Search the site...

STREET TO THE LEFT
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • New Jersey
    • Radium Park
    • Meadowlands Cedar Forest
    • Hackensacks Main Street
    • Passaic >
      • Passaic's East Side Lower Dundee
      • Botany Worsted Mill
    • NEWARK >
      • Murphy Varnish
      • The Newark Castle
      • Morris Canal Route of Newark
      • Mount Pleasant Cemetery
      • Weequahic
    • JERSEY CITY >
      • FICKENS WAREHOUSE
      • MERCER STREET VIADUCT
      • The Island
      • Green Stamps, Jersey City
      • Durham-Duplex
      • COLES STREET BATHHOUSE
      • Parodi Cigars
      • St. Peters
  • PENNSYLVANIA
  • New York
    • Sloatsburg
  • Parks, Green Spaces , Water
  • Other Great Sites
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • New Jersey
    • Radium Park
    • Meadowlands Cedar Forest
    • Hackensacks Main Street
    • Passaic >
      • Passaic's East Side Lower Dundee
      • Botany Worsted Mill
    • NEWARK >
      • Murphy Varnish
      • The Newark Castle
      • Morris Canal Route of Newark
      • Mount Pleasant Cemetery
      • Weequahic
    • JERSEY CITY >
      • FICKENS WAREHOUSE
      • MERCER STREET VIADUCT
      • The Island
      • Green Stamps, Jersey City
      • Durham-Duplex
      • COLES STREET BATHHOUSE
      • Parodi Cigars
      • St. Peters
  • PENNSYLVANIA
  • New York
    • Sloatsburg
  • Parks, Green Spaces , Water
  • Other Great Sites
  • Contact

SLATEFORD, PA

6/1/2016

2 Comments

 
​Located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania is the small quiet town of Slateford, which is located on the edge of the Northampton Slate Belt. Many, many years ago, slate quarries were set up and the town was named Slateford. Immigrants from Wales and England came in the 19th century to work in the quarries. At its peak, in the first decade of the twentieth century, the Slate Belt accounted for about half of the slate produced in the United States.
Picture
A local historian, Matthew S. Henry, writing in 1851, stated that a slate quarry "At the northern line of the Township along the Delaware River at the Gap" was incorporated on April 16, 1808, under the title "the President Managers & Co for the purpose of obtaining Slate from quarries within the County of Northampton." This title was changed on April 1, 1836, and again on February 22, 1853, to the Kittatinny Slate Company. The organization of this company was believed to be the first attempt at quarrying slate "in this Country."
​Delaware Water Gap , Historic Resource Study
​The small Slateford settlement consisted of twelve houses at first, which were erected in 1805 by Hon. James M. Porter, the owner of the Pennsylvania Slate Company. The people of the village were quarry employees as the quarry was located about half a mile northwest of the village. In 1877, ownership of the quarry was transferred to J. L. Williams. When the railroad came to town, 26 homes were in existence. The last quarry closed in 1917. 
Picture
​As I walk down the main road something catches my eye, the foundation of the Union church. Most of the stones were moved to Riverview Cemetery when the railroad was put in but somehow these ones were left behind. 
Picture
​The town is home to Slateford Junction which connected the Lackawanna Railroad to the Lackawanna Cut-Off.  The site had an interlocking tower (which still stands) and a small turntable, which didn't get much use. The Slateford turntable was dismantled in the 1930s and filled in after.
Picture
Picture
The tower opened on December 20, 1911 and closed on January 11, 1951; its operations were shifted to the tower at East Stroudsburg.
Picture
Picture
Not to far from the junction is the Delaware River Viaduct. ​
Picture
​Constructed between August of 1908 to December of 1911, it is often called "Alice in Wonderland", "Alice", or "Wonderland" to those in the urbex community. Standing at 65 feet tall, the structure offers amazing views of the Delaware to those who venture to see it.   The inside of one of the chambers is called "Hitlers Closet", which one makes a choice of two views at different heights . Of the four concrete arch viaducts constructed by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad on straightening projects during the early twentieth century, the Delaware River Viaduct is the only one with a curving, skew alignment. Smith & McCormick of Easton, Pa was the builder.  
Picture
From Wikipedia:
The Lackawanna Cut-Off (also known as the New Jersey Cut-Off or Hopatcong-Slateford Cut-Off) is a railroad line that was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) between 1908 and 1911. Noted for its large cuts and fills, and two large concrete viaducts, the line was part of a 400-mile (640 km) main line between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York. The Cut-Off ran west for 28.5 miles (45.9 kms) from Port Morris Junction — near the south end of Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, about 45 miles (72 km) west-northwest of New York City — to Slateford Junction near the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.The Cut-Off was 11 miles (18 km) shorter than the Lackawanna Old Road, the rail line it superseded; it had a much better grade profile (0.55% vs. 1.1%); and it had 42 fewer curves, with all but one permitting passenger train speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h) or more.The Cut-Off also had no railroad crossings at the time of its construction. All 73 structures on the line were constructed of reinforced concrete, which was considered a pioneering use of the material. The construction of the roadbed required the movement of millions of tons of fill material using techniques similar to those used on the Panama Canal.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​Although the tales of the NJ viaducts being haunted have run rampant, I have found no known evidence to support the legend that a worker, or workers, fell into the concrete during construction and could not be extracted because of the need to keep pouring. It is often confused with the Paulinskill Viaduct, although it is lower and longer in length. It takes the title for the largest reinforced concrete structure built with a continuous pour process. It went through a series of changes in ownership, including the DL&W's merger with the Erie Railroad in 1960, acquisition by a Norfolk & Western Railroad subsidiary in 1968, and by 1976 it was transferred to Conrail where it was abandoned and the tracks ripped up in 1989. It has deteriorated since then and at a faster rate than the Paulinskill.
Picture
​In the area is also the waterfalls of Slateford. Im told this where the quarry was, although I see no evidence of it existing besides the slate and cuts in the rocks.
Picture
​Slateford is a cute small Delaware River town and the waterfalls make it a great day trip. Please note, I do NOT condone trespassing on private property. 
​More pictures on my flickr!!
Content from Slateford PA
Laura Gonzalez
​December  16 2015
2 Comments
Nan Rushton
8/27/2018 12:06:18 pm

Thank you so much publishing you walk through of Slateford, PA. My family geneolgy goes back to Richmond United Methodist Church which might be this Union Church you are refuriref too. My 3-times great Aunt Catherine Dildine was in the church register back in March 1857. She was 13 years old then. The Dildine heritage is right from Upper Mount Bethal to Slateford as a farm. I'm trying to get an understanding of the area and your post has been most helpful. I plan a visit to check out the Headstone. Thanks again.

Reply
Laura Gonzalez
9/3/2018 03:52:51 pm

Thank you for sharing this

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Laura Gonzalez is a photographer, blogger and historian currently residing in Newark, New Jersey. 

    Archives

    April 2021
    April 2020
    March 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    Abandoned
    Amusement Park
    Annadale
    Barrytown
    Bayonne
    Bay Street
    Bergen County
    Bloomfield
    Brewery
    Brickyards
    Bridge
    "Burlington County"
    Burlington County
    Canal
    Carlstadt
    Cement
    Cemetery
    Conrail
    Delaware River
    Delaware Water Gap
    Drawbridge
    Dundee Canal
    Dunellen
    Erie Railroad
    Essex County
    Estates
    Factory
    Gilded
    "gold Coast"
    Hackensack
    Hackettstown
    Historic Houses
    Hospital
    Hudson County
    Hunterdon County
    Industrial
    Inventions
    Iron Works
    Italianate
    Johnsonburg
    Kingsland
    Landfills
    "long Island"
    Lyndhurst
    Meadowlands
    Menlo Park
    Middlesex County
    Mill
    Milltown
    "Mount Holly"
    Mount Holly
    "nature Preserve"
    Newark
    Newburgh
    New Jersey
    New York
    Nutley
    Ohio
    Orange
    Orange-county-new-york
    Orange-county-new-york
    Palisades
    Passaic
    Passaic-county
    Paterson
    Pennsylvania
    Perth-amboy
    Philadelphia
    Plainfield
    Plank-road
    Quaker
    Rails
    Ramapo
    Rockland County
    Seaman's Retreat
    Secaucus
    Silk Mills
    Small Town
    Somerset County
    South Jersey
    SS Oregon
    Staten Island
    Strange
    Sussex County
    Swampland
    Thomas Edison
    Union City
    Union County
    Victorian Houses
    Walks
    Warren County
    Waterfront
    Weehawken
    Wheelwright
    Woolen Mill
    Zabriskie
    Zanesville

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.