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Historic Waterway to the West:  The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

2/28/2021

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A Quiet Morning at the Cushwa Basin in Willimasport, Maryland is part of the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
The year 2021 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park becoming part of the National Park System. This park preserves the historic 19th-century transportation canal from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. Since 2019, it has been ranked as the 11th most visited United States National Park, with Great Falls being the most visited location along the canal's 184.5-mile-long towpath. Many visitors stop at the Great Falls Tavern but never explore more than the canal's first 14.5 miles. 

No road follows beside the C&O Canal, so the towpath is most popular with hikers and bikers. However, I decided to avoid the city and explore some lesser-visited C&O Canal highlights. Wanting to see as much as possible and knowing that I didn't have time to see it all, I decided to drive to different locations along the canal, doing a series of short hikes along the way.

There is so much history along the C&O Canal that I could almost feel the ghosts of the past walking along the towpath with me.  I visited the canal in 2020 when all the visitor centers were closed, and I left with so many unanswered questions that I wished I had been better versed in the canal's history before I went.  The C&O Canal stuck with me, giving me a need to understand the people, the mechanics of how locks worked, and many other things that this blog post took on a life of its own. Yes, I've been told in the past that I write too much. LOL

I hope to complete this park one day. While I love historical sites, I found the C&O Canal even more interesting than I expected.

The history of the C&O Canal comes first, but if you aren't into that, scroll down to the section on the C&O Canal by towpath mile, which is clearly marked below.
Battie Mixon Pond, a four miles section of rewatered C&O Canal in Oldtown, Maryland.
A four mile section of the C&O Canal in Oldtown, Maryland has been rewatered. It is also known as Battie Mixon Pond in honor of the Natural Resources Officer who led the community's rewatering effort in the 1940s and 50s.

The History of the C&O Canal

As America grew and expanded, infrastructure was needed to send resources and supplies Westward. Dubbed "The Great National Project," the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal took 22 years to construct, employing thousands of immigrants along the way.

As far back as 1785, George Washington proposed a canal.  He advocated using waterways to connect the Eastern Seaboard to the Great Lakes and Ohio River.  Washington formed the Patowmack Company to improve navigation on the Potomac River by bypassing its waterfalls and rapids. The C&O Canal incorporated these canals into its canal system.

The transportation race was on when both the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O) and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) began construction on the same day, July 4, 1828. While initially not considered a race, B&O soon competed with the C&O for property rights over the narrow right of way along the Potomac River. The construction routes of the two companies finally collided at Point of Rocks. A bitter and expensive four-year battle ensued, halting construction for both until 1832, when the courts ruled in the canal's favor.

Even though C&O won the right of way, B&O won the race with their first train arriving in Cumberland on November 1, 1842. It was eight more years before the C&O Canal would make it to Cumberland on October 10, 1850. After spending 14 million dollars on its construction and failing to reach its intended goal of the Ohio River, C&O decided to stop the canal at Cumberland since they could not compete with rail’s speed or capacity, making it nearly obsolete.
The Potomac River from the Fifteen Mile Creek boat dock.
The Potomac River from the Fifteen Mile Creek boat dock.
Still, the 184.5-mile-long C&O Canal was an important commercial link between the East and the West for almost a century. The business grew slowly; the canal was a major target of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and seasonal flooding was always an issue. It was only profitable for four years. During its peak, in the 1870s, the canal boats moved almost a million tons of freight a year.

A devastating flood destroyed the canal in 1889, forcing the C&O Canal Company into bankruptcy. No boats moved for 18 months. Finally, to avoid letting the right of way fall into the hands of their rival company, Western Maryland Railroad, B&O, as the primary creditor to the C&O Canal Company, took over the receivership under the name Consolidation Coal Company. This agreement made B&O responsible for maintenance and operations until 1938.

As the canal's business began to dwindle, B&O started
selling off parts of the basin. Western Maryland Railway was able to purchase the canal's terminus, fill it in, and build a railroad station over it.

By the early 1920s, the slow-moving canal boats could no longer compete with the railroad. The canal
closed in 1924 after a flood destroyed many of its banks and locks. In 1938, when the receivership ended, B&O sold the canal to the United States Government for $2 million, which they paid to the primary holders of the 1844 and 1878 bond mortgages.

Canallers - Life of the Canal Builders

While a few slaves were used early on, the canal was primarily constructed by English, Irish, and German immigrants and a few native-born Americans. They worked 12 to 15 hours a day, no matter the weather. Skilled tradespeople, carpenters, and stonemasons built the 74 locks, 64 lock houses, 11 aqueducts, 7 dams, over 150 culverts, and a 3,100-foot-long tunnel.
The C&O Canal Paw Paw Tunnel.
The Paw Paw Tunnel was the site of some of the worst Race Riots along the C&O Canal.
The 184.5-mile canal prism, originally 6 feet deep and 60 to 80 feet wide, was hand-dug by the lowest-paid workers. It was back-breaking labor since they only had shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows at the time. Their days were spent in ditches, up to their waists in mud and water. It was dangerous and challenging work; injuries were common, and maiming and even death occurred frequently.

Living conditions along the canal were very primitive. Many married laborers traveled with their families, living in makeshift shanty towns near their worksites. Wives were not employees of the C&O Company but managed the camp's domestic life. Single laborers often slept in bunkhouses with 15 to 20 other men. These poor living conditions made serious illnesses a threat, and hunger was common. Epidemics commonly swept down the canal line, leaving a trail of bodies in their​ wake.

Miserable living and work conditions led to fighting among the Canallers. C&O was struggling financially and sometimes withheld wages. Work crews were often pitted against each other for jobs, leading to sporadic unrest, violence, ethnic conflicts, riots, and strikes.
The C&O Canal Lock 75 is the farthest lock west before the terminus at Cumberland, Maryland..
Lock 75 is the farthest lock west before the "nine-mile level" to Cumberland's terminus.

The Lock Tender

As soon as the canal was constructed, the C&O company started looking for lockkeepers. They wanted sober, reliable family men for these jobs. Every lockkeeper received a lockhouse rent-free just a few feet from their lock, one acre of land for gardening and raising animals, and $150 a year (by 1870, it was $600). If he worked more than one lock, he was paid an additional $50 for each lock he tended (this increased to $150 by 1870).  Besides lock tending, keepers were required to do minor repairs on the locks, maintain the canal water level, and provide any additional help they needed. For this reason, married men with large families were the perfect candidates for the job.

Lock tending was hard work. A lock keeper was expected to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. There was no time off since a canal boat could come through at any time of the day or night.

The pay wasn’t much. It was about what an unskilled factory worker made in the city. The garden helped put food on the table, and any extra produce was traded for coal and other necessities. Many wives baked pies and bread to trade. Children helped with the locks, and in the garden, they were also expected to fish and hunt for meat.
C&O paid a bounty reward for muskrat, which was another way the kids helped bring in extra money. C&O also allowed tenders to rent rooms to travelers if they had the space.
The canal was a 184.5-mile long lineal community with as many as 530 canal boats on the water at any given time. The locks were common stopping points, so they became small communities and gathering places with grocery stores, and feed stores opening up nearby.

C&O made it attractive for merchants to set up shop along the canal and the merchants were the only ones to get wealthy off the canal venture. The annual rent for a feed store was $36 a year. In the 1870s, the mules used for towing the canal boats were consuming 25,000 barrels of corn, 3,840 bushels of oats, and thousands of tons of hay every year!

Operating the Locks

When a canal boat passed through a lock, the boat captain put his life and livelihood into the hands of the lock tender. The wooden lock gates were a delicate balance between safety and efficiency. While the gates had to be lightweight enough that one man could operate them, they also had to be strong enough to hold back 140,000 gallons of water. A lock tender's job was to keep the water flow in and out of the lock adjusted, minimizing risk to both the boat and lock.
Looking down into the watered lift lock at Lock 44 in Williamsport, Maryland.
Looking down into the watered lift lock at Lock 44 in Williamsport, Maryland.
A lock is basically an elevator for a boat. It uses water to lift a boat up or down to the next level in the canal. The C&O Canal locks are 100 feet long by 15 feet wide, leaving six inches on either side and one foot on each end of the canal boat when it is inside the lock. There are 74 lift locks to complete a total elevational change of 605 feet along the entire length of the C&O Canal.
Here is an example of the ten—to fifteen-minute "lock-through" process. While one person can do it, it's much easier with two.

The mules are unhitched and led downstream. Using ropes attached to the boat, the lock keeper guides the canal boat into the lock to prevent damage to the boat or the lock walls. Once the boat is inside the lock, it is tied to snubbing posts to keep it secure. The lock tender pushes the large balance beams on either side of the lock to close the gate doors. The boat is now completely enclosed within the lock. Using a lock key, the lock keeper opens the butterfly or wicket valves at the gates' bottom to lower or raise the water level depending on which direction the canal boat is traveling. Once the water level is equalized in the direction the boat is headed, the lock gates are opened back up, and the boat is pulled out. The mules are hitched back up, and the boat continues on its way.

Canawlers - The Canal Boatmen

The canal boat season was about eight months long, from March through December. Once the canal froze, the water was drained, and the boats sat on the bottom until Spring. 

On average, a trip down the canal took 5-7 days. Most canal boats could make two round trips per month. It took a crew of three to five to operate a canal boat, and the Captain paid them out of his earnings. Since the pay was already low, canal boats were usually family businesses.

Many women and children were on the boats, and every member had their jobs.  The Captain was generally on the bow (front) to grab a line or pole if something went wrong. "Women's work," cooking, cleaning, sewing, and taking care of the children, was done by the tiller near the living quarters at the boat's stern (rear) since women were also in charge of the steering. Women were also responsible for changing the mule teams. Very young children were tethered to the deck so they didn't fall off.  By the time the kids reached seven years of age, they were extra hands on deck and responsible for the mules. They brushed, harnessed, fed them, cleaned the stable, and were the mule drivers walking with them along the towpath. At night, the children carried lanterns while riding the mules to help their parents steer in the dark. 

It was such a transient lifestyle that the children who lived on the boats could not attend school during the canal season.  Some children went to school during the off-season but were always so behind that most never learned much.  Many were illiterate, as were their parents.

It was common for the boys to grow up to captain boats and the girls to marry into canal boat families.
The Seneca One-Room Schoolhouse in Poolesville, Maryland.
Many Canal boat children went to the Seneca Schoolhouse during the offseason.
Directions on the canal were upstream, downstream, riverside, and bermside. The towpath was usually on the riverside, but there were a few exceptions.

Downstream is traveling from Cumberland to Washington, D.C. When traveling downstream, the boats primarily transported coal, but they also moved fresh produce, lumber, wheat, flour, oats, pork, grain, whisky, cement, and red sandstone.

Upstream is traveling from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland. The boats traveling upstream transported goods and merchandise to the settlements and lock houses, including food such as salt, salted fish, oysters, potatoes, bricks, and manufactured goods.

Canal boat operators were considered the "working poor." A boat captain making two round trips a month might earn about $50 a month, which is equal to around $800 a month today.

C&O made its money through tolls and traffic regulations. They charged a $15.50 toll each way to use the canal. The canal had a speed limit of 4 mph, and if caught speeding, the penalty was $5.
The Potomac River from the Spring Gap boat launch near the C&O Canal in Oldtown, Maryland.
Spring Gap on the north branch of the Potomac River near “the Narrows” on the C&O Canal.

The Mules

Mules were the preferred engines for canal boats. Harnessed slantwise, which is one mule behind the other, they pulled the boat straighter than when harnessed abreast. Because of the extreme weight they were pulling, mules had to be re-shod about every other trip to Cumberland and sometimes more often.

During the canal's peak years of the 1870s, approximately 3000 mules worked on the C&O Canal. Most canal boat captains treated their mules like pets and cared for them like part of the family. They were well-fed, eating corn, hay, and oats.

A boat captain typically owned four mules. Two worked while the other two rested in a Mule Stable on the boat's bow. A workday for a pair of mules, known as a trick, was a six-hour shift covering about 16 miles while pulling a 90 x 14-foot barge carrying something like 120 tons of coal (an average load) along the canal.
The Mule Barn at Four Locks along the C&O Canal.
The Mule Barn at Four Locks has been reconstructed as a testament to the hard-working mules along the C&O Canal.
During the winter off-season, most captains preferred to send their mules to a Mule Barn, paying a mule tender to care for them. Mules were not always well cared for at the barns and were commonly underfed.

Boat captains preferred mules over horses because they had a horse's size and temperament and a donkey's strength and endurance. They were less prone to illness and injury, had longer life spans and work lives, and were cheaper to purchase. More sure-footed than horses, mules were less likely to trip and injure themselves when pulling such weighty loads.

C&O Canal by Towpath Mile Marker


Once you get out past the D.C. Metro/Great Falls area, many of these locations are fairly rural. When possible, I have added addresses to sites and GPS coordinates for the most rural locations.  I did not always have cellular internet. Do not rely on your cell phone for maps; have a GPS with you.

I traveled the C&O Canal in reverse, starting
at the terminus in Cumberland, Maryland. I reversed the information for this post since it makes more sense to count up the towpath miles. I could not resist visiting Great Falls Tavern since Great Falls is the #1 MUST-SEE location, but I didn't go any further into the city.

I have added some brief notes for the C&O Canal sites that I missed. Many locations were skipped because of time constraints, and heavy rain showers hindered my last day on the Canal. I skipped it if there wasn't a parking lot on-site or it was raining. I was very disappointed to miss out on towpath miles 16.7 - 22.8.  I had planned to hit Great Falls again on my final day and then backtrack over some of the areas I missed, but I had to scrap the last day entirely because of the weather. For that reason, there are some good-sized gaps between locations from towpath mile 14.5 through 88.1.

Overall, I was fortunate; the towpath was very dry while I was hiking it. I have read many accounts of the dirt trail being nothing but mud. Take that into consideration when you plan your visit.

14.4 Great Falls Tavern

C&O Canal Visitors Center - 11710 Macarthur Blvd, Potomac, Maryland

This is the only location along the canal that collects National Park admission fees. The canal at the Great Falls Tavern is usually watered, but in 2020, I  was disappointed to discover it was not.
C&O Canal Lock 12 and the backside of Great Falls Tavern.
Lock 20 is the most well known of the of "Six Locks" at Great Falls. The Great Falls Tavern is also Lockhouse 12.
The very first lock tender at Great Falls, knowing that he was in a special location because of the falls, convinced C&O to build an inn and allow him to run it.

The inn became a destination for people
living in Washington, D.C. They could hop a packet boat in Georgetown, 14 miles away, and be there in 6 to 8 hours. It was the perfect weekend getaway! It was so popular that in the early 1900s, the Washington Railway and Electric Company ran a trolley line between Washington, D.C.,​ and Great Falls to make it more convenient.
Great Falls, Great Falls Tavern, Potomac, Maryland
Great Falls
The Great Falls Tavern is still the most popular canal location along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In season, they do mule-drawn canal boat rides here. Besides the falls, don't miss seeing the Washington Aqueduct.

16.7 - Lock & Lockhouse 21 - Swains Lock - 10700 Swains Lock Road, Potomac, MD     39.031634, -77.243531
Part of the Canal Quarters program along with Lockhouses 6, 10, 22, 25, 28 and 49.
         
19.6 - Lock & Lockhouse 22 - Pennyfield -     39.0548142,-77.2948962
The lock that President Grover Cleveland visited often to fish.
Canal Quarters info for Lockhouse 22.
         
22.1 - Lock 23 - Violettes Lock &  Dam No. 2 ruins -    39.0670517, -77.328637
Double lock of Seneca red sandstone.

22.8 - Seneca Creek Aqueduct - 13025 Rileys Lock Rd, Poolesville, MD
Rileys Lock 24 & Rileys Lockhouse - open on Saturdays in season.
Seneca Stone Cutting Mill Ruins - Milled stone for Smithsonian Castle

30.9 - Edwards Ferry - Lock & Lockhouse 25

C&O Canal Lockhouse 25 in Edwards Ferry, Maryland.
The back of Lockhouse 25.
Lockhouse 25, is located in what was once the sleepy little town of Edwards Ferry, Maryland. Other than the lock and lockhouse, not much remains but the ruins of Jarboe's store. There is a nice boat ramp where the ferry boat used to land.

When the canal opened in 1833, the community of Edwards Ferry sprung up overnight. Edwards Ferry was the canal entry point for agricultural goods across the Potomac River from Virginia and headed to Georgetown.
Reflections on the Potomac River from the Edwards Ferry boat ramp.
Reflections on the calm Potomac River from the Edwards Ferry boat ramp.
During the Civil War, the north bank of the Potomac became a militarized border. Edward's Ferry was a strategic hot spot with both the Union and the Confederate troops using the ferry crossing. With the canal's proximity to the Potomac, it was often the Confederate force's target in an attempt to interrupt commerce. It was so bad that families in the area feared leaving their homes, and the Union often occupied their fields while protecting the canal. Life in Edwards Ferry eventually calmed down as the war moved south into Virginia​.

Canal Quarters info for Lockhouse 25.

End of Edwards Ferry Road, Poolesville, Maryland

39.1037595,-77.4726735

39.4 - Lock 26 - Woods Lock - filled in
41.5 - Lock 27 & Stone Lockhouse - Spinks Ferry
         Hike from Monocacy Aqueduct

42.2 - Monocacy Aqueduct

The Monocacy Aqueduct is the largest aqueduct along the C&O Canal.
The Monocacy Aqueduct is the largest aqueduct along the C&O Canal.
The Monocacy Aqueduct, also known as C&O Canal Aqueduct #2, is the largest of the 11 aqueducts constructed on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. It comprises seven arches, each spanning 54 feet near Dickerson, Maryland. The aqueduct’s length is 438 feet from abutment to abutment. It crosses the Monocacy River just before it empties into the Potomac River.

Described as one of the finest aqueducts in the United States, its scale is considered a significant engineering accomplishment when it was built in 1829-1833. Constructed mainly out of large quartzite stone blocks quarried from the base of Maryland's Sugarloaf Mountain, the stones were carefully placed together and painstakingly hand-shaped by masons once on site. The aqueduct cost $127,900 to construct.

In 1972
, engineers designed a steel banding system to stabilize the structure after the Hurricane Agnes flood ​and installed steel rods to reinforce it. In 2004-2005, after restoring the Monocacy Aqueduct to its original state, they were able to remove the steel banding.

21115 Mouth of Monocacy Rd, Dickerson, Maryland

48.2 - Point of Rocks

The historic Point of Rocks Train Station in Point of Rocks, Maryland.
The Point of Rocks Train Station is said to be the most photographed train station in the USA.
The historic Point of Rocks Train Station in Point of Rocks, Maryland.
The historic Point of Rocks Train Station, constructed in 1876, was designed to highlight the B&O Railroad’s new line from the West to Washington, DC. Designed by renowned architect E. Francis Baldwin, who created many other B&O stations, Point of Rocks is the station for which he is best known.  Constructed with red brick and local sandstone, this
magnificent Gothic Revival train station is situated on a small triangular plot where two railroad tracks converge. The building is no longer open to the public, but CSX uses it for storage and offices.

Point of Rocks Train Station - 4000 Clay Street, Point of Rocks, Maryland

When I visited, this section of the towpath was closed. The C&O Canal towpath can be accessed from the parking lot near the ​Point of Rocks boat ramp. 

39.2730567, -77.5414085

49.0 - Lock & Lockhouse 28 - Part of Canal Quarters program
Hike in on towpath from Point of Rocks or Lander.

50.8 - Lock & Lockhouse 29 - Lander

The C&O Canal Lander Lockhouse 29 in Jefferson, Maryland.
Lander Lockhouse 29 in Jefferson, Maryland
This simple brick home with a deep front porch is Lander Lockhouse #29, located near Jefferson, Maryland. The lock is constructed of granite from the Patapsco River and white flint stone from across the river in Virginia.

The last lockkeeper to live in the home was Lewis Cross. The Cross family continued to rent the house for $20 a year even after the canal stopped operations in 1924. When Mr. Cross died in 1962, the lockhouse became the property of the National Park.

In Civil War history, this was where John Mosby’s Confederate raiders crossed the river on the 4th of July in 1864, headed to the Calico Raid at Point of Rocks. When the raiders encountered a holiday excursion boat of treasury clerks approaching Lock 29 on the canal, they scared off the lockkeeper, leaving the canal boat stranded. The treasury clerks forced to abandon ship made a run for it. At
this point, Mosby’s raiders set their vessel, “The Flying Cloud,” on fire and continued.

Today, the little town of Lander has a population of around 50, but when the canal was still operational, the town was busy enough to support a post office and two general stores. The Lander house is occasionally open for public tours.

 
39.3065217,-77.5581753

51.5 - Catoctin Aqueduct
           Hike in from Landers Lockhouse 29

54.0 - Brunswick C&O Canal Visitors Center - 40 West Potomac St, Brunswick, Maryland

55.0 - Lock 30 - Brunswick boat ramp parking lot    39.311322,-77.631053

58 - Lock & Lockhouse 31

C&O Canal Lock and Lockhouse 31.
Lock and Lockhouse 31
Lock & Lockhouse 31 is just over the Maryland state line from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  This red-painted brick lockhouse is unique since most of the lockhouses along the C&O Canal were painted white, making it easier to see in the dark. Constructed around 1870, it cost $1720 to build.

There is parking along the road at the end of Keep Tryst Road.
39.3294461, -77.6810422

60.2 -  Lock 32
60.7 - Lock & Lockhouse 33

Use the Appalachian Trail Bridge from Harpers Ferry to access the towpath.


60.8 - Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park


61.5 - Lock 34
62.3 - Lock 35 & Remains of Dam 3
62.4 - Guard Lock for Dam 3
62.5 - Lock 36
64.9 - Dargan Bend - Parking at the boat ramp. 
39.3639494,-77.7487636
65.2 - Shinhan Lime Kiln
65.4 - Dargan Bend Cave
66.0 - House Falls & Cow Ring Sluice
66.9 - Lock 37 - Mountain Lock
67.4 - Mountain Lock Recreation Area Parking - 
18207 Mt Lock Canal Rd, Sharpsburg, MD


69.4 - Antietam Creek Aqueduct

The C&O Canal's Antietam Aqueduct near Sharpsburg, Maryland.
Antietam Aqueduct
Near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the Antietam Aqueduct crosses Antietam Creek, one of the major tributaries feeding the Potomac River.  First constructed in 1834, the three-span arched Antietam Aqueduct is 140 feet long and was the fourth of 11 aqueducts built along the C&O Canal.

The Battle of Antietam, one of the most critical events in the Civil War, took place nearby on September 22, 1862. Some say that Antietam ran red that day from the blood of 22,720 Union and Confederate troops killed, wounded, or unaccounted for on this one day of fighting. The aqueduct was heavily damaged during the battle and later rebuilt.

This aqueduct completely collapsed in 1973 and was restored in 2011.

Parking is available along the road beside the Antietam Creek Campground, which is just a short walk downstream from the campground.

South of Sharpsburg on Canal Road.                                                          
39.4256678, -77.7558925

72.7 - Lock 38 - Parking on site. 39.4364671, -77.799633

72.8 - Ferry Hill Plantation

C&O Canal Visitors Center 
16500 Shepherdtown Pike, Sharpsburg, Maryland

Ferry Hill Plantation, a C&O Canal Visitors Center in Sharpsburg, Maryland.
Ferry Hill Plantation
John Blackford built this brick home at the heart of his plantation between 1812 and 1820. With almost 700 acres of land, there was also a tavern and ferry. Blackford advocated for building the C & O Canal, which crossed the lower part of his property.

Located high above the Potomac River on the bluffs, this was such an important and strategic location during the Civil War. The homes and grounds were occupied by both the Union and the Confederate troops at different times during the war.

74.0 - Lock 39 - Hike from Ferry Hill
79.4 - Lock 40
80.9 - Taylors Landing Parking   39.4989538, -77.7675689

84.4 - Dam 4 & Stop Gate

C&O Canal's Dam 4 was built to create the Big Slackwater area.
Dam 4
Dam 4 provides water for 22 miles of the canal, from mile 84.6 to just above Harpers Ferry at mile 62.3. The water roaring over this dam is mighty, sending vibrations through the ground. This dam was built to create the Big Slackwater.

This
hydroelectric gravity dam was built in 1913 and modified in 1994. It uses a drive belt to transfer power from the Potomac River to turbines, providing power to Washington County residents. The building on the West Virginia side of the river is the Potomac Edison Power Plant. It has captured the water’s power for the past ​hundred years. It powers 1/3 of Shepherdstown, WV.
The C&O Canal Stop Gate Wench House at Dam 4.
The Stop Gate Wench House at Dam 4.
The Stop Gate Wench House sits over the canal near Dam 4. While this building looks slightly like a covered bridge, it’s not. This building held the stop gate. The gate would be lowered to prevent floodwaters from entering the canal and damaging the towpath. It was used to maintain a consistent water level so it did not exceed a traveling speed of two miles per hour down the canal.

Canal boats entered and exited the canal through the Stop Gate just a short distance above Dam 4  after traveling on the Big Slackwater section of the Potomac River.

                                                                                  
39.4959473, -77.8261247

85.6 - Big Slackwater Parking   39.4997202, -77.8440399
Big Slackwater is from here to McMahons Mill.

 88.1 - McMahons Mill & Big Slackwater

McMahons Mill is one of the access points for the Big Slackwater area of the Potomac River. This area's peacefulness and serenity are second to none along the C&O Canal.
McMahon's Mill just off the C&O Canal's Big Slackwater section of the Potomac River.
McMahon's Mill
McMahon's Mill, built around 1778, has been operated by many different owners. Known as Charles Mill, Cedar Grove Mill, Shaffer's Old Flouring Mills, and Avis Mill, its current name is the name of its final owner.

In the early twentieth century, the mill used a steel wheel to generate electricity. It was always a successful grist mill. It finally closed in 1922 due to flood damage.

In the 1960s, the William McMahon family purchased a nearby home, and the mill property was part of the acreage.  The National Park Service acquired the mill from him in 1976, restoring it for the C&O Canal National Historical Park. It provides a peek at one type of industry that once operated along the canal.
The C&O Canal's Big Slackwater.
Big Slackwater
Big Slackwater, created with Dam 4, makes a calm lake-like area out of the Potomac. The canal boats exited the C&O Canal and traveled directly on the Potomac River to bypass the solid rock cliff walls through this area. It was a more economical solution than blasting through solid rock to continue the canal. It also guaranteed there was enough excess water to keep the channel watered during drought.

Big Slackwater is anchored on one end by the Dam No. 4 Stop Gate at mile 84.6 and Guard Lock 4 at mile 85.8. The canal boats entered and exited the canal prism here for their short trip down the Potomac River.

The entire Big Slackwater towpath, AKA the "Missing Link," reopened in the Fall of 2012.
7900 Avis Mill Rd, Williamsport, Maryland

Halfway point on the C&O Canal Trail

88.9 - Lock 41
89.0 - Lock 42
92.9 - Lock & Lockhouse 43

99.1 - Lock & Lockhouse 44

Lock and Lockhouse 44 in Willimasport, Maryland.
Lock and Lockhouse 44
While Lock 44 is no longer a working lock, it is unique because it still has all its gate hardware, something not very common upstream past Lock 23. It is also rare to find a sluice in this condition.  

The channel on the inland side of the canal is the sluice. All locks had them, but most had been filled with dirt or allowed to grow up. A sluice is a ditch that runs beside the lock. It gives the excess water a place to go after the lock-through process so it doesn't flood over the canal banks or put pressure on the lift gates.

The Civil War was hard on Williamsport. In 1862, Lock 44's lock gates, a lock keeper's shanty, several structures around the lock, and eleven canal boats were burned. The following year, the lock gates were burned again, and a section of the lock wall was torn down.
 
There is confusion about when Lockhouse 44 was built. All that is certain is that it was constructed sometime after the Civil War.  While a contract was let for the house's construction when the canal first opened, it was never built. Many assume a lockhouse was here by the early 1850s, but there is no evidence that a lockhouse was destroyed in either of the Civil War fires.  In 1867, C&O again directed a house to be built at Lock 44. It may very well be this house, but no one is certain. When the canal went into receivership, a house existed at this lock. The first photographic proof of a home is from 1901.
 
Harvey Brant, the last lock keeper of Lock 44, moved into the house in 1915 with his wife and two small daughters. He operated the lock until the canal closed in 1924 and continued to live here until 1961. It sat empty after the Brant family moved out.

From the Williamsport Visitor Center, it's a pleasant hike along a watered section of the canal. If you prefer to drive it, Main Street in Williamsport dead-ends at the parking lot for Lockhouse 44.

39.594812, -77.824918

99.7 - Williamsport

C&O Canal Visitors Center
Cushwa Warehouse - 205 West Potomac, Williamsburg, Maryland
Cushwa's Warehouse on the Cushwa Turning Basin in Williamsport, Maryand. One of the C&O Canal National Historical Park's Visitors Centers.
Cushwa's Warehouse on the Cushwa Turning Basin.
The C&O Canal made it to Williamsport in 1834. The town prospered with the new trade route, which now opened from Williamsport to Georgetown.

The Cushwa Coal and Brick Warehouse, built between 1790
 and 1810, predates the C&O Canal. Sometime after the canal opened, Victor Cushwa and his partner Charles Embry purchased the warehouse. By the 1880s, Cushwa was the sole owner. The Cushwa Warehouse was used to store coal, brick, iron, cement, and plaster. It operated as a warehouse until the 1970s.

The Cushwa Turning Basin was one of the few places along the C&O Canal
where canal boats could completely turn around. During the canal's heyday, boatmen lined up their cargo boats up and down the canal, waiting to load and unload cargo at the Cushwa Warehouse, where they could​ pull right up to the warehouse doors.
The trolley barn next to Cushwa's Warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland.
The trolley barn next to Cushwa's Warehouse.
The trolley began service in Williamsport in 1896. The building, just up the hill from Cushwa's Warehouse, is the Trolley Barn. This barn was a power generating station for the trolley line between Williamsport and Hagerstown. Steam-powered, the station drew water from the Conococheague Creek to generate electricity. The trolley line expanded quickly, only lasting a year in this location before a more significant power station was built in Hagerstown to replace it. Cushwa, who had initially donated the land to the trolley company, took over the station for additional warehouse space after it moved.
The Conococheague Aqueduct is next to the C&O Canal National Historical Park Visitor Center in Williamsport, Maryland.
Conococheague Aqueduct is the second largest of the eleven aqueducts on the C&O Canal.
The Conococheague Aqueduct originally cost $43,283.78 to build with local limestone in 1835. It is the only rewatered aqueduct along the C&O Canal and is fully operational, allowing a canal boat to pass through. The Cushwa Visitors Center offers canal rides in an 1890s replica launch boat during the Summer.

