| District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — At All Hours |
| | “It shall be their duty, at all hours, by night as well as by day, to pass all boats and floats presenting themselves at their locks.” —Charles Mercer, President, C&O Canal Company.
Every time his boat passed through a lock, a boat captain put his life and livelihood in the hands of the locktender. The wooden lock gates were a delicate balance between safety and efficiency. They had to be light enough to allow one man to move them, yet strong enough to hold back 140,000 . . . — Map (db m128) |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Creating a National Park |
| | “It is a refuge, a place of retreat, a long stretch of quiet and peace at the Capital's back door . . .” —William O. Douglas
Look around you. The park you stand in exists because people cared. In January 1954, Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court of the United States responded to a Washington Post editorial recommending that the C&O Canal be turned into a parkway. Writing in support of preserving the canal as a national park, Douglas wrote, “It is a . . . — Map (db m129) |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Georgetown — Francis Scott Key Park |
| | A Place With Its Own History.
Before 1620 the area of the Francis Scott Key Park was inhabited by members of the Algonquian, Nacostine, Nacotchatank, Piscatoway and Patawomeke tribes. In 1634 it became part of the English Colony of Maryland.
Beginning in the 18th Century, Falls or M Street (1) was the trail to the Potomac river falls, and Frederick or 34th Street (2) was the access to the west landing of the port of George Town and Hite's Ferry (3) to Virginia. George Washington . . . — Map (db m119) |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Northwest — Lock Keeper’s House |
| | Formerly the eastern terminal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Erected about 1835. The canal passed along the present line of B Street in front of this house emptying into Tiber Creek and the Potomac River. — Map (db m209) |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Northwest — The Canal Connection |
| | President George Washington commissioned Pierre L'Enfant to design the Capital City in 1790. The L'Enfant Plan included a system of canals to transport heavy goods at a time when roads and streets were few and muddy. The Washington City Canal (green) was opened in 1815. Construction began in 1828 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (yellow) to connect Washington, DC, to the fertile Ohio Valley. The Washington Branch of the C&O Canal (red), built by 1833, joined the two waterways and opened the . . . — Map (db m211) |
| District of Columbia (Washington), Palisades — Abner Cloud House |
| | This house witnessed the building of the C&O Canal. Abner Cloud, a miller who had come here from Pennsylvania, built the house in 1801. Cloud's mill was about 200 yards upstream. The basement of the house was used by Cloud to store grain and flour, and the family lived in the upper floors. Restoration was completed in 1976, with much assistance from the Colonial Dames of America, Chapter III. The top two floors are now their headquarters.
(sidebar) George Washington's Patowmack . . . — Map (db m722) |
| Maryland (Allegany County), Cumberland — Cumberland Gateway Westward |
| | Will's Creek Settlement, later known as Cumberland, served as a major gateway for trade, military campaigns against the French, and settlement beyond the mountains in our growing nation. "The New Storehouses" of the Ohio Company were across the river beyond the present highway bridge. The streams before you, the Caiuctucuc (Wills Creek) to your left and the Cohongaronta (Potomac River) to the front and right, were a source of food and transportation. Near this spot, in January, 1755, Governor . . . — Map (db m17783) |
| Maryland (Frederick County), Brunswick — Berlin |
| | First called Berlin, later Barry, and finally named Brunswick in 1890, the town's fortunes fluctuated with the times. The canal was built here in 1834 and a large gristmill, powered by canal water, was built on the canal across from the towpath. During the Civil War the town grew to 500 people but dwindled to 200 by 1890. In that year the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built its switchyard center and repair shops here. The town continued to prosper until the railroad moved most of its operations elsewhere. — Map (db m4333) |
| Maryland (Frederick County), Brunswick — Water Power |
| | Canal water was an important ingredient in the production of "C.F. Wenner's Choice Family Flour." Brunswick businessman Charles F. Wenner drew surplus water from the canal near Lock 30 to power the wheels and turbines of his flour mill. Wenner was one of several 19th century entrepreneurs who expanded the use of the C&O Canal beyond navigational purposes. Along the canal other businessmen built mills that processed items such as corn, wheat, cotton, and lime. The mills served as the foundation . . . — Map (db m4334) |
| Maryland (Frederick County), Point of Rocks — Battle at Point of Rocks |
| | This [railroad] company was met by the most decided and inveterate opposition, on the part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. Philip E. Thomas, President, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company The proximity of railroad tracks by the canal belies the intense battle over the right-of-way between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The idea route west lay on this narrow strip of land between the river and the mountains. Both the canal and the railroad . . . — Map (db m7661) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Brookmont — A Canal Home |
| | “When I was 7, we moved [to the] lock, and we were very happy. My mother was so happy to have a home; she was just about wild. And we did love it here, as a locktender, you know?” —Lavenia Cross Waskey
The canal company supplied locktenders with a house next to the lock which enabled them to work the lock day and night. The house provided more than a roof over their heads: it was a stable home for their families. For children, used to the transient canal . . . — Map (db m728) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Dickerson — Springing Over the Monocacy — The Enduring Aqueduct |
| | Springing Over the Monocacy. Captain William McNeill of the U.S. Topographical Engineers called this aqueduct “...a work which, while it is highly ornamental, unites...in its plan and execution, ‘the true principles of economy, usefulness and durability.’ ” Much of that durability was the result of its design and construction.
Building the Monocacy Aqueduct required four years, 200 men, and thousands of tons of cut stone. Benjamin Wright, the canal’s Chief Engineer, designed . . . — Map (db m714) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Dickerson — White’s Ferry |
| | Before you is the last operating ferry on the Potomac River. Early settlers recognized these relatively still waters would provide an ideal location for a ferry. The first known ferry operation here was Conrad’s Ferry in 1817. After the Civil War, former Confederate soldier Elijah White purchased and made many improvements to the service. He named his ferry boat in honor of his former commander General Jubal Early.
More than a convenient river crossing, the ferry provided a place of . . . — Map (db m741) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Poolesville — An Ideal Crossing |
| | The Potomac River is calm and narrow here, making it an ideal location for a ferry crossing. In 1791 Edwards Ferry began to operate here, connecting Maryland farmers to the Goose Creek Canal in Virginia and to the Leesburg markets. The ferry closed in 1836 but the community that grew around it continued, carrying on the name. Over time, a general store, a warehouse, and 36 residents composed the Edwards Ferry community. With the coming of the C&O Canal the small village prospered from the . . . — Map (db m1686) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Seneca — The Seneca Aqueduct |
| | Canal engineers build aqueducts to bridge canal boats over rivers and large stream such as Seneca Creek. Eleven aqueducts were needed between here and the canal’s western terminus at Cumberland, Maryland; all required skilled quarrymen and stonemasons, and large outlays of scarce capital.
