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Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

 
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Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
 
 
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The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1836 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River
Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
 in Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 from Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland is a city in the far western portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area....
 to Washington, DC. The total length of the canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
 is about 184.5 miles (300 km). The elevation change of 605 ft (185 m) was accommodated with 74 canal lock
Lock (water transport)

A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber whose water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself that rises and falls....
s. To enable the canal to cross relatively small streams, over 150 culvert
Culvert

A culvert is a conduit used to enclose a flowing body of water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or Embankment for example....
s were built.






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Encyclopedia


The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1836 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River
Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
 in Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 from Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland is a city in the far western portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area....
 to Washington, DC. The total length of the canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
 is about 184.5 miles (300 km). The elevation change of 605 ft (185 m) was accommodated with 74 canal lock
Lock (water transport)

A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber whose water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself that rises and falls....
s. To enable the canal to cross relatively small streams, over 150 culvert
Culvert

A culvert is a conduit used to enclose a flowing body of water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or Embankment for example....
s were built. The crossing of major streams required the construction of 11 aqueduct
Aqueduct

File:Tomar December 2008-4.jpgAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable canal constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s (10 of which remain). The canal also extends through the 3120 ft (950 m) Paw Paw Tunnel
Paw Paw Tunnel

The Paw Paw Tunnel is a long canal tunnel in Maryland on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which was built to bypass the Paw-Paw bends, a six-mile stretch of the Potomac River containing five horseshoe bends....
. The principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains

The Allegheny Mountain Range — informally, the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and Canada....
. The canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
 way is now maintained as a park
Park

A park is a Environmental protection, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment....
, with a linear trail
Trail

A trail is a path or road used for walking, cycling, cross-country skiing, or other activities. Some trails are off-limits to everyone other than hikers, and a few trails allow motorized vehicles....
 following the old towpath
Towpath

A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge....
, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and West Virginia....
.

History


Early river projects

After the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 was the chief advocate of using waterways to connect the Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard

An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:...
 to the Great Lakes
Great Lakes

The St. Lawrence River Great Lakes are a chain of fresh water lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada ? United States border. Consisting of Lakes Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth....
 and Ohio River
Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
. Washington founded the Potowmack Company in 1785 to make navigability improvements to the Potomac River
Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
. The Patowmack Company built a number of skirting canals around the major falls including the Patowmack Canal
Patowmack Canal

The Patowmack Canal is an inoperative canal located in Virginia, United States, that was designed to bypass rapids in the Potomac River upstream of the present Washington, D.C....
 in Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
. When completed, it allowed boats and rafts to float downstream towards Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
. Going upstream was a bit harder. Slim boats could be slowly poled upriver. The completion of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway in New York state that runs about 365 miles from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes....
 worried southern traders that their business might be threatened by the Northern canal; plans for a canal linking the Ohio and Cheasapeake were drawn up as early as 1820.

Building the canal

In 1824, the holdings of the Patowmack Company were ceded to the Chesapeake and Ohio Company. Benjamin Wright
Benjamin Wright

Benjamin Wright was a noted American civil engineer who served as Chief Engineer of both the Erie Canal and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In 1969 he was declared the "Father of American Civil Engineering" by the American Society of Civil Engineers....
, formerly Chief Engineer of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway in New York state that runs about 365 miles from Albany on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes....
, was named Chief Engineer of this new effort, and construction began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 4, 1828 by President
American president

American president may refer to:*President of the United States - The President of the United States*The American President - A Romantic Comedy surrounding a fictional President of the United States and his attempts to win over an attractive lobbyist...
 John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams was an Foreign relations of the United States and Politics of the United States who served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829....
.

The narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks
Point of Rocks, Maryland

Point of Rocks is a community in Frederick County, Maryland. It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoctin Mountain, which were formed by the Potomac River cutting through the ridge in a water gap, a typical formation in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians....
 to Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, West Virginia. It is situated at the confluence of the Potomac River and Shenandoah Rivers where the U.S....
 caused a legal battle between the C&O Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. At first this railroad was located entirely in the state of Maryland with an original line from the port of Baltimore, Maryland, west to Sandy Hook, Maryland....
 (B&O) Railroad in 1828 as both sought to exclude the other from its use. Following a Maryland state court battle involving Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's antebellum. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests....
 and Roger B. Taney
Roger B. Taney

Roger Brooke Taney was the twelfth United States Attorney General. He also was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864, and was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office....
, the companies later compromised to allow the sharing of the right of way.

