After a three-year transition during which the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor operated the canal museum under a management agreement, the two merged.

[1] Sitting at the fork between the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, the museum was intended to highlight and operate within Hugh Moore Park.

The museum's collections reflect the material culture and document the history of America's canals and navigable rivers, as well as canal-related industries in the Lehigh Valley.

The museum's holdings include 3,753 artifacts; 3,890 reels of film, video cassettes and oral history audio tapes; 52,782 slides, photographs and negative images; 31,824 engineering drawings; a library of more than 13,483 volumes; 736 linear feet of manuscript materials; and 261 rolls of microfilm.

The Elaine and Peter Emrick Technology Center is a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2), two-story brick building constructed to resemble a factory, the likes of which would have been seen throughout the park in the industrial era.

In 2012, the National Canal Museum relocated from Two Rivers Landing to the Emrick Center, and transferred most of the exhibits and hands-on educational activity stations there.

The relocated Museum, which is adjacent to the mule-drawn canal boat, the Josiah White II, opened on Memorial Day weekend, 2012.

Since the inception of the institution and through all of its incarnations, and beginning with the first master plan, there have been provisions for the National Canal Museum to preserve the transportation and industrial history of the area.

Since the acquisition of property for this purpose in 1985, the collection has undergone rapid growth, and is now the premier site for information concerning the technology of the Lehigh Valley and canal transportation in America.

The museum's collection reflects these areas, and document the history of America's canals and navigable rives, as well as the related industries in the Lehigh Valley.

], and audio (oral history) tapes; 52,782 slides, photographs and negative images; 31,824 engineering drawings; a library of more than 13,483 volumes; 736 linear feet of manuscript materials; and 261 rolls of microfilm.

[2]" In addition to a large amount of historical artifacts and data, the museum also employs an in-house historian, available for lectures, researchers, and inquiries.

Pulled by two mules, named Hank and George, the ride intends to recreate the experience of moving down the canal during its operational period.