A report on Alexandria Canal (Virginia), Key Bridge (Washington, D.C.) and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Alexandria Canal Center with reconstructed Tidal Basin and Tidal Lock

1878 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County, Virginia), showing the route of the Alexandria Canal (identified as the "Chesapeake and Ohio Canal") southwest of the Potomac River

The Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn, the company's oldest hotel, and a minor location in the Watergate scandal (2009)

Southern terminus of Key Bridge and remaining pier and abutment of Aqueduct Bridge (2005)

Canal boats waiting to be unloaded in Georgetown.

View of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, US 29, over the Potomac River from Georgetown

Low-angle bird's-eye view of central Washington toward the west and northwest with The Capitol in foreground. The Canal is visible running along the mall.

C&O Canal in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Boat construction yard in Cumberland, MD

Map of Terminus in Cumberland in the mid 1890s. Yellow dots indicate modern highways as well as current (2013) location of Canal basin.

Boats docked beside the Key Bridge in Georgetown

Register of waybills in the Cumberland Office, in 1858. Each canal boat had to have a waybill, even if empty, for passage through the canal. Fines were levied for lack of a waybill.

5 and 10 dollar notes, from C&O Canal company

Great Falls feeder culvert (no longer used) indicated by yellow arrow(14.08 mi), and Lock 18 (R).

An informal overflow. The towpath dips, allowing water to flow over it. Note the boards in the background for people to walk on.

Culvert #30 lets Muddy Branch under the canal

A steamboat on the C&O Canal. Note the steering wheel and the smokestack on this boat

Children tethered to canal boat. This photo was probably taken in one of the Cumberland basins.

Model interior of a C&O Canal freight boat

Recent view of the 9 mile level (between 33 and 34 miles) where the ghosts were reported to haunt.

Monocacy aqueduct in 2011, where the ghost of a robber could allegedly be seen on moonless nights

In 1830, merchants from Alexandria (which at the time was within the jurisdiction of the federal District of Columbia) proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal).

- Alexandria Canal (Virginia)

The first Aqueduct Bridge was built in 1830 to carry the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal across the Potomac to connect with the Alexandria Canal on the Virginia shore.

- Key Bridge (Washington, D.C.)

After the Key Bridge was completed in 1923, the old superstructure of the Aqueduct Bridge was removed.

- Alexandria Canal (Virginia)

In 1843, the Potomac Aqueduct Bridge was built near the present-day Francis Scott Key Bridge to connect the canal to the Alexandria Canal, which led to Alexandria, Virginia.

- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

2 related topics with Alpha

First Aqueduct Bridge between 1860 and 1865

Aqueduct Bridge (Potomac River)

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Bridge between Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and Rosslyn, Virginia.

First Aqueduct Bridge after addition of superstructure and roadway. Note the Howe trusses and arches added for strength.

View of the Potomac Aqueduct Bridge from Georgetown into Rosslyn, Virginia

Aqueduct Bridge from Georgetown, ca. 1900

Second Aqueduct Bridge, some time between 1924 and 1933.

Side view of second Aqueduct Bridge abutment, with Water Street and Whitehurst Freeway visible through the arch.

Photograph of first bridge with new superstructure

Close-up photo of first bridge with new superstructure

Downstream view (towards Roosevelt Island) of second bridge

View of second bridge from Virginia towards Georgetown

Side view of second bridge abutment, before enlargement to allow the Georgetown Branch to pass beneath

Aqueduct Bridge's Georgetown abutment and piers in Potomac river upstream of Key Bridge (c. 1940)

Second bridge's Georgetown abutment and Potomac Boat Club (1967)

Aqueduct Bridge pier, from Virginia shore upstream of Key Bridge (1967)

Pier and remnant of Virginia abutment of Aqueduct Bridge upstream of Key Bridge (1967)

Aerial view of Key Bridge and George Washington Memorial Parkway, with pier of Aqueduct Bridge visible in the foreground and remnant of Aqueduct Bridge abutment visible on the Virginia shoreline (c. 1990)

Pier and remnant of Virginia abutment of the Aqueduct Bridge upstream of Key Bridge (2005)

Georgetown abutment and pier of Aqueduct Bridge, seen from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath (2013)

Aqueduct Bridge remnants seen from below (2022)

It was built to transport cargo-carrying boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown across the Potomac River to the Alexandria Canal.

The bridge was closed in 1923 after the construction of the nearby Key Bridge.

Map of Washington, D.C., with Georgetown highlighted in maroon.

Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

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Historic neighborhood and commercial and entertainment district located in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River.

Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel, designed by James Renwick Jr. in 1850, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bank on the corner of M Street & Wisconsin Avenue

The Old Stone House, built 1765, is the oldest house in Washington, D.C.

Georgetown around 1862. Overview of the C&O Canal, Aqueduct Bridge at right, and unfinished Capitol dome in the distant background.

Sailing vessels docked at the Georgetown waterfront, c. 1865

Children playing on sidewalk in Georgetown during the Great Depression, Carl Mydans, 1935

The Washington Harbour complex located on the Potomac River. Healy Hall is visible in the background.

Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School

Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Potomac River, connecting Georgetown to Rosslyn, Virginia

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal passes through Georgetown.

Enlargeable diagram of Washington area trolley lines:
Orange = Washington, Arlington & Mount Vernon Electric Railway.
Blue = Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway (WA&FC).
Yellow = Nauck (Fort Myer) line of WA&FC.
Light green = W&OD Bluemont Division.
Dark green = W&OD Great Falls Division.

Construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal began in July 1828, to link Georgetown to Harper's Ferry, Virginia (West Virginia after 1863).

In 1949, the city constructed the Whitehurst Freeway, an elevated highway above K Street, to allow motorists entering the District over the Key Bridge to bypass Georgetown entirely on their way downtown.

Georgetown was located at the juncture of the Alexandria Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.