Cargoes from Acquackanonk, Early Commercial Shipping on the Passaic River

Kevin K. Olsen

 Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montclair State University, Richardson Hall, Montclair, New Jersey, 07043

973-655-4076, 973-655-7772, OlsenK@Mail.Montclair.Edu, http://blake.montclair.edu/~olsenk/

Commercial shipping on the Passaic River is a very minor component of the regional transportation mix in the twenty first century but it was instrumental in the development of Paterson, Passaic, and the surrounding regions.

New York City and its seaport provided a market for locally grown cash crops such as fruits, vegetables, wheat, firewood, and hay as well as a collection point for minerals and manufactured goods collected for distant markets.  The Passaic River fit into a regional pattern of feeder streams for the larger port from an early date.

Aquackanonk Landing, in present-day Passaic, and Newark became important transhipment points between road and river transportation. Aquackanonk Landing was more that just a commercial site of stores, warehouses, a hotel, and the post office.   The landing served as a community gathering point and cultural link to a wider world.   Newark relied on the river for transportation of its manufactured goods.  It served as the transshipment point at the original Morris Canal terminus and several inland roads. 

With the coming of the Morris Canal, railroads, an expanded road network, and industrialization, the focus of river shipping shifted from general cargoes to bulk commodities such as coal and lumber.  

It was only with the rise of the modern highway network and the decline of coal as an industrial fuel that commercial navigation became marginalized.

This paper is intended to provide an overview of the important concepts and ship types necessary to understand the historical role the Passaic River navigation played in the region’s economy.