Potomac in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Fighting Floods
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Photographed by Tom Bosse, July 4, 2020
1. Fighting Floods Marker
Inscription.
Fighting Floods. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The C&O Canal was built within the Potomac river floodplain and floods routinely threatened the canal and towpath. Stop gates were erected at particularly vulnerable locations to deflect the destructive waters. A stop gate consisted of sunken stone piers that offered a permanent framework for wooden planks that could be stacked quickly. But serious flooding still occurred, damaging the canal and causing economic setbacks that contributed to the demise of the canal system., Floods continued to plague the canal path as illustrated in this photograph of a breach in the towpath near Old Angler's Inn after the 1996 flood.
The C&O Canal was built within the Potomac river floodplain and floods routinely threatened the canal and towpath. Stop gates were erected at particularly vulnerable locations to deflect the destructive waters. A stop gate consisted of sunken stone piers that offered a permanent framework for wooden planks that could be stacked quickly. But serious flooding still occurred, damaging the canal and causing economic setbacks that contributed to the demise of the canal system.
Floods continued to plague the canal path as illustrated in this photograph of a breach in the towpath near Old Angler's Inn after the 1996 flood.
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Location. 38° 59.896′ N, 77° 14.915′ W. Marker is in Potomac, Maryland, in Montgomery County. It is on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Potomac MD 20854, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other markers no longer nearby. Boats Passing By (was about 700 feet away but has been confirmed missing); A Lift Lock (was about 700 feet away but has been confirmed missing).
Photographed by Tom Bosse, July 4, 2020
2. Fighting Floods Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on March 20, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 11, 2021, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 285 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 11, 2021, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
