The Morris Canal stretched 102 miles across six New Jersey counties. Watch video
In its heyday, the Morris Canal stretched 102 miles from one side of New Jersey to the other.
And next week, a section in Phillipsburg will officially re-open. In a sense.
The town plans a ribbon-cutting to mark the completion of its section of the Morris Canal Greenway, a historic trail that Mayor Stephen Ellis said is a first for the town.
The ceremony is planned 11 a.m. Jan. 20 at the trail head near the 1000 block of South Main Street.
A last look inside Phillipsburg's I-R site
"Since becoming mayor," he said in a news release, "the trail committee and I have been working diligently to create heritage tourism opportunities as we discover our valuable resources. We are very excited and proud to open this trail to our citizens and visitors."
Efforts to preserve the canal and turn it into a greenway have been led since 2012 by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority in partnership with the Morris Canal Working Group.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.