Through an extensive inventory including artifacts from the Schuylkill Navigation Company and the Hiester Boatyard, the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center presents a coherent story of canal transportation. It displays this country's early growth and specifically the important contribution the canal system made to the history of
Berks County. Mr. Hiester gathered as many artifacts and representative items as possible from that section of the Schuylkill Canal between
Reading and
Philadelphia. He accumulated a wealth of memorabilia that might otherwise have been lost. This included the houseboat "Mildred," which plied the Schuylkill Canal between
Reading and Philadelphia, a toll collection booth, and a pilot house from the tugboat "Dolphin." The end result was that Mr. Hiester had aquired the largest private collection of 19th century canal memorabilia in America.
