The Crabtree Photographs

Copyright © 1997
Robert L. Williams
Used by permission.

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It is speculated that on the day the New Paltz photos were taken, the Crabtrees journeyed further north where they took a series of photos along the Delaware & Hudson Canal.  The barge in this photo has just left Lock No. 9 at Lawrenceville.  The high stone structure to the right of the canal is a portion of the kilns of the Lawrenceville Cement Company.  The shed roof covered the eyes of the kilns as well as the loading dock.  The massive kiln ruins survive.

The Delaware & Hudson Canal was established in the late 1820s as a means for the transportation of coal.  It extended 108 miles and connected Honesdale, PA, with Kingston, NY.  When these photos were taken in the 1890s, the canal was nearing the end of its existence.  In this photo a barge is slowly being lowered at Lock No. 8 in Lawrenceville.  The house stands along State Highway 213.  Remains of the lock and towpath survive.

After leaving Lock No. 8, the barge loaded with firewood continues northest towards Rosendale.  The man on the left is steering the barge and in the distance, on the towpath, can be seen the mules towing the barge.

Hamlets like Lawrenceville flourished during the heyday of the canal.  Each of the homes pictured above still stands along State Highway 213.  In the distance can be seen Joppenberg Mountain and the trestle of the Walkill Valley Railroad.

Only the ruins survive of the New York and Rosendale Lime and Cement Company located in the village of Rosendale.

Believed to have been taken in the Rosendale vicinity, the exact location remains a mystery.  Note the old woven baskets from which the mules are eating.

A basin is located at the Rock Lock Cement Works in LeFever Falls northeast of Rosendale.  The barge in the photo is headed toward Rosendale.

The location of these [above two] pictures remains a mystery but they are believed to have been taken west of Lawrenceville.

These [above two] remaining photos of the D&H Canal were taken in the slack water navigation section of the Rondout Creek at Creek Locks.  Notice the men loading barrels of cement onto the barge.  The one photo reveals the name of Geo. H. VanWagonen on the rear of the barge.  Both photos are believed to have been taken at the E.M. Brigham Cement Company.  Cement manufacturing was an important industry in Ulster County.