A report on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Map of planned route.
A boat on the canal, circa 1900-1924
Canal boats waiting to be unloaded in 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.
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
Floodwaters around Lock 6 in 1936
Great Falls feeder culvert (no longer used) indicated by yellow arrow(14.08 mi), and Lock 18 (R).
Boat at Big Slackwater
An informal overflow. The towpath dips, allowing water to flow over it. Note the boards in the background for people to walk on.
Paw Paw Tunnel
Remains of the inclined plane
Culvert #30 lets Muddy Branch under the canal
Repairs at Big Pool
Mules being fed.
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

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

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Hancock, Maryland

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Town in Washington County, Maryland, United States.

Town in Washington County, Maryland, United States.

C&O Canal
I-70/US 40 westbound at the exit for US 522 south in Hancock
Central Hancock and Maryland Route 144 (Main Street) as seen from the U.S. Route 522 bridge.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal passes through the town, and the Western Maryland Rail Trail connects Hancock with Fort Frederick State Park.

The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests lie on the eastern slopes of the Alleghenies. The Monongahela NF lies within the central Alleghenies.

Allegheny Mountains

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Part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less developed eras.

Part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less developed eras.

The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests lie on the eastern slopes of the Alleghenies. The Monongahela NF lies within the central Alleghenies.
Detail of a French map of 1671. The Alleghenies are in the lower center portion.
The Fry-Jefferson Map (1751) prominently features "The Allagany Ridge of Mountains".
A 1775 map of the Allegheny Plateau and Mountain Range.
Actual and proposed routes of the C&O Canal through the Alleghenies.
North Fork Mountain, West Virginia, looking south
Blue Knob, Pennsylvania, the northernmost 3,000 footer in the Alleghenies.
The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia, has catered to spa enthusiasts since 1766.
Shenandoah Mountain, at the easternmost limit of the Alleghenies.
Laurel Mountain, West Virginia, at the westernmost limit of the Alleghenies.
Allegheny Mountain Tunnel, through Allegheny Mountain, services Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania.
New River Gorge, Section of the cliff at Endless Wall cliff.
Germany Valley, a scenic upland valley of eastern West Virginia.
The grand hotel at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, was built in 1858.
The Blackwater Canyon, a rugged gorge in eastern West Virginia.
A Norfolk Southern train at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Cheat Canyon, in Coopers Rock State Forest, northeastern West Virginia.
Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia: View from atop Breathed Mountain.
Eastern entrance to the Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O Canal towpath in Maryland.
Altoona, Pennsylvania, viewed from atop Brush Mountain.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal—also begun in 1828, but at Georgetown—was also a public work of enormous economic and social significance for the Alleghenies.

A towpath in use on the Finow Canal in Germany.

Towpath

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Road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway.

Road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway.

A towpath in use on the Finow Canal in Germany.
People towing a vessel in the Netherlands in 1931
Mules pulling boat on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
A roving bridge on the English Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The towpath changes to the other side of the canal but the horse does not have to be unhitched
A towpath cut into the rock beside the Lot river in south-west France
"Towboats Along the Yotsugi-dōri Canal" from Hiroshige's "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" series; a depiction of a towpath in rural Tokyo, mid 19c.
Example of Rope abrasion, on a bridge (which also functions as a stop gate) on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trail

Shepherdstown, West Virginia

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Town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River.

Town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River.

View eastward down German Street.
Shepherdstown Bridge over the Potomac River, viewed from the Maryland side, with the bed of the C&O Canal visible in the foreground.
Lock 38 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and ruins of a bridge across the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, ca. 1861–1865 (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
WV 45 westbound heading out of Shepherdstown

The portion of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal along the Maryland side of the Potomac River across from Shepherdstown was built during the 1830s.

Alexandria, Virginia

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Independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.

Independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.

Map of Alexandria County (1878), including what is now Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. Map includes the names of property owners at that time. City boundaries roughly correspond with Old Town.
Slave ship taking on slaves at the Alexandria waterfront in 1836. Alexandria's slave trade made Virginia a more pro-slavery state after retrocession.
Map of Alexandria showing the forts that were constructed to defend Washington during the Civil War
A bird's eye view of Alexandria from the Potomac in 1863. Fort Ellsworth is visible on the hill in the center background.
Child laborers working at a glass factory in Alexandria, 1911. Photo by Lewis Hine.
Confederate Memorial on George Washington Memorial Parkway (circa 1920)
First city library location within an apothecary shop
Alexandria VA, Hoffman Towne Center, Looking Northeast
Alexandria VA, The Thornton
Alexandria waterfront, along the Potomac River
Hoffman Town Center, a mixed-use retail and office development in the Eisenhower Valley
One of the many restaurants that line King Street in Old Town
Old Town Alexandria in March 2003, as seen from the observation deck of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.
Alexandria Torpedo Factory (waterfront side)
Old Town Alexandria.
Ole Towne, Alexandria, VA
Ole Towne, Alexandria VA
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Entrance to Northern Virginia Community College's Alexandria campus
Beatley Central Library in Alexandria, VA
George Washington Masonic National Memorial and elevated Blue Line Metro tracks seen from a high-rise on Eisenhower Avenue
Southbound Amtrak train at Alexandria's Union Station
I-95/I-495 (the Capital Beltway) in Alexandria
Marina behind the Torpedo Factory

As competition grew with the port of Georgetown and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal fostered development on the north side of the Potomac River, Alexandria's economy stagnated; at the same time, residents had lost any representation in Congress and the right to vote, and were disappointed with the negligible economic benefit (on the Alexandria side) of being part of the national capital.

Riley's Lock and lockhouse

Riley's Lock

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Riley's Lock and lockhouse
Great Falls of the Potomac River
Boat entering Riley's Lock
Charles Wood was Lock 24 keeper "L.K." in 1865
Canal boat on Seneca Aqueduct over Seneca Creek in 1882
Seneca Creek, Seneca Aqueduct, and Riley's lock house in 2012
John and Roberta Riley gravestone at Darnestown Presbyterian Church
Riley's Lock and lock house in 2020 as viewed from walkway on the Seneca Aqueduct over Seneca Creek

Riley's Lock (Lock 24) and lock house are part of the 184.5-mile (296.9 km) Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (a.k.a. C&O Canal) that operated in the United States along the Potomac River from the 1830s through 1923.

Monocacy River

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Free-flowing left tributary to the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay.

Free-flowing left tributary to the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay.

The Monocacy River (foreground) at its confluence with the Potomac River

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal crosses over the river at the Monocacy Aqueduct, the largest of the 11 aqueducts on the canal.

Western Maryland Rail Road Company gold bond, issued 1917

Western Maryland Railway

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American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Western Maryland Rail Road Company gold bond, issued 1917
Pen Mar station c. 1878. The WM built Pen Mar Park as a mountain resort in 1877 and ran excursion trains from Baltimore. The park closed in 1943.
Union Bridge Station, built 1902.
Hillen Station, Baltimore in 1950
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Williamsport on the C&O Canal was the WM's western terminus from 1873, and its principal source of coal traffic until the main line was extended to Cumberland in 1906
Eckhart Junction in the Cumberland Narrows, 1970. The masonry arch bridge over Wills Creek was built by the Maryland Mining Company in 1860 as part of the Eckhart Branch Railroad. Beyond the masonry bridge is a viaduct for the State Line Branch
WM Cumberland Station, built 1913

The WM built a connection from Hagerstown to Williamsport, in order to access coal traffic from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

Tiber Creek

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Tributary of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was a free-flowing creek until 1815, when it was channeled to become part of the Washington City Canal.

Tributary of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was a free-flowing creek until 1815, when it was channeled to become part of the Washington City Canal.

Landscape showing a train crossing Tiber Creek, northeast of the Capitol (not pictured) in Washington, DC in 1839
Tiber/Goose Creek around 1800, and the modern shorelines of the Potomac River
Andrew Ellicott's revision of L'Enfant's Plan, showing Washington City Canal
Survey map showing Goose Creek running along North Capitol Street in 1855

A lock keeper's house from the Washington branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal remains at the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue and 17th Street, NW, near the former mouth of Tiber Creek, and the western end of the Washington City Canal.

Opening paddle valves on Lock 20

Locks on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

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Opening paddle valves on Lock 20
Lift lock during the operating days. Note the whitewash on this lock.
Rake and trash pulled out of water so that lock gates can be opened
Drop lock mechanism on Lock 10 (Seven Locks)
Example of iron cramps used to hold together the stones of Lock 24 (Riley's Lock)
A lock tender's shanty, at Lock 50
The bypass flume around Lock 7
Rough stonework of a composite lock (L) vs smooth stonework of a regular lock (R). Note iron bolt (L) which would hold the wood lining.
Example of concrete lined composite lock (#70). Lining is broken showing stonework behind. Original gates are missing.

The Locks on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, located in Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. of the United States, were of three types: lift locks; river locks; and guard, or inlet, locks.