Canals and Turnpikes Fuel Economic Growth

Canals and Turnpikes Fuel Economic Growth. . , Dating back to its colonial origins. Sharpsburg's economy has benefited from agriculture and transportation. Early settlers, most of whom were German, arrived in the area in the mid-1700s and began the laborious task of clearing the land for farming. In addition to cultivating feed crops, orchard fruits, and garden vegetables, Sharpsburg's farmers grew wheat to meet the demands of national and international flour markets. Local gristmills, powered by waterways like Antietam Creek and the Town Run, ground the wheat into flour. Sharpsburg's convenient location near national transportation routes and the Potomac River facilitated the shipment of flour to port cities like Baltimore and Washington. As historian Ted Alexander wrote, "Grain from the Sharpsburg area farms made its way to kitchens in such diverse places as Brazil and England.", Sharpsburg served as a commercial hub for the region, benefiting from being located on national transportation routes. In 1791, Maryland passed an act for the construction of "a road ... from Foxe's Gap ... to the town of Sharpesburgh [sic], and ... to Swearingen's ferry, on Patowmack river ..." With the National Road being built locally between 1810 and 1830, "Turnpike Fever" spread. In 1815, the Boonsboro and Sharpsburg Turnpike Company was chartered to improve the road leading from Boonsboro through Sharpsburg to the Potomac River ferry. The project was completed by 1833. By 1853, the Hagerstown to Sharpsburg Turnpike was finished, making Sharpsburg a transportation hub., Work on the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal began in Washington, DC in 1828 and reached Cumberland, MD by 1850. Paralleling the Potomac River on the Maryland shore, the waterway opened a transportation route to the west. During its construction and nearly a century of operation, the canal provided jobs for countless men, women, and children who worked the canal locks or on the canal boats. It also employed craftsmen, laborers, engineers, managers and supervisors. Coal companies, farmers, businesses, and individuals used the canal to transport goods in both directions. Small warehouses were common along the canal, such as Snyders Coal and Grain warehouse at nearby Snyder's Landing. Sharpsburg was home to several famed canal boatmen. Among them were Samuel Swain, Augustus Hebb, J.P. Mose, Lester Mose, and Raleigh Bender. Coal, grain, and other products arrived and departed at Sharpsburg Landing, located about a mile west of town. As the Battle of Antietam raged, many local citizens took refuge from the conflict at Killiansburg Cave, located just off the canal towpath., (captions) , Main Street, looking East circa 1910., Worker's taking a break from crushing stone at the intersection of Main and Church Streets., Raleigh Bender (center) circa 1905., Raleigh Bender set a record for the fastest time from Georgetown to Cumberland for a light boat: 62 hours. After the canal closed in 1936, Bender founded Captain Bender's Tavern in Sharpsburg.