In 1836, the canal was used as a Star Route
Star routes

Star routes is a term used in connection with the United States Post Office Department and the contracting of mail delivery services. The term is defunct as of 1970, but still is occasionally used to refer to Highway Contract Routes or which replaced the Star routes....
 for the carriage of mails from Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
 to Shepherdstown
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, West Virginia, USA. Shepherdstown claims to be the oldest town in the state. In 1734, Thomas Shepherd was granted , on the south side of the "Potomack" river....
 using canal packets. The contract was held by Albert Humrickhouse at $1,000 per annum for a daily service of 72 book miles. In 1843, the Potomac Aqueduct Bridge
Potomac Aqueduct Bridge

The Aqueduct Bridge was a bridge between Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and Rosslyn, Virginia, in Arlington County. It was built to transport cargo-carrying boats on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown across the Potomac River to the Alexandria Canal ....
 was constructed near the present-day Key Bridge
Francis Scott Key Bridge (Washington)

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, or, more commonly, the Key Bridge, is a reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 in the District of Columbia traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn, Virginia section of Arlington County, Virginia, and the Georgetown, Washington, DC section of Washington, D.C....
 to connect the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to the Alexandria Canal which led to Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the United States Census 2000, the city had a total population of 128,283....
. In the 1870s, a canal inclined plane
Canal inclined plane

An inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels.Typically, such a feature consists of a slope, up which there are two sets of rail tracks....
 was built two miles (3 km) upriver from Georgetown, so that boats whose destination was downriver from Washington could bypass the congestion in Georgetown. The inclined plane was dismantled after a major flood in 1889 when ownership of the Canal transferred to the B&O Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. At first this railroad was located entirely in the state of Maryland with an original line from the port of Baltimore, Maryland, west to Sandy Hook, Maryland....
, which operated the canal to prevent its right of way (particularly at Point of Rocks) from falling into the hands of the Western Maryland Railway
Western Maryland Railway

The Western Maryland Railway was an United States Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.History ...
.

By the time the canal reached Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland is a city in the far western portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area....
 in 1850, it had already been rendered obsolete; the B&O Railroad had reached Cumberland eight years previously. Debt-ridden, the company dropped its plan to continue construction of the next of the canal into Ohio. Operations ceased in 1924 after another flood damaged the canal.

National park

neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
]] In 1938 the abandoned canal was obtained from the B&O by the United States in exchange for a loan from the federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Reconstruction Finance Corporation

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an Independent agencies of the United States government chartered during the administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932....
. The government planned to restore it as a recreation area. Although the lower of the canal were repaired and rewatered, the project was halted when the United States entered World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 and resources were needed elsewhere. After the war, Congress expressed interest in developing the canal and towpath as a parkway
Parkway

In the United States, Parkways are defined as follows:#A type of road##A broad landscaped thoroughfare; especially : one from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded....
. However, the idea of turning the canal over to automobiles was opposed by some, including United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
Associate Justice

Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth of Nations countries....
 William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas

William Orville Douglas was a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court....
. In March 1954, Douglas led an eight-day hike of the towpath from Cumberland to D.C. Although 58 people participated in one part of the hike or another, only nine men, including Douglas, hiked the full . Popular response to and press coverage of the hike turned the tide against the parkway idea and, on January 8, 1971, the canal was designated a National Historical Park.

Presently the park includes nearly 20,000 acres (80 km˛) and receives over 3 million recorded visits each year. Flooding continues to threaten historical structures on the canal and attempts at restoration. The Park Service has rewatered portions of the canal, but the majority of the canal does not have water in it.

