First Monday History Program Returns to EACC

The Easton Area Community Center will host the first of this year's fall series of "First Monday" events, run by local historian Len Buscemi at noon on Monday, October 1.



Fred Eilenberger (in foreground) directs his rafting crew
down the Delaware River. Photo courtesy of Len Buscemi.

  Henry Skirbst, author of “The Rise and Fall of Timber Rafting on the Delaware River”,  will give a talk and slide presentation, “Rafting on the Delaware River” which outlines the timber trade that once flourished in the area and used  the river for transporting the valuable commodity.

The book, along with several others authored by Skirbst, “Our Icy Past: Living on a Moraine”; “Tales and Trails”; “Tales of a Battleground”; “Tales of a Frontier Land” will be available for sale during the event.

The public is invited, and the event is free.

The Easton Area Community Center, "Home of the Saints", is located at 901 Washington St.

For more information, call the EACC at  610-253-8271.
 
A brief history of “Rafting on the Delaware River”
After the French and Indian War, lumber demands increased. The first log raft to navigate the Delaware was in 1746 from a town above Port Jarvis, NY to Philadelphia (200miles). Before the Revolutionary war great rafts were sent across the Atlantic to Europe. These rafts had sails and rudders.

The last raft across the Atlantic was in 1775.

Rafting was at its height from 1840 to 1845 during this period as many as 20 rafts could be seen at one time going down the river. The season usually lasted about four weeks. In the spring runoff season, about 300 rafts navigated the river. 

Rafts often transported goods along the river. Items such as coal, furniture and on occasion passengers could be seen on the rafts.

After 1855, the rafting industry began to diminish.

New transportation methods such as railroads and canals proved to be a more reliable means to get goods to market. With the construction of bridges across the Delaware River, rafting became more dangerous. High water would, on occasion, drive the rafts into the bridge abutments injuring and often killing the crew.