The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company that operated in Pennsylvania from 1818 (1820 & 1822) to 1964. It ultimately encompassed source industries, transport, and manufacturing, making it the first vertically integrated company in the United States.
Building on two predecessor companies incorporated in 1818, founders Erskine Hazard and Josiah White entered the coal industry to serve customers seeking a steady supply of fuel for foundries and mills on the falls of the Schuylkill River. Their LC&N spearheaded the Industrial Revolution in the United States, accelerating regional industrial development by taking on civil engineering challenges thought impossible and creating important transport and mining infrastructure. Most importantly, the LC&N established the Lower Lehigh Canal (begun 1818, usable 1820, improved 1821–24, and made two-way in 1827–29) and taught America to burn anthracite. By the early 1830s, the Lehigh Canal and its "bridging" river trip along the Delaware River inspired and connected four other canals.
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