Today the park is a popular getaway for Washington residents. The towpath is popular with bikers and joggers. Fishing and boating are popular in the rewatered portions, and whitewater kayakers tackling the world class rapids of the Potomac
Potomac

Potomac may refer to:...
 sometimes use the canal to shuttle upstream. The park offers rides on two reproduction canal boats, The Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
 and The Charles F. Mercer
Charles F. Mercer

Charles Fenton Mercer was a nineteenth century politician, U.S. Congressman, and lawyer from Loudoun County, Virginia, Virginia.The youngest son of James Mercer and Eleanor Mercer, he was the first cousin of Robert S....
, during the spring, summer and autumn. The boats are pulled by mules and Park Rangers in historical dress work the locks and boat while giving a historical program.

Locks and engineering

To build the canal, the C&O Canal Company utilized a total of 74 lift locks that raised the canal from sea level
Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface. Defining the reference level , however, involves complex measurement, and accurately determining MSL can prove difficult....
 at Georgetown to at Cumberland. Eleven stone aqueducts were built to carry the canal over the Potomac's tributaries. In addition, seven dams were built to supply water to the canal, waste weirs to control water flow, and 200 culvert
Culvert

A culvert is a conduit used to enclose a flowing body of water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or Embankment for example....
s to carry roads and streams underneath the canal. An assortment of lockhouses, bridges, and stop gates were also constructed along the canal's path.

One of the most impressive engineering features of the canal is the Paw Paw Tunnel
Paw Paw Tunnel

The Paw Paw Tunnel is a long canal tunnel in Maryland on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which was built to bypass the Paw-Paw bends, a six-mile stretch of the Potomac River containing five horseshoe bends....
, which runs for under a mountain. Built to save six miles (10 km) of construction around the obstacle, the 3/4-mile tunnel used over six million bricks. The tunnel took almost twelve years to build; in the end, the tunnel was only wide enough for single lane traffic.

Points of interest


  • Mile 000: Rock Creek Park
    Rock Creek Park

    Rock Creek Park is a large urban natural area with public park facilities that bisects Washington, D.C. The park is administered by the National Park Service....
  • Mile 000: Potomac Heritage Trail
    Potomac Heritage Trail

    The Potomac Heritage Trail, also known as the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, is a designated National Scenic Trail corridor in the United States that will connect various trails and historic sites through the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia....
     - on Virginia side of river. (Bikes can use it below Key Bridge.)
  • Mile 000: C&O Canal Monument
  • Mile 000: Capital Crescent Trail
    Capital Crescent Trail

    File:Capital Crescent Trail - Bethesda.jpgThe Capital Crescent Trail is an long, shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown, Washington, D.C....
  • Mile 000: Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
    Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

    Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
      and
  • Mile 007: Glen Echo Park (Maryland)
    Glen Echo Park (Maryland)

    Glen Echo Park, also known as Glen Echo Amusement Park and Glen Echo Park Historic District, is a public park and national Historic district in Glen Echo, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland....
     and Lock 7
  • Mile 014: Billy Goat Trail
    Billy Goat Trail

    The Billy Goat Trail is a hiking trail that follows a path between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park near Great Falls of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland....
     at Great Falls, Great Falls Tavern
  • Mile 020: Pennyfield Lock
  • Mile 022: Violette’s Lock (Lock 23) The canal has water in it from here south.
  • Mile 022: Riley's Lock/Seneca Creek Aqueduct
    Seneca Creek (Potomac River)

    Seneca Creek is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland, roughly northwest of Washington, D.C. It drains to the Potomac River....
     
  • Mile 026: Dierssen Wildlife Management Area
    Dierssen Wildlife Management Area

    Dierssen Wildlife Management Area is a List of Maryland wildlife management areas in the state of Maryland....
     & McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area
    McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area

    McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area is a List of Maryland wildlife management areas in the state of Maryland....
  • Mile 035: Poolesville, Maryland
    Poolesville, Maryland

    Poolesville is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland, United States with a population of approximately 5000 people. The name of the town comes from the brothers John Poole, Sr....
  • Mile 035: White's Ferry
    White's Ferry

    White's Ferry is a cable ferry service operating across the Potomac River, north of Leesburg, Virginia in Loudoun County, Virginia, Virginia, United States....
     
  • Mile 042: Monocacy Aqueduct
    Monocacy Aqueduct

    The Monocacy Aqueduct is the largest aqueduct on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, crossing the Monocacy River just before it empties into the Potomac River in Frederick County, Maryland, United States....
     
