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

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

The Potomac River in Washington, D.C., with Arlington Memorial Bridge in the foreground and Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia in the background

Canal boats waiting to be unloaded in Georgetown.

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

Map showing the five geological provinces through which the Potomac River flows

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.

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

The North Branch between Cumberland, Maryland, and Ridgeley, West Virginia, in 2007

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

Canoers at Hanging Rocks on the South Branch in the 1890s

Boat construction yard in Cumberland, MD

Confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah at Harpers Ferry

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

View southwest across the tidal Potomac River from the south end of Cobb Island Road on Cobb Island, Charles County, Maryland

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.

Boats docked beside the Key Bridge in Georgetown

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

Tundra swans were the predominant species of swan on the Potomac River when the Algonquian tribes dwelled along its shores, and continue to be the most populous variety today.

View of the Potomac River from George Washington's birthplace in Westmoreland County, Virginia

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

Sunset over the Potomac near Mount Vernon

Map of the Potomac River and its environs circa 1862 by Robert Knox Sneden.

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

The Potomac River surges over the deck of Chain Bridge during the historic 1936 flood. The bridge was so severely damaged by the raging water, and the debris it carried, that its superstructure had to be re-built; the new bridge was opened to traffic in 1939. (This photograph was taken from a vantage point on Glebe Road in Arlington County, Virginia. The houses on the bluffs in the background are located on the Potomac Palisades of Washington, DC.)

Eutrophication in the Potomac River is evident from this bright green water in Washington, D.C., caused by a dense bloom of cyanobacteria, April 2012

This chart displays the Annual Mean Discharge of the Potomac River measured at Little Falls, Maryland for Water Years 1931–2017 (in cubic feet per second). Source of data: USGS

Culvert #30 lets Muddy Branch under the canal

After an absence lasting many decades, the American Shad has recently returned to the Potomac.

Several hundred bottle-nosed dolphins live six months of the year (from mid-April through mid-October) in the Potomac. Depicted here, a mother with her young.

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

Eastern Box Turtles are frequently spotted along the towpath of the C&O Canal.

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

The South Branch near South Branch Depot, West Virginia

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

Confluence of the Cacapon River (barely visible) with the Potomac

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

Oblique air photo, facing southwest, of the Potomac River flowing through water gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Virginia on the left, Maryland on the right, West Virginia in upper right, including Harpers Ferry (partially obscured by Maryland Heights of Elk Ridge Mountain) at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

The Great Falls of the Potomac, viewed from the Virginia bank of the river (Engraving based on an aquatint drawn by George Jacob Beck in 1802)

View of the Potomac River, Analostan Island, Georgetown, and, in the distance, buildings of the nascent City of Washington. (Engraving based on an 1801 watercolor by George Jacob Beck)

Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., viewed from across the Tidal Basin of the Potomac

The Pentagon, looking northeast with the Potomac in the distance

East Branch of the Potomac (now called the Anacostia River) near its confluence with the mainstem Potomac in Washington. (Watercolor drawn in 1839 by Augustus Kollner)

Potomac River seen while landing at Reagan National Airport

View northeast down the North Branch Potomac River from the Gorman-Gormania Bridge (U.S. Route 50) between Gormania, Grant County, West Virginia and Gorman, Garrett County, Maryland

The North Branch Potomac River near Piedmont, WV

The South Branch Potomac River near South Branch Depot, WV

The South Branch of the Potomac River at Millesons Mill, WV

Potomac River Watershed in West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.

- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, more commonly known as the Key Bridge, is a six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 (US 29) traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, and the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1923, it is Washington's oldest surviving road bridge across the Potomac River.

- Key Bridge (Washington, D.C.)

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.)

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal operated along the banks of the Potomac in Maryland from 1831 to 1924 and also connected Cumberland to Washington, D.C. This allowed freight to be transported around the rapids known as the Great Falls of the Potomac River, as well as many other, smaller rapids.

- Potomac River

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

a pod of 14 adults and young was followed up the river by men in boats as high as the Aqueduct Bridge (approximately the same location occupied by Key Bridge today).

- Potomac River

2 related topics with Alpha

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

Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

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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.

Georgetown is a historic neighborhood and commercial and entertainment district located in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River.

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.