General Resource Sites

• American RIVERS and WATERWAYS...Pathways for Migration, Commerce, Entertainment 
• The Canal Age 
• Historic Canals Policy 
  From Parks Canada Guiding Principles and Operational Policies.
• Steamboats.com 
  Photos, links and other resources for paddlewheel riverboats.
• Taming the Wilderness: Canals 
• Taming the Wilderness: Rivers 
• The World Wide Waterweb 

Libraries, Archives & Museums

• Center for Columbia River History  ~ Washington State
• The Greater Manchester County Record Office  ~ England
  • The Shareholders' Records Of The Manchester Ship Canal Company 
    From the Greater Manchester County Record Office.
• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States 
  • Records of the National Park Service [NPS] 
    • Records of The Potomac Company and The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company 1785-1938 
      • Records of the Potomac Company 
      • Records of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company 
• A Guide to Canal Records in the New York State Archives 
  The NYS Archives maintains this site which describes 360 series of records documenting New York's canals from the earliest Erie Canal surveys to the completion and operation of the Barge Canal.
• Guildhall Library Manuscripts Collection  ~ London, England
  • Leaflet Guides to Records 
    • Records of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen 
  • search@guildhall 
    Experienced researchers will undertake fee-for-service research in Guildhall Library's collections.
• Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterway Library  ~ St. Louis, Missouri
  From the University of Missouri - St. Louis.
  • A Guide to Inland Waterway Research 
  • A Guide to Inland Waterway Research 
• London Canal Museum  ~ England
  • The Museum's Collection 
    • Family History Checklist 
      Provides step-by-step research instructions for investigating canal boat ancestors.
• Murphy Library University of Wisconsin La Crosse 
  Large collection of photographs of inland steamboats.
• National Canal Museum  ~ Easton, Pennsylvania
• The National Waterways Museum at Gloucester  ~ England
• New Jersey Division of Archives & Records Management 
  • Morris Canal & Banking Company: Microfilm Collection 
• Parliamentary Archives: House of Lords Record Office 
  The archive service for both Houses of Parliament and facilitates public access to several million records which are preserved in the Victoria Tower repository. The records include plans of canals, roads, railways and other public works deposited in connection with private bills from 1794.
• Pennsylvania State Archives 
  • Manuscript Groups 
    • Records Of The Union Canal Company Of Pennsylvania 
    • Susquehanna Canal Company Records 1835-1897 
• Water Folk Canal Centre  ~ Wales

Locality Specific

• The Basingstoke Canal  ~ United Kingdom
• BARGEMEN Dedicated to the Boat Builders, Owners and Workers of London  ~ United Kingdom
• [The original link is broken. This link points to an archived copy on the Wayback Machine]
  Beverely Beck Online  ~ United Kingdom
  Boats, fishing and historic Beverley Beck Canal.
• The Black & White - A Short History of the Lancaster Canal 1772-1997 
  History of the Lancaster Canal, England, from its beginnings in 1772 to the present day.
• A Brief History of English Canals 
  By Mike Clarke.
• Canal History  ~ Wainfleet Township, Ontario, Canada
• Canals & Waterways: Roots & Routes  ~ U.K.
• C & O Canal Virtual Tour 
  A pictorial towpath guide to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
• The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
• Canal Heritage Enterprises 
  Genealogical information including church and cemetery records of the Catholic communities along the Illinois and Michigan Canal in Northeastern Illinois.
• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park 
• Cleveland's First Infrastructure: The Ohio and Erie Canal 
• [The original link is broken. This link points to an archived copy on the Wayback Machine]
  A Comprehensive Listing of Ohio Canals and Their Feeders 
• Delaware and Hudson Canal within Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River 
• The Driffield Navigation  ~ Yorkshire, England
• Erie Canal Museum  ~ Syracuse, New York
• GENUKI: Boatpeople of the Wolverhampton Canal System 
  A list of baptism and marriages of people known to have been on the canal system in Wolverhampton.
• George's: Canal Boating in the U.K. and Europe 
  Links and information for every topic related to canals. Of particular interest are the Museums and History sections on the Internet Resources page.
• Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System : Seaway History 
• History of the Erie Canal 
• Illinois & Michigan Canal 
• Inland Waterways of England and Wales : Their History in Maps 
  Maps from 1750 to 1950.
• Jim Shead's Waterways Information 
  An encyclopedia of the canals and rivers of England and Wales, including historical data.
  • Family History 
    Inlcudes information on how to send a postal inquiry to John Roberts' Waterway Index of over 10,000 persons with occupations given in records as boatman, waterman, flatman, boatbuilder, lock-keeper, toll-collector, canal or river company clerk, canal agent, boat owner, navigator (navvies), wharf inger etc.
  • Index of Engineers and Surveyors 
  • Index of Other Waterway People 
• The Little Falls Canal  ~ New York
• Miramichi History  ~ New Brunswick, Canada
• New York State Canals: Canal Culture: Canal History 
  A short history of the NYS Canal System. This site is exclusively for information on the current-day canal system has no other historical information, and NO information about canal workers, passengers or boaters.
• New York's Oldest Canal 
• Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor 
• Ohio Canal Corridor 
• Ohio's Historic Canals 
• Rideau Canal Waterway 
• South Hadley Canal  ~ Massachusetts
• St. Lawrence Steamboat Co. Passenger Records 
• Wabash & Erie Canal through Huntington County, Indiana 
• Wilts & Berks Canal  ~ England
  • A Brief History 

Mailing Lists, Newsgroups & Chat

• Genealogy Resources on the Internet - Occupations Mailing Lists 
  Most of the mailing list links below point to this site, wonderfully maintained for years by John Fuller. This site indexes links for all known genealogy mailing lists, including RootsWeb and others.
• RootsWeb: Genealogy Mailing Lists: Occupations 
  The majority of genealogy mailing lists are hosted by RootsWeb.com. Messages on RootsWeb lists are archived. The links to RootsWeb below point you to the archives (browse or search).

• CANAL-PEOPLE Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical interest in canal workers and barge owners. Archives: browse or search.
• CANDOCANAL Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical interest in the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal encompassing parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Archives: browse or search.
• ENG-CANAL-PEOPLE Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical interest in the boat people on the inland waterways of England. Archives: browse or search.
• GEN-Canals-Watermen Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical or historical interest in British canals and watermen.
• GL-PASSENGERS Mailing List 
  For the posting of passenger lists of ships sailing from ports along the St. Lawrence River and throughout the five Great Lakes in the middle of North America. Many of our ancestors arrived in Canada and then entered the United States down the St. Lawrence Seaway through the Great Lakes. Archives: browse or search.
• GLSHIPS Mailing List 
  For anyone who is researching ancestors who participated in the shipping industry on the Great Lakes of the northeastern United States. Archives: browse or search.
• OHIO-RIVER-VALLEY-FAMILIES Mailing List 
  For anyone with a genealogical interest in the families that resided or currently reside in the Ohio River Valley which starts in Pennsylvania and borders the states of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. Archives: browse or search.

Panama Canal

• El Canal de Panamá - The Panama Canal 
  • Canal History 
• Canal Zone Vital Records Information 
• CENTAM Mailing List 
  This list is intended to provide students from Central America and those interested in discussing issues concerning these countries, including Panama, with a discussion list conducive to the interchange of ideas.
• Family History Centers in Panama 
• Family History Library Catalog 
  From the FamilySearch web site, an online catalog to the holdings of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also search for other localities by place name.
  • Panama, Panama Canal Zone 
• LibDex - The Library Index - Panama 
  A worldwide directory of links to library homepages and web-based OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogs).
• Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series / Panama 
• The Panama Canal: A Brief History 
• Panama Canal Museum - Panama Canal Society Foundation, Inc. 
• The Panama Canal Society of Florida 
  Dedicated to the thousands of members of the Panama Canal Society who have banded together, starting in 1932, to remember the great days of working on the Panama Canal and living, and learning in the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama.
• Panama Canal Zone Birth and Death Records 
  Vital records formerly issued by Panama Canal Commission now being issued by the U.S. Department of State.
• Path Between The Seas : The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 
  A book by David McCullough.
• Prologue: The Panama Canal: The African American Experience 
  Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration. Summer 1997, vol. 29, no. 2.
• Records of the Panama Canal - (Record Group 185) 1848-1984 
  From the National Archives and Records Administration.
• Roosevelt Medal Descendants 

Publications, Software & Supplies

• Cyndi's List Genealogy Bookstore 
  A categorized list of genealogy research books that looks a lot like my bookshelf at home.

• Amazon.com Genealogy Bookstore - Canals 
  The following are individual book titles of interest for this topic. The book links below point to the Amazon.com bookstore online where you may purchase the book if you wish. These links are provided to bring these published resources to your attention as an aid to your research. Follow the links to books of interest to make note of their title, author, publisher, and ISBN. You might then use this information to obtain the book from your local library or your favorite corner book shop.
  • Anatomy of Canals: The Early Years 
    A book by Anthony Burton.
  • The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862 
    A book by Carol Sheriff.
  • The C & O Canal Companion 
    A book by Mike High.
  • The Canal Boatmen, 1760-1914  ~ UK
    A book by Harry Hanson.
  • Canals for a Nation: The Canal Era in the United States, 1790-1860 
    A book by Ronald E. Shaw.
  • Common Labor: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals 1780-1860 
    A book by Peter Way.
  • Erie Water West: A History of the Erie Canal, 1792-1854 
    A book by Ronald E. Shaw.
  • From the Coalfields to the Hudson : A History of the Delaware & Hudson Canal 
    A book by Larry Lowenthal.
  • Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers 
    A book by George Woodman Hilton.
  • The National Waterway: A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 1769-1985 
    A book by Ralph D. Gray.
  • A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825-1913 
    A book by Jack Gieck.
  • A Picture-Journey Along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, 1826-1857 
    A book by Philip J. Hoffmann.
  • That Dark and Bloody River 
    A book by Allan Eckert.
  • Way's Packet Directory 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America 
    A book by Frederick Way Jr.
  • Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation 
    A book by Peter L. Bernstein.
• Trueflare Limited 
  Apprenticeship (Binding) Indexes for the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames 1692-1949; PDF format on CDs.

Societies & Groups

• American Canal Society 
• Arkansas River Historical Society Museum  ~ Catoosa, Oklahoma
  The Society seeks to preserve the history and increase public awareness of the Arkansas River and the development of its basin.
• Birmingham Canal Navigations Society  ~ England
• British Waterways 
  The public body which manages most of the waterways in the United Kingdom.
• Buckingham Canal Society  ~ England
• The Canadian Canal Society / Société des Canaux du Canada 
• Canal Corridor Association 
  The Illinois & Michigan Canal Corridor.
• Canal Society of Indiana 
• Canal Society of New Jersey 
• Canal Society of Ohio 
• Cotswold Canals Trust 
  Restoring the Stroudwater Navigation and Thames & Severn Canal in England.
• D & H Canal Historical Society  ~ High Falls, New York
  To preserve, protect and perpetuate the history of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, particularly in Ulster County, New York.
• Friends of the Delaware Canal  ~ Pennsylvania
• Friends of the Trent-Severn Waterway 
• The Inland Waterways Association  ~ United Kingdom
• The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland 
• The Railway & Canal Historical Society  ~ England
• Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society  ~ England
• Virginia Canals & Navigations Society 
• Worcester & Birmingham Canal Society  ~ England

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