Seneca Aqueduct opened to traffic in 1833, and along with through-boats from the west, carried a substantial local traffic in lime, grain, fertilizer and sandstone to and from farms and industries around . . . — Map (db m760) |
| Maryland (Montgomery County), Seneca — Watering the Canal |
| | Why are there two locks here? While they may look similar, the two locks played very different roles in the operation of the canal. The lock in front of you is Inlet Lock 2. The lock behind you is Lift Lock 23. Lift locks raised and lowered boats to overcome changes in elevation. Inlet locks controlled the amount of water let into the canal. Dams funneled water to the inlet locks. Dam 2 diverted water from the Potomac River to this inlet lock, watering the canal from Lock 23 all the way to Lock . . . — Map (db m22039) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Big Pool — Four Locks |
| | Here the Potomac River makes a meandering four-mile loop around Prather’s Neck. To avoid the bend in the river, the canal engineers cut the canal one-half mile across the neck. Because of the rapid elevation change, these four locks were necessary to lift the canal boats a total of 33 feet. [Sidebar):
A small but busy community grew up here. Children dallied on their way to the one-room schoolhouse still standing just down the road. In the barn just ahead mules rested after long canal . . . — Map (db m15285) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Big Pool — Mule Power |
| | “Here at Four Locks mule barn, mules rested during the winter months. Boat captains left their mules here, paying a mule tended to care for them. Often the mules grew thin because the keeper did not feed the mules as well as their owners did. Mules were the ‘engines’ for the canal boats. Normally, a boat captain had four. Two worked while two rested in their stall in the front of the boat. Captains usually cared for mules as if they were part of the family. In the canal’s peak years, the . . . — Map (db m15278) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Clear Spring — Stonewall Jackson at Dam 5 |
| | At the outbreak of the Civil War, Maryland became a border between the Confederacy and the Union. The Confederacy knew that the canal and railroad were important Union supply lines. Stonewall Jackson’s Brigade made several attempts to destroy Dam 5 and cripple the canal. On December 7, 1861, Confederate artillery “commenced throwing shells and shot at the dam and houses on the Maryland shore.” Jackson’s troops then tried digging a ditch to undermine the dam; Union troops fended off . . . — Map (db m23561) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Sandy Hook — Lift Lock 33 |
| | Here, the forces of nature created a natural corridor for commerce. The Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers carved a notch in the mountains, providing passage west. Communities grew up on both sides of the river and later a turnpike, railroad, and canal came through this notch. The railroad and canal competed constantly until the railroad gained dominance. Because of the devastation of the Civil War and decreasing dependence on waterpower the area declined in importance. — Map (db m4978) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Sharpsburg — Ferry Hill Place |
| | John Blackford, in 1810, built the Ferry Hill Plantation House standing before you. Blackford owned 25 slaves and managed the farm by himself. The slaves and hired laborers worked with minimum direction. Two slaves, Ned and Jupe, ran the river ferry for which Ferry Hill was named. Blackford owned stock in the C&O Canal Company. When the canal came through in 1834 he had easy shipping access for his farm products to market. — Map (db m1971) |
| Maryland (Washington County), Sharpsburg — Packhorse Ford |
| | A day after the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General Robert E. Lee retreated to the safety of the West Virginia (then Virginia) bluffs across the river from here. This was the only good crossing on the river for many miles upstream or downstream. Some of Lee's artillery units were already in place on the bluffs. Pursued by 700 soldiers from the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry, the Confederates reacted by opening fire. This was the Pennsylvania boys' first taste of battle; they soon discovered . . . — Map (db m6983) |
| West Virginia (Jefferson County), Harpers Ferry — The Iron Horse Wins |
| | Work on the railroad and canal progressed slowly at first, but by 1834 both companies had completed construction to a point opposite Harpers Ferry. The canal had won the race to this point and it continued up the Maryland side of the Potomac. The B&O Railroad, plagued by land disputes with the canal, crossed the Potomac at Harpers Ferry in 1837 and rapidly pushed on. By 1842 it reached Cumberland, Maryland, and a decade later the railroad was open to Wheeling on the Ohio River. Business boomed . . . — Map (db m12062) |
| West Virginia (Jefferson County), Harpers Ferry — The Mule Falters |
| | As the railroad streaked westward from Harpers Ferry, the C&O Canal fell hopelessly behind in the race for Ohio. Burdened by a lack of building supplies and a scarcity of skilled labor, the canal encountered serious financial problems and did not reach Cumberland, Maryland until 1850 --- eight years after the railroad reached that point. Plans to continue further westward were abandoned. Made obsolete by the faster and less expensive railroad, the C&O Canal never attained any great measure of . . . — Map (db m12064) |
| West Virginia (Jefferson County), Harpers Ferry — The Race to the Ohio |
| | Rail transportation in the United States began in Baltimore, Maryland on July 4, 1828, when Charles Carroll, the only living signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the cornerstone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad On the same day President John Quincy Adams turned the first spade of earth along the Potomac River for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The race was underway as the progressive railroad and the traditional canal struggled to become the first to connect the Ohio Valley with . . . — Map (db m12060) |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org