The Lost River Highway: When Log Rafts Ruled the Susquehanna

The Lost River Highway: When Log Rafts Ruled the Susquehanna

The Forgotten Raftmen of the Susquehanna River From the late eighteenth century into the early twentieth, the Susquehanna River functioned as an interstate highway of commerce. Long before canals and railroads dominated transportation, rugged crews known as raftmen piloted enormous log rafts—some stretching hundreds of feet—downriver from Pennsylvania’s forests to markets at places like Port Deposit and Havre de Grace. The cargo was essential t…