In today’s column we are going back 70 years to a familiar sight, dredging for reclaimed coal on the Lehigh River. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Cindy Beck Deppe sent this writer and Larry Oberly photographs on dredging of the Lehigh River. The photos were taken by her father William Beck, founder of the landmark Becky’s Drive-In.
The photographs take us back to an era when anthracite coal was king in Eastern Pennsylvania. The area contained one of the largest deposits of hard coal in the world. Mines and breakers dominated the landscape of the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In processing the millions of tons of coal annually, some coal was washed into the Lehigh River.
The Lehigh River has an interesting history. The river as we know it today was once controlled by the Lehigh Navigation Company. In 1818, the Lehigh Navigation Company reached an agreement with the state of Pennsylvania for control of the Lehigh River. The state agreed that Lehigh Navigation could control the river if they kept it navigable. Two brilliant engineers, Josiah White and Erskine Howard, embarked on quite an engineering feat constructing a canal from Mauch Chunk to Easton following the river. Using primitive equipment like hand shovels, hardworking canal workers dug the canal and constructed over 50 locks. The project was completed in 1829…