One of the Original 120 Locks Creating the Schuylkill Navigation System

The Port of Reading was one of a number of major inland port towns located along the navigable waterways in Pennsylvania. It was at Reading that the Union Canal joined with the Schuylkill Navigation System. The Union Canal extended along the Tulpehocken Creek, connecting the interior of Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River with the Schuylkill River, the main route to Philadelphia.
A vessel traveling south toward Philadelphia along the Union Canal would have entered into the Schuylkill River at Reading, crossed over to the Schuylkill Canal and proceeded south through the Schuylkill Navigation System. A vessel traveling north bound for the Susquehanna would have done the opposite. Worker's MemorialDesigned by William Hildebrand of John A. Roebling Son's Co. of Trenton, New Jersey, this footbridge was constructed between 1886 and 1887 and provided a safe pedestrian route spanning the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad lines at the Outer Station in North Reading. The bridge was dismantled in 1983, and one of the two steel support towers was relocated here to Heritage Park, where today it serves as the Workers Memorial tower.
(Inscription over the image on the left) Model of Jackson's Lock-Built by Glenn Weinrich, Housed at the River Place Development Corporation-Photographed by Bob Behling.
(Inscription under the image in the upper center) Captain John Heister's excursion boats "Rosa" and "Currie" above Jackson's Lock-Historical Society of Berks County
(Inscription above the image in the upper right) View from Penn Street Bridge looking north, Reading Canal foreground. Leinbach's Hill at left, Lebanon Valley Railroad at center. C. Late 1800s.
This project has been supported in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources through the Schuylkill River Heritage Area Grant Program.

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