During the active canal era, the lock tender and his family were as self-sufficient as possible. The remains of a hand-dug well, an outhouse, a smokehouse and a small barn have been found on the downstream end of the property. Field crops were grown in the area between the canal and the river, and vegetables, herbs and flowers were raised around the house. All products grown or made at home could be sold to or bartered with the passing boats. Running water was not brought into the house until the early 1930s. Timbers from the lock were used as beams to support a one-story kitchen wing containing a sink and pump. The privy remained outdoors.

Emmanuel Schaeffer was the last lock tender who lived in the house with his widowed sister, Ethel Croll, when the state came into possession of the canal area in 1949. They continued to live in the house until the early 1970s and eventually moved after it became too hard for the elderly residents to maintain the house and grounds. At that time the house was boarded up and left to neglect. In 1983, when Upper Providence Township became the lessee and the Association joined it in taking responsibility for the area, the house had been badly vandalized over 10 years time. Their first move was to make the house minimally livable and install a tenant. The kitchen was modernized and an indoor bathroom and furnace were installed. Over the next dozen years Association volunteers made many other modest improvements. All the tenants were also active SCA members and volunteers.

Once the state and other agencies began supporting heritage corridor projects, SCA chose the Locktender’s House as its first major restoration program. Over a period of five years all exterior woodwork, including 25 window sashes, porch and front door, were either repaired or replaced. The entire exterior was repainted and restuccoed, and the yard was beautifully landscaped. Access to the house was greatly improved, including channeling the runoff from the hill behind the house into underground conduits and laying field stone walkways to the front porch and back yard. The old stone steps cut into the steep bank on which the house sits were rebuilt to a moderate grade, and provided with hand railings and ground lights.

The house is now the Schuylkill Canal Association’s Visitors’ Center and the hub for many programs and events. The house is open to the general public Monday through Friday during regular business hours and on evenings and weekends by appointment. It is suggested you call ahead to make sure staff is available to greet you. In addition, the Locktender’s Open House is held on the third Sunday of each month between 1 PM and 4 PM, except June and December when the schedule changes slightly, that provides an opportunity for the public to take a brief tour of the house free-of-charge.

SCA’s administrative offices are on the second floor. There is ample seating for visitors on the front porch and the first-floor living room, and both downstairs rooms have exhibits, historic photographs and documents, a library about canals, information about regional heritage corridor activities, events schedules and various books and souvenir items for sale. The living room even has an old player piano that belonged to the Schaeffer family, the last locktender.

Public restrooms meeting American Disabilities Act standards are located in the maintenance garage south of the Locktender’s House, with an adjacent handicap 2-car parking area.

By the end of 2006, Montgomery County will be extending the Schuylkill River Trail west from the mouth of the Perkiomen to the Route 29 Bridge between Mont Clare and Phoenixville. SCA expects a vast increase in its numbers of visitors. In preparation, interpretive signs will be installed in the spring 2006 for the area’s main historical landmarks, so visitors will have a better appreciation for what they are looking at. SCA also looks forward to increasing staff and its volunteer docents, who will greet visitors on the grounds, answer their questions and make them feel welcome.