Down Domino Lane
One of my earliest memories is of going with Joe for a walk down Domino Lane all the way to the canal (I guess it is still called the Manayunk Canal). We then turned right about a hundred yards or so to the locks that had been used to raise and lower the level of water in the canal. Before the railroads were built the canal had been used to bring coal into Philadelphia from upstate, and I suppose many other things, but by that time it was little used. The man in charge of opening and closing the locks was named Giles who lived with his family in a house nearby. I believe that in the days when the canal was busy, Domino Lane was the main thoroughfare between Ridge Pike and canal. In fact, I was told, the teamsters would sometimes play dominos while resting their horses in the shade on that hill below our house, and that was how it was named Domino Lane.
posted by Mimi @ 3:10 AM
4 Comments:
The Manayunk canal was begun in 1819 as the first part of the Schuylkill Canal System. It was in regular use by 1825. The last shipment of coal by canal from Schuylkill County was in 1888.
Capt. Winfield Scott Guiles was part Lenni Lenape. He was good at determining the weather by reading the currents of the river. Philadelphia weather forecasters use to contact him on a regular basis.
In the mid-1970s, Manayunk spent $1.4 million on a rehab project to restore a two mile section of the canal.
There is another version of how Domino Lane got its name that was written by a lawyer back in the 1800s. See Google - Falls of Schuylkill.
Interestingly, John, I took a "mule barge" trip yesterday, down the canal in New Hope, Pa. It was used as a shipment systen for coal coming down from Mauch Chuk (sp.), now Jim Thorpe. This was part of a bus trip to Bucks County.
Capt. Guiles was my great grandfather. My mother, Alberta Guiles, lived with him and her mother, Mary Guiles, in the home by the Locks. My great grandfather married the Manayunk Healer, a Lenni Lenape Indian. My family history does not indicate that he was part Lenape. John - where did you learn that my great grandfather was part Lenape?
How interesting that Capt. Guiles was your great-grandfathe, Barb. How did you happen to find this blog, by the way? If you looked at the first entry, of course, you know I copied a manuscript written by my Uncle Frank, now long gone, I'm afraid.
Thanks for the comment.
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