Section 1. The Watershed Today

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES
Initially settled by the Lenape tribe, the region’s historic development was influenced strongly by the Schuylkill River. Early agriculture and timber industries relied upon the river for transportation to downstream markets. Industrialization and growth in the 18th and 19th centuries expanded the Schuylkill’s uses for transport of material, waste disposal, power and water supply. During that period, the Schuylkill’s riverfront communities took shape and flourished.

With late 20th century shifts in America’s economy and settlement patterns, many of those communities fell on hard times. But in recent decades, the river and its tributaries have taken on new significance as an amenity with untapped potential to contribute to the quality of our lives.

An understanding of the Schuylkill’s history reveals much about conditions in the watershed today. There have been tough challenges in terms of dealing with issues such as toxic wastes and degraded habitats. But early settlement has also left many attributes, such as its historic towns and villages.

No historical imprint has had a greater influence on the river than its network of dams. Many of the early dams were built for industry, public water supply or transportation through the Schuylkill Canal. Others were built for flood control and recreation. More recent dams such as Blue Marsh are serving multiple functions. Many dams may have outlived their original purpose, whereas others need repairs, restoration or removal.

Figure 4.
Dams in the Schuylkill Watershed
Source: Bureau of Waterways Engineering, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

 

 

 

 

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Site Design: Tevlin & Clarke

Photo: Gerald S. Williams

The watershed has at least 280 dams, many of which were constructed on tributaries in the 19th century to provide power and water supplies for industry, flood control and the Schuylkill Canal. Dams are monitored by PA DEP’s Bureau of Waterways Engineering. As of June 2001, it classified six dams in the watershed as unsafe and requiring corrective action.

Photo: French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust

Moore Hall, an 18th century landmark situated at the confluence of the Schuylkill River and Pickering Creek in Chester County, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust in 1974. The earliest importance of the site lays in its use for river transportation, later in regard to the Encampment at Valley Forge (1777) and finally in the 19th Century as a key link on the Underground Railroad. The Trust and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission gained limited access to this privately owned site and continue, as they have done from the outset, to protect its setting from the surrounding development.