  • Mile 048: Point of Rocks, Maryland
    Point of Rocks, Maryland

    Point of Rocks is a community in Frederick County, Maryland. It is named for the striking rock formation on the adjacent Catoctin Mountain, which were formed by the Potomac River cutting through the ridge in a water gap, a typical formation in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians....
     
  • Mile 055: Brunswick, Maryland
    Brunswick, Maryland

    Brunswick is a city in Frederick County, Maryland, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,894 at the United States Census 2000. The population was estimated to be at 5,230 in July 2006....
     
  • Mile 058: Appalachian Trail
    Appalachian Trail

    The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply The A.T., is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine....
  • Mile 060: Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
    Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

    Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, West Virginia. It is situated at the confluence of the Potomac River and Shenandoah Rivers where the U.S....
  • Mile 073: Ferry Hill, Maryland
  • Mile 073: Shepherdstown, West Virginia
    Shepherdstown, West Virginia

    Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, West Virginia, USA. Shepherdstown claims to be the oldest town in the state. In 1734, Thomas Shepherd was granted , on the south side of the "Potomack" river....
  • Mile 073: Sharpsburg, Maryland
    Sharpsburg, Maryland

    Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland, Maryland, United States, approximately 13 miles south of Hagerstown, Maryland. The population was 691 at the 2000 census....
  • Mile 110: McCoy's Ferry - Campground and historic American Civil War
    American Civil War

    The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
     crossing
  • Mile 112: Fort Frederick State Park
    Fort Frederick State Park

    Fort Frederick State Park is a Maryland state park surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a fort from the French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War....
    ; Western Maryland Rail Trail
    Western Maryland Rail Trail

    The Western Maryland Rail Trail is a long shared-use asphalt-paved rail trail from Fort Frederick State Park to Pearre Station, Maryland suitable for walkers, joggers, bikers, rollerbladers and, weather permitting, cross country skiing....
     begins
  • Mile 124: Hancock, Maryland
    Hancock, Maryland

    Hancock is a town in Washington County, Maryland, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,725 at the 2000 census. The Western Maryland community is notable for being located at the narrowest part of the state that is only 2 miles wide....
  • Mile 124: Rt. 522 Bridge to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia; Western Maryland Rail Trail
    Western Maryland Rail Trail

    The Western Maryland Rail Trail is a long shared-use asphalt-paved rail trail from Fort Frederick State Park to Pearre Station, Maryland suitable for walkers, joggers, bikers, rollerbladers and, weather permitting, cross country skiing....
     diverges
  • Mile 140: Little Orleans, Maryland
    Little Orleans, Maryland

    Little Orleans is an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, Maryland. Little Orleans is located on the Potomac River at the mouth of Fifteenmile Creek across from Orleans Cross Roads, West Virginia, West Virginia....
  • Mile 151: Paw Paw Tunnel
    Paw Paw Tunnel

    The Paw Paw Tunnel is a long canal tunnel in Maryland on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which was built to bypass the Paw-Paw bends, a six-mile stretch of the Potomac River containing five horseshoe bends....
  • Mile 151: Paw Paw, West Virginia
    Paw Paw, West Virginia

    Paw Paw is a town in Morgan County, West Virginia, West Virginia, United States. The population was 524 at the 2000 census. The town is known for the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel....
  • Mile 161: Oldtown, Maryland
    Oldtown, Maryland

    Oldtown is a unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland, Maryland along the Potomac River#North Branch Potomac River. It was established in 1741 by Thomas Cresap, who built a trading post along an old Native American trail....
  • Mile 184: Cumberland, Maryland
    Cumberland, Maryland

    Cumberland is a city in the far western portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area....
  • Mile 184: Canal Place
    Canal Place

    Canal Place is a park operated by the National Park Service located in Cumberland, Maryland. The park includes the Western Maryland Railway Station , station plaza, a picnic area, a canal boat replica, a pedestrian bridge to George Washington?s Headquarters , picnic area, and the Crescent Lawn Festival Grounds....
  • Mile 184: Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
    Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

    The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is a heritage railway based in Cumberland, Maryland. It operