The History of Canal Square

The History of Canal Square. . , Canal Square has seen more than century and a half of change in Georgetown. It is a typical brick and fieldstone industrial structure built to facilitate barge traffic on the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal. Necessary for westward expansion, canals were the primary means of moving goods before the development of the railways. The building served as a barrel maker's warehouse until 1892, when it was purchased by Dr. Herman Holerith, a self-styled statistical engineer involved in developing the 1890 and 1900 census. Here some of the first "punch cards" were manufactured, a major icon of 20th century modernity and an important tool in the development of the computer. In setting literally full of bells and whistles, his steam-driven machinery punched census information onto the small cards, which were then taken in horse-drawn carts to another building where the data was tabulated using more of Dr. Holerith's machinery. In 1924, Dr. Holerith's tabulating company and several competing businesses were incorporated as International Business Machines (IBM)., After IBM consolidated its operations, 1054 reverted to warehouse status and was almost demolished to make way for a parking lot in the 1960s. Architect and developer Arthur Cotton-Moore resurrected 1054 and its adjoining parcels into Canal Square. This 19th century warehouse and its 1970s addition has become a European-style town square.