The Schuylkill Navigation Canal System
A presentation by Mike Szilagyi
Wednesday April 9, 2025 6:00pm

The Schuylkill Navigation is the 108 mile long chain of dams and canals that brought literally millions of tons of anthracite coal down from Schuylkill County to tidewater at Philadelphia. Started in 1815-1825, it ended early in the 20th century.

Oliver Evans Chapter Member Mike Szilagyi, AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners), plans and designs pedestrian and bicycle facilities at Michael Baker International. His decades devoted to planning Pennsylvania’s bicycle trail network yield the added benefit of a deep knowledge of the long-forgotten web of former railroad and canal rights-of-way built before the automobile came to dominate the landscape. In many cases, abandoned railroad and trolley track-beds may be repurposed as rails-to-trails, and so returned to their roles as avenues of clean congestion-free transportation. A lifelong cyclist, author of Bucks County Trolleys (2020) and co-author of Montgomery County Trolleys (2018), Szilagyi resides in North Wales, Pennsylvania where he serves on the borough Historic Commission board.

For those who can not attend in person, here is a link to register to watch it via a zoom program. Please register using this link:

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/event/149719

Location: Parkway Central Free Library, 1901 Vine Street
This is a correction on the previous notice:
The easiest way to travel to Room 108 is through the front entrance to the library. Room 108 is located to the right of the main staircase in the lobby. Our accessibility entrance is located at the back of the library on 20th and Wood Street.

The room will be open at 5:30 for members and visitors to mingle.
There is metered parking around the library building and a paid parking lot behind the
library with an entrance off Callowhill Street.