The Union Canal Tunnel Park contains the oldest existing transportation tunnel in the United States, 5/8 miles of the original canal, and 110 acres of recreational area open to the public year round. The park’s upkeep relies on dedicated volunteers and fundraisers, such as its largest fundraising effort, the nearly 40-year, rain-or-shine tradition: Union Canal Day.
Speaking at the 37th annual Union Canal Day on Saturday, May 16, 2026, organizer Pam Tricamo said it may have been the largest turnout she’s seen in her 12 years volunteering at the event. She attributed this to sunny skies and a slight breeze, with temperatures reaching up to 80 degrees (some of the warmest weather so far this season).
The park, she said, needed the luck, having paid $22,000 in dredging fees to remove a sandbar north of the tunnel in addition to $5,000 in annual water maintenance this year.
Union Canal Day is designed to be an affordable family-friendly event for the community, Tricamo said. It features a variety of vendors, live performances, boat tours throughout the day, a raffle, and a tent full of games for kids — a recently returned item, with each game costing 50 cents.
Once a two-day event, the fundraiser was shortened in the early 2020s due to shortage of volunteers, Tricamo said. With only one day, she said, it is especially important to organizers to have good weather and turnout.
Union Canal Day’s boat tours and historical artifacts and reenactments offer a glimpse of the National Historic Landmark’s past, with its idea dating back to William Penn in 1690 and construction beginning in the late 18th century and concluding in 1827. Boat tour narrators describe the toils experienced by laborers on the tunnel and the daily lives of the families that brought shipments through the canal on boats pulled by mules.
“It’s the oldest transportation tunnel in the country, so we need to maintain it, we need people to keep it going,” said Tricamo. “We need to preserve the past for future generations, and that’s what we’re doing.”
With an aging volunteer force, both event organization and park upkeep are strained. However, Tricamo said, dedicated volunteers still show up every Wednesday at 9 a.m. to upkeep the grounds (and are willing to accept help from anyone who shows up).
“We always can use extra people to help on the grounds,” she said, explaining the park is also in need of captains and narrators for boat tours. “Our oldest volunteer is almost 89 years old and he’s out here every day. We need young people who care about history.”
Between volunteers and Union Canal Day, as well as smaller fundraisers throughout the year, the Friends of the Union Canal are able to preserve one of Lebanon’s most historic locations.
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