Re Lambert Heyniger ’53’s family story about his grandfather’s skating trek from Princeton to Philadelphia, some facts have to be noted. This would have required that the Raritan Canal froze enough all the way to Trenton. I’m not sure when the Raritan Canal locks to the Delaware River below the falls were removed but they were in modern times (that portion of the canal is now Canal Street and U.S. 1 going up the hill and continuing to Princeton and beyond). The Canal Feeder from further up the Delaware still exists, providing water and canoeing to the canal. He would have had to cross the Delaware on foot at some place and then skated on the presumably frozen Delaware Canal to the point where it empties into the river (I don't remember where) and then walked to a train to get back to Chestnut Hill. Regardless, a monumental feat. When in Princeton, from 1962–67, we canoed the Delaware River from New Hope to above Trenton and kayaked (in portions) the Raritan Canal and Canal Feeder above Trenton and the Delaware Canal above New Hope. Great paddling on the canals, virtually no current.
In Response to: A Long Skate on the Canal