As a boatman would say, the "wall has gone out" several times. It was damaged during the Civil War when Mosby's Raiders took it out. In an incident in 1920, Captain Myers, returning to Williamsport after dropping off a load of coal in Cumberland, bumped the wall with boat #73. He saw the aqueduct wall shutter and had enough time to yell for them to release the mules before the wall collapsed. He could jump safely as the boat fell through the break and into the creek. After being repaired once again, the flood of 1924 destroyed it. Since the C&O Canal Company was no longer in business, the aqueduct sat in disrepair until the 2017 restoration work returned it to its 1920s appearance.
Looking down the historic Conococheague Aqueduct in Williamsport, Maryland.
Looking down the historic Conococheague Aqueduct.
The Conococheague Aqueduct is on the right side of the Cushwa Turning Basin
Western Maryland Railway Lift Bridge in Williamsport, Maryland.
The Western Maryland Railway Lift Bridge
On the left side of the Cushwa Basin, you can visit this old railroad lift bridge across the C&O Canal.

When the Western Maryland Railway reached Williamsport, Maryland, in 1873, there was a clash of transportation modes, with the railroad tracks needing to cross the canal. In 1923, the Western Maryland Railway finally built this unique lift bridge, which allowed canal traffic to travel below the bridge when it was up. When lowered, the Western Maryland Railway could use the rail spur to deliver coal to the nearby Paul Smith Power Plant between the canal and the river. The lift bridge was only used for a year. In 1924, the C&O Canal Company closed, and Williamsport saw its last canal boat.

In 2016, the lift bridge was raised to expand the canal boat ride from the Cushwa Basin. Access from the Visitors Center to the towpath was lost then, and the stairs and platform had to be added to the bridge.
A park on the opposite side of the canal provides handicapped access to the towpath.

106.2 - Location of the Middlekauff's Dam/Labor Riot

106.6 - Dam 5, the Guard Lock 5 & Lockhouse

Dam 5 on the Potomac River was built to creat the Little Slackwater area of the C&O Canal.
Dam 5
When first built in 1835, Dam 5 was originally constructed of wood and stone but frequently needed repair due to flood damage. In 1860, the C&O Canal Company replaced it with a permanent masonry dam.

Canallers called the water created behind Dam 5 Little Slackwater. Canal boats navigated on the dammed-up Potomac River for about a half mile and returned to the canal at Lock 45.  This was a more economical solution than blasting the solid rock walls for an access point to the canal. It also guaranteed there was always enough excess water to keep the canal watered in times of drought.

Across the river is a hydroelectric plant. Originally a mill, Edward Colston had an agreement with the C&O Canal Company to use the water to run his sawmill and gristmill. The Colston family ran the mill until the late 1870s. The Potomac Pulp Company eventually purchased the mill, converted it into a paper mill, and ran it from 1887 until 1891. After the paper mill closed, it became a hydroelectric power plant.
C&O Canal Dam 5 Lockhouse and Guard Lock.
The Dam 5 Lockhouse and Guard Lock
The lockhouse high on the hill was the home for the man that managed Dam 5 and Guard Lock 5. It is not the lockhouse for lock 45, as many mistakenly believe.

On the left side of the image, at the base of the hill, is the Guard Lock. At one time, the Guard Lock could be opened and shut to regulate the water flow into the canal, but it is now filled with concrete to keep the Potomac River from flooding the area since the canal here is also filled in.

Canal boats traveling upstream passed through the Dam 5 guard lock and entered the Potomac River or Little Slackwater until they reached Lock 45, half a mile away, where they reentered the canal.
10746 Dam Number 5 Road, Clear Springs, Maryland
39.6069771, -77.9216474                                                                     


107 - Lock 45

107.2 - Lock & Lockhouse 46

C&O Canal Lock and Lockhouse 46.
Lock and Lockhouse 46
After exiting the Little Stackwater at Lock 45, about 300 yards downstream from Lock 46, the mules needed a place to switch from the river towpath to the canal towpath.

The transfer happened at Lock 46. The stone ramps on either side of the canal and arch are what remains of a mule bridge. The arch on the left was once part of the sluice.

The Lockkeeper for Lock 46 also operated Lock 45.

Everything I read about this lock house said there was parking on site, but the gate was closed across the very steep road down to the lot. Look for a closed gate on a curve; we drove past it several times. There is enough space for one car to pull off. Dam 5 would be the next closest parking to hike in.   
 39.6157229, -77.9262321

108.2 - Ruins of Charles Mill

109 - Four Locks

Constructed 1836-1838, Locks 47 through 50 were built within a ½ mile stretch of each other because there was a 33-foot change in elevation from Lock 47 to Lock 50.

A small but busy community called Four Locks grew up around this set of locks. The town had two general stores in its heyday—two warehouses where the canal boats loaded and unloaded near locks 49 and 50. A dry dock to repair boats at lock 47. A mule barn, post office, one-room schoolhouse (still standing), and many houses. When the C&O Canal closed in 1924, most everyone moved on to find jobs elsewhere.
C&O Canal Lockhouse 49 at Four Locks, Maryland.
Lockhouse 49
Most lockkeepers were responsible for only one or two locks along the   
C&O Canal, but at Lockhouse 49, the keeper was responsible for all four locks. Four generations of the Taylor family lived in Lockhouse 49 and shared those lock-keeping duties.

Lockhouse 49 is part of the Canal Quarter Program.
The last remaining watch house along the entire C&O Canal is located at Four Locks, Maryland.
The last remaining Watch House along the entire C&O Canal.
The lock tender for Four Locks was in charge of Locks 47 through 50. His home, lockhouse 49, was not built alongside the Canal like other lockhouses. Someone had to be on call 24/7 no matter the weather, so this tiny watch house or watch shanty was constructed atop the hill at Lock 50, making it easy to watch for boats.  The shanty has a window on either side. The lock tender could see down past Lock 47 and arrivals to Lock 50 from 51.
The Flory House at Four Locks on the C&O Canal.
The Flory House
This boarded-up house is called the Flory House. Located near Lock 49, the building was either the Four Locks Post Office and postmaster's home or the Post Office sat alongside the house from 1878-1903. In that time frame, eight different postmasters lived here. Alex Flory was postmaster from 1882-85, and then his wife, Mary, took over. Mary Flory was the only female postmaster who served the longest term, from 1885 to 1903.

Today, the Four Locks area is recreational in the Little Slackwater above Dam 5. It is popular for boating, fishing, and picnicking. The boat dock has a large parking lot.

39.6146108, -77.9468099

112.2 - Big Pool - A wide lake-like area once an ancient river channel. C&O utilized this natural water feature instead of digging a canal through here. It is said to be a great wildlife area. 

Three parking lots near Big Pool:
Fort Frederick State Park - 11100 Fort Frederick Rd, Big Pool, MD   
Big Pool Parking      39.609846, -78.004589                           
Western Maryland Rail Trail lot   39.623898, -78.0171195

116 - Licking Creek Aqueduct - no easy access
122.7 - Lock 51 & ruins of a lockhouse

122.8 - Hancock

C&O Canal Visitors Center
Bowles House - 439 East Main Street Hancock, Maryland
Hancock, one of the oldest settlements in Maryland, is a unique place with a rich history. It is located in the state's narrowest part; only two miles separates Pennsylvania from West Virginia. In the early 1700s, it was a trading post, and George Washington was a frequent visitor to the area.  In the early 1800s, it grew into a transportation route. When the C&O Canal came through in the 1830s, Hancock became a booming commercial center with an influx of immigrants to the area.
The Historic Bowles House is a C&O Canal Visitors Center in Hancock, Maryland.
The Historic Bowles House
The historic Bowles House, located on the east side of Hancock, was built in the 1790s. This farmhouse witnessed the arrival of the C&O Canal not far from its doorstep in the mid-1830s. The house’s residents sold goods and produce to the canawlers (canal boatmen) who passed through Lock 52 and the Tonoloway Aqueduct. Today, this lovely old home is the Hancock C&O Canal Visitor Center.
Tonoloway Aqueduct
Tonoloway Aqueduct
The Tonoloway Aqueduct, constructed between 1835 and 1839, was constructed of limestone extracted from the Tonoloway Creek, a 31-mile tributary of the Potomac River. The cement for the aqueduct came from nearby Captain Hooks Mill in West Virginia, but during a water shortage in 1837, it had to be imported from Boteler’s Mill and Baltimore.

Lock 52 and Tonoloway Aqueduct are just a short walk from the visitor center.

130.1 - Lock 53

130.7 - Cohill Station Parking     39.645494, -78.2515301

134.0 - Lock 54 & foundation of the lockhouse

134.2 - Remains of Dam 6/ Guard Lock 6 is filled in/ Lock 55 - This was the terminus from 1842 - 1850 when the canal was completed to Cumberland.
1.8 miles from parking

Western Maryland Rail Trail Parking Lot - Pearre Rd.
39.6361864, -78.3228281

136.2 - Lock & Lockhouse 56 - .3 miles from parking

136.6 - Sideling Hill Creek Aqueduct

139.4 - Lock 57


141 - Fifteen Mile Creek Aqueduct

Fifteen Mile Creek Aqueduct
Fifteen Mile Creek Aqueduct
The Fifteen Mile Creek Aqueduct is a small single-arch aqueduct that is still in excellent condition, considering its age of a century and a half.

Construction started in 1838, but the C&O Canal Company ran out of money in 1842 and sat unfinished until 1850.
It was a site of labor riots and unrest that led to bloodshed and many laborers being blacklisted. There are many canal builders buried in the nearby St. Patrick's Cemetery.

The aqueduct was constructed out of hard flint stone quarried on the West Virginia side of the Potomac River at Sideling Hill.

The aqueduct can be seen from the boat ramp at the Fifteen Mile Creek Campground in Little Orleans, Maryland. 
                                                         

39.6255985, -78.3854862

144.0 - Lock 58
146.5 - Lock 59
149.6 - Lock 60
153.1 - Lock 61
154.1 - Lock 62

154.5 - Lock 63  1/3
154.6 - Lock 64  2/3
154.7 - Lock 66  1/3  - Notice that Lock 65 is missing.

Lock 65 - The Missing Lock - To save money, 10-foot lifts were used instead of 8-foot lifts. Lock 65 was not needed.  Since contracts were already in place for locks upstream, they could not change the numbering.

155.2 Paw Paw Tunnel

Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O Canal
Paw Paw Tunnel
Paw Paw Tunnel is considered an amazing engineering feat and the most notable landmark on the Canal. The tunnel, at 3,118 feet long (3/5 of a mile), took 5,800,000 bricks to build, and it cut 5 miles off the canal’s length by cutting through the mountain. Originally estimated to cost $33,500 and take two years, C&O finally completed it after 12 years and $566,500. The tunnel nearly bankrupted the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. The tunnel is most likely one of the reasons C&O never completed the canal to the Ohio River at Pittsburgh.
Inside the Paw Paw Tunnel
Inside the Paw Paw Tunnel
The Paw Paw Tunnel has a colorful history. Race Riots between the German, English, and Irish workers, strikes, discontent, and eventual arrests defined its twelve years of construction.

When C&O eventually completed the canal, it was only wide enough for one boat at a time. Bottlenecks would occur, causing fights between the boatmen refusing to yield the right-of-way. Even though the rule was that the downstream-headed boat would back up and leave the tunnel to allow the upstream boat to proceed, they would sometimes refuse. Once, a standoff went on for days until the boatmen built a fire upstream to smoke them out.

If you plan to walk through the tunnel, a flashlight is necessary.


39.544616, -78.460582

161.7 -  Lock 67 - .6 mile hike from Town Creek Aqueduct parking lot.
162.4 - Town Creek Aqueduct - parking on site    39.5237668, -78.5433002
164.8 - Lock 68 & South Branch of the Potomac River
166.5 - Lock 69

166.7 - Oldtown

A four-mile stretch of the C&O Canal through Oldtown, Maryland, was rewatered in the 1940s and 50s. It is known as the Battie Mixon Pond in honor of the Natural Resources Officer who led the community's rewatering effort.

There are three locks within a half-mile stretch of the canal here, Locks 69-71. They are the last of the composite locks along the Canal. By the time the Canal construction reached Oldtown, the C&O Canal Company was in financial trouble and struggled to get good-quality stone to the Canal's far upstream locks. They allowed contractors to use whatever stone they could find and augment the construction with wood.
Lock and Lockhouse 70 along the rewatered section of the C&O Canal that is also known as Battie Mixon's Pond.
Lock and Lockhouse 70
Lockhouse 70 sits right alongside Green Spring Road in the center of Oldtown, Maryland. This two-story white framed lockhouse is sometimes open on the weekends during the summer.

Lock 70 is in good condition. In 1906, a fire destroyed the Green Spring Road covered bridge over the canal and damaged the lock, which needed to be rebuilt.

