Editing Easton, Pennsylvania (section)

===19th century===
Located at the confluence of the rapidly flowing [[Lehigh River]] and the deeper and wider [[Delaware River]], Easton became a major commercial center during the canal and railroad periods of the 19th century and a transportation hub for the region's coal, iron, and steel industries. The [[Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)|Delaware Canal]] was built soon after the lower [[Lehigh Canal]] was opened in 1818 and became effective in delivering much-needed [[anthracite|anthracite coal]] to the region's largest markets, [[Philadelphia]], [[New Jersey]], and [[New York City]].

Seeing other ways of exploiting the new fuel source, other entrepreneurs quickly moved to connect across the Delaware River reaching into the [[New York City]] area to the east through the [[Morris Canal]] in [[Phillipsburg, New Jersey]], so the town became a canal hub from which coal from [[Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania|Mauch Chunk]] reached the world. Early railroads were often built to parallel this transportation corridor.

Historians of [[angling]] believe that, in 1845, Samuel Phillipe, an Easton [[gunsmith]], invented the six-strip split-cane [[bamboo fly rod]], which is commemorated by a [[Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission]] plaque near Easton's Center Square.<ref>{{cite web| last = Herd| first = Andrew N.| title = Sammuel Phillipe| work = A Fly Fishing History| year = 2005| url = http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/phillipe.htm| access-date = 5 November 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090407004939/http://www.flyfishinghistory.com/phillipe.htm| archive-date = 7 April 2009| url-status = dead}}</ref>

By the late 1860s, the [[Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad]] (LH&S) and [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] (LVRR) were built to augment the bulk traffic through the canals and provide lucrative passenger travel services. The LVRR, known as the [[Black Diamond (train)|Black Diamond]] Line operated twice daily express passenger trains to and from [[New York City]] and [[Buffalo, New York]] via Easton. The [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] (CNJ), leased and operated the LH&S tracks from the 1870s until the [[Conrail]] consolidations absorbed both the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1966. Today, the Lehigh Valley Railroad's [[Lehigh Line (Norfolk Southern)|main line]] is the only major rail line that goes through Easton and is now known as the [[Lehigh Line (Norfolk Southern)|Lehigh Line]]; the Lehigh Line was bought by the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]] in 1999.

In the mid-19th century, canal transportation was largely replaced by railroads, and Easton became a hub for five railroads, including the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey|Jersey Central]], [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]], and others. Easton lost its prominence in passenger transportation with the rise of the automobile in the mid-20th century.<ref>[https://lafayettestudentnews.com/132992/news/what-happened-to-eastons-train-station/ "What happened to Easton's train station?"] ''The Lafayette'', April 22, 2022</ref>