 |
The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States of America that runs through the states of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Part of the river serves as the border between Pennsylvania and New York and between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It serves as the entire boundary between New Jersey and Delaware. It begins in Mount Jefferson, New York and ends in the Delaware Bay.
Explorer Adriaen Block first discovered the Delaware River and named it South River for the New Netherlands Colony. It was the futherest south of the colony explored at the time. Other historical firsts for the river was the famous crossing of the Delaware River by the first President of the United States of America, George Washington, who was a General in the Union Army during the American Revolution. Channels were created in the 1800s to allow for better passage of ships down the river.
Flooding has plagued this river due to the melting of snow and as the result of hurricanes in the 1950s. Although the flooding was severe no lives were lost because the flood area is mostly uninhabited. A call by citizens to do something about the flooding has been not fallen on deaf ears, but the answers the response has been slow due to the lack of funds for the area.
At one time the Morris Canal and the Delaware and Hudson Canal joined the Delaware and Hudson rivers, but the canals have all but been abandoned and are now completely filled in with sand and dirt. The C&D Canal (Chesapeake and Delaware Canal) connects the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay. |