This lockhouse is between two other very historical sites. The Michael Cresap House is where Green Spring Road Ts is at Opressa Street. Michael Cresap was the first white man born in Allegany County. He built the house in 1764, making it the oldest existing home in the county. Just a short distance past the lockhouse is one of the country's last privately owned interstate toll bridges; it connects Oldtown to Greenspring, West Virginia.

There is a large parking lot at Lock 70.
39.540269, -78.6125302
 Lock and Lockhouse 71 on a rewatered section of the C&O Canal in Oldtown, Maryland.
Lock and Lockhouse 71
Lockhouse 71 is at towpath mile 167, just a very short distance upstream from Lock 70.

Lock 71, one of the remaining composite locks, had lock pockets that were later replaced with concrete.

173.3 - Spring Gap Parking Lot     39.5643168, -78.7192646
173.5 - Patterson Creek Bridge ruins
174.2 - Steam Pumping Station
174.4 - Lock & Lockhouse 72 & Blue Spring - largest springs east of the Mississippi.

175.4 - Lock 73 
175.5 - Lock 74 - has a 10-foot lift instead of the average 8-foot lift

175.7 Lock & Lockhouse 75

Lock and Lockhouse 75 on the C&O Canal.
Lock and Lockhouse 75
Lock 75 is the final and farthest lock West on the C&O Canal. This lock has a ten-foot lift for a total elevational change of 609.193 feet above the Georgetown tidal lock.

Although numbered as Lock 75, there are only 74 locks along the C&O Canal. In an effort to save money toward the end of the project, C&O had several 10-foot lift locks constructed instead of building the standard 8-foot lifts, allowing them to skip lock number 65 in a four-lock sequence. The locks were not renumbered since contracts were in place and construction was underway for upstream locks.

Lockhouse 75 is one of the final blockhouses to be built along the canal and one of the few remaining log cabin lockhouses. It was damaged in the March 1936 flood after the canal had already closed, and then a dust beetle infestation nearly finished off the structure.  While the log home sits on its original foundations, only a few original timbers could be used in this 1978 reconstruction. 

39.587555, -78.741766

180.7 - Evitts Creek Aqueduct

184.5 C&O Canal Terminus

Inlet Feeder Guard Locks & Dam 8 Remnants
A full-sized Canal Boat replica.
Canal Boat replica
The Cumberland is a full-scale replica of a canal boat. Constructed in 1976 as a bicentennial project by the C&O Canal of Cumberland, Maryland, the boat measures 93 feet long and 14.5 feet wide.

When the COCCM began planning this project, no boats or blueprints existed. Canal boats had to be researched and plans recreated before the building could start; the replica cost over $100,000 to complete.

After its dedication on July 11, 1976, the COCCM operated it for 23 years, conducting interpretive boat tours during the warmer months.

The Cumberland canal boat sits on the towpath behind the
Fairfield Inn & Suites at
21 North Wineow Street

184.6 Cumberland

The C&O Canal Visitor Center is at the far right side of the building.
Western Maryland Railway Station - 13 Canal Street, Cumberland, Maryland

Western Maryland Railway Station sits at the Western terminus of the C&O Canal in Cumberland, Maryland.
Western Maryland Railway Station sits at the western terminus of the C&O Canal.
When the Western Maryland Railway built the Cumberland Station in 1913, they placed it at the northern end of the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Basin, which had been filled in as the canal declined in importance. This historic red-brick train depot operated as a passenger station until closing in 1958.

The station underwent a series of renovations in the 1990s. Today, the building is the center of the Canal Place Preservation District. The depot houses offices for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, a sightseeing excursion train through the Blue Ridge Mountain Foothills.

There is a wealth of information on the NPS website. Always check the NPS website for closures along the towpath before visiting.

All the visitor centers were closed when I visited. A downloadable park map is available, I never found a map anywhere until reaching my final stop at Great Falls Tavern. Luckily, I planned for that.


I have created a detailed Google map with all the canal locations.

All of Susan's images are available for purchase as fine art prints and wall art, home decor, gift items, and apparel in her Photo Gallery.
"A Quiet Morning on the Cushwa Basin" Canvas Art Print

Picture
 About the Photographer
Susan Rissi Tregoning is the 8th photographer in the past four generations of professional photographers in her family. After a long career as an art buyer and interior designer, she put her career on hold in 2006 to travel with her husband and his job. In the process, she found her “roots” again,  developing a photography obsession far

beyond casual snapshots that evolved into a desire to capture every location and object as “art.” By meshing her two loves, photography and design, she has come full circle. Only now, she is creating art instead of just purchasing it.



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The C&O Canal, everything you need to know about the history and towpath miles from Great Falls to Cumberland, Maryland. A Susan Tregoning Photography Travel Blog Post.
The C&O Canal, everything you need to know about the history and towpath miles from Great Falls to Cumberland, Maryland. A Susan Tregoning Photography Travel Blog Post.
4 Comments
Karen M Gray
5/2/2022 03:27:20 pm

This is a lovely webpage. However, the violence along the upper part of the canal in 1838 and 1839 was neither race riots nor even riots. It was labor unrest and a rising labor militancy by immigrant Irish laborers who were beginning to organize and attempt to force improvements in pay and working conditions with the use of threats and violence. The laborers of other ethnicities who were attacked in an effort to drive them from the canal, were taking jobs from Irish workers and they offered the contractors a way to avoid the growing Irish militancy. There was actually 3 kinds of laborer violence on the C&O: (1) Irish on Irish (e.g. Jan. 1834 between Irish workers at Dams 4 and 5); (2) this kind of labor organization and militancy laregly confined to limited incidents in the late 1830s; and (3) "celebratory/recreational violence" associated with drunken behavior when the men were not working. The virtual destruction of a shanty tavern in Oldtown involving large numbers of celebrating Irish, is an example of the latter. As a C&O Canal historian, I have never found an example of a racial riot or incident of group violence along the canal during the construction era, that was about race or ethnicity although the Irish did also oppose the local farm boys who would be hired when available but leave the canal when there was work on the farms. They took jobs the Irish needed full time, and made it possible for the contractors to fill them on a part time basis.

Reply
Susan link
4/30/2025 10:21:52 am

Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts on the canal violence.

Reply
3-5 Day cruises from Baltimore link
4/29/2025 12:04:20 am

Great article! I had a good time browsing your website. I don't leave very often remarks, but you deservingly get a thumbs up! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Keep it up.

Reply
Susan link
4/30/2025 10:22:45 am

Thanks so much!

Reply

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