Digital Geodata Series
DGS08-1 Canals and Water Raceways in New Jersey

dgs08-1.zip (2.19 MB) (01-07-2011)

Abstract

New Jersey's canals and water raceways have been important for transportation and water power for the last 300 years. They have played a significant role in the economic development of the state.  

This product contains a Geographic Information System (GIS) ESRI™ polygon shapefile of the canals and water raceways, with selected attributes. It also comes with an associated database file, projection file and metadata.  The shapefile and metadata are compressed as a .zip file for download.

This shapefile shows locations of current and historic canals and water raceways. Where possible, these have been mapped based on site visits or current aerial photographs. The location of some abandoned and filled canals and raceways are approximated from historic maps and photographs and are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Some of the mapped canals and water raceways are located on private property with no public access. Other canals and water raceways allow public access on the canal itself or neighboring pathways, for recreational purposes. The user of this product is responsible for determining if a canal or raceway is open to the public before visiting.

This shapefile does not include dewatering canals and ditches with two exceptions, the Berry's Creek Canal and the Old Canal. They were included in this shapefile because they are navigable.  Channelized streams and underground aqueducts are not included in this shapefile.

The New Jersey Geological Survey is interested in updating this product. Please send information on canals and water raceways not shown here to NJGSWEB.  Please include specific site locations and, if possible, an aerial photo or map.

For this version, ten additional water power raceways were added. They are: Asbury plaster mill raceway, Asbury raceway, Brockoven saw mill raceway, Col. John C. Taylor grist mill raceway, Drake saw mill raceway, Parvin mill raceway, Ralston cotton and woolen mill raceway, Rowlands mill raceway, Whippany raceway, and Worsted yarns raceway

Map of the Canals & Water Raceways of New Jersey

Click on this sample image (for illustration purposes only) below to download a map in Adobe™ PDF.