INTRODUCTION This report on the Ports of Philadelphia, Pa., Canden and Gloucester, N. J., is published as No. 7 of the Port Series and supersedes a similar report published in 1930 as Port Series No. 4. The reports in the Port Series cover the principal United States seaports and are compiled and published jointly by the Department of the Army and the United States Maritime Commission, under authority of Section 500 of the Transportation Act and Section 3 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The Department of the Army is charged by law with the planning and improvement of our harbors and navigable channels and, jointly with the Maritime Commission, is required to undertake investigations of ports and terminals and of the territory tributary to ports and to advise with communities regarding the appropriate location and plan of construction of wharves, piers, and water terminals; to investigate the practicability and advantages of harbor, river, and port improvements; and to investigate any other matter that may tend to promote and encourage the use by vessels of ports adequate to care for the freight which would naturally pass through such ports. Acknowledgment is made of the assistance rendered by various port organizations, shipping and transportation companies, facility owners, city officials, and other local interests in the work of compiling data for this report. Unless otherwise stated, the information contained herein was current in October 1947. The Ports of Philadelphia, Pa., Camden and Gloucester, N.J--1947 --1947 The Ports on the Delaware River below and above Philadel- -------1947 ----------1946 No. 14 The Ports of Savannah and Brunswick, Ga-▬▬▬▬ -----1946 No. 15 The Port of Jacksonville, Fla---- ------1947 No. 16 - The Ports of Miami and Port Everglades, Fla -1947 The Port of San Diego, Calif- No. 22 - The Ports of Port Arthur, Beaumont, and Orange, Tex-▬▬▬▬▬▬▬1946 No. 27 -1946 No. 28 The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif -1946 -1946 Transportation Lines on the Mississippi River System--- --1946 --1946 Miscellaneous Series: No. 1 Port and Terminal Charges at United States Seaports-- ---1948 Port and Terminal Charges at United States Great Lakes Ports1948 The River Seris NOTE: Some of the reports in the Port Series, the Lake Series, the Transportation Series, and the Miscellaneous Series, published prior to 1 January 1946, are still available. A list of such reports will be furnished by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, Washington 25, D. C., on request. PART I THE PORTS OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., CAMDEN AND GLOUCESTER, N. J. PREPARED BY THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS FOR RIVERS AND HARBORS Philadelphia, Pa., one of the chief ports of the United States, is located at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Its midharbor at Chestnut Street is 103 statute miles by water from Overfalls Lightship in the open sea and 3 1/8 miles from the upper end of the channel at Allegheny Avenue. Trenton, N.J., 32 miles above Chestnut Street, is the present head of commercial navigation on the Delaware River. Camden, N. J., an important manufacturing city, is located on the left bank of the river directly opposite Philadelphia. Chester and Marcus Hook, Pa., are on the right bank, 17 and 21 miles below midharbor at Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del., lies at the junction of the Christina and Delaware Rivers, 29.1 miles below Chestnut Street. The harbor of Philadelphia, as contemplated in this report, embraces the Delaware River from Poquessing Creek at the upper limit of the city to the site of what was formerly the lower dock at Hog Island below the mouth of the Schuylkill River, a distance of 23 miles, and the Schuylkill River from its mouth to Spring Garden Street, near Fairmount Dam, a distance of 8.5 miles. The main port activities are centered along about 9 miles of water front on the Delaware River from the railroad terminal yards below Greenwich Point, about 4 miles south of Chestnut Street, to Lefevre Street, Bridesburg, and along the Schuylkill River. Traffic on the Schuylkill River consists chiefly of crude petroleum and its products and constitutes about one-third of the water-borne commerce of Philadelphia Harbor. The Delaware River flows in a general southerly direction, forming the |