal before it widened too much at the dam, then to be hitched to mules on the west side. From there, they proceeded south to Green Point Station. Often, some of cargo of coal was lost into the creek. No one seemed to care as long as the losses were not too great. Below were the locks and the dam breast. Passengers rested at the station before continuing the voyage down the canal.
When the dam finally blew out for the last time, the coal company realized the towpath made an excellent railroad track bed with a few alterations. The name of the railroad changed three times in five years, but coal and passenger trains still went north and south, eventually joining a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. For convenience sake, we will use the middle name, the Swatara Railroad.
