51st Annual Delaware Show

CRAFT & COMMERCE IN THE EARLY DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY BY JACKIE KILLIAN The Delaware River flows 419 miles south from its source in the Catskill Mountains of New York to the Delaware Bay, just north of Cape May, New Jersey. A 1757 map by Thomas Kitchin illustrates the interconnectedness of the landscape that 17th- and 18th-century settlers to the area experienced. Abundant natural resources and navigable rivers made the colony of West New Jersey (founded 1676) a destination for many. The waterways were an integral part of New Jersey’s successful timber trade and provided the means for its craftsman to be mobile within, and between, colonies in the Delaware River Valley. Flanking the cartouche on Kitchin’s map are tall trees with high canopies, an allusion to the abundant stands of hard pine, Atlantic white cedar, oak, and chestnut that were early transatlantic commodities. A 1698 tract describing the conditions of the colony cited “a great plenty of working timber, as oaks, ash, chestnuts, pine, cedar, walnut, poplar, fir, and masts for ships, with pitch and pine resin, of great use and much benefit.” In particular, cedar’s low density and rot-resistance were beneficial for maritime uses and also made it a favored wood in house carpentry for structural timbers and roof shingles. 1 — 26 —