I offer here slight clarification to “The Pennsylvania Canal” paragraph of Kathryn Bashaar’s awesome “Lost Pittsburgh Neighborhoods: Bayardstown” [http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/2019/05/lost-pittsburgh-neighborhoods-bayardstown/]
Great, great stuff, Kathryn! The research is very hard work; thank you for that. Re the canal, I think it’s best to consider it having 3 termini around Pgh – one into The Allegheny, a 2nd pseudo terminus at the basin, and yet a 3rd on The Mon.
Boats traveled down “the Allegheny line” after crossing to the river’s W/N bank from the mouth of the Kiski near today’s lock & dam #5 north of Freeport – 30 river miles upstream of Pgh. The canal lay, in general, on the very path of the W/N bank RR down the entire valley, from this point about 1 mile upstream from Freeport, all the way through the shadows of Troy Hill, and into East Allegheny (Allegheny City at the time) – roughly the North Shore – where a fork in the route occurred, at the sharp bend of today’s I-279 (also the bend in the short “N. Canal St.” BTW, the ground level street beneath this elevated stretch of I-279 bordering the stadium lots is “E Lacock St.” named after the first Harrisburg-appointed commissioner of the PA Canal project).
From this fork in the canal at today’s bend of I-279, was a boat’s destination (1) the waters of the Allegheny River, (2) the basin downtown, or (3) the waters of the Monongahela River (beyond the downtown basin)?
Boats to enter the Allegheny River’s waters (to navigate farther on the river, or to offload onto riverboats) would continue roughly straight, parallel to the river but on the far (N) side of today’s I-279 for another 1,000 yards (the route of today’s raised RR), passing under bridges at today’s Anderson St., then again under a Federal St. bridge. Once even with the 1st-base foul line of PNC Park, the route turned 90 degrees off today’s RR path, toward that edge of PNC Park, clipping the E edge of today’s Residence Inn, and into the river beneath those stadium seats.
So, as a gentle clarification:) PNC Park’s right-field corner is not where the aqueduct(s) were (there was an original aqueduct, then a replacement by John Roebling of Saxonburg).
Instead, back at the fork under I-279’s bend at the N. Shore, boats destined for downtown – or the Monongahela bank beyond (at the mouth of Suke’s Run as you noted in your Pipetown report) – would make a sharp left, then float a short 250 yards directly toward the river and onto the aqueduct that originated about 85 yards upstream of today’s RR bridge toward the convention center’s upstream end.
The canal into downtown then carried them a short stretch – as you noted, along today’s 11th St. – to the basin. This basin that intersected the canal route stretched NE under the bus/train station complex to the far side of today’s tracks, and – on the opposite side of the canal – under Liberty Center’s Federated tower and the Westin hotel to 10th St.
Boats destined for the waters of the Monongahela continued through this basin intersection, bending right to parallel Grant St. for a block through today’s courthouse, then bent left through today’s UPMC Steel tower into a 270-yard long underground tunnel that emerged where I-579 crosses 5th Ave. After gentle zig-zagging down through 3 locks to the Suke’s Run mouth (< 25 yards on the upstream side of today’s Panhandle rail bridge), boats entered the waters of the Mon.
If you’d enjoy some video about the canal, search YouTube for my “PA Canal Hunter” series. And thank you again, Kathryn for sharing your hard research work!
Feel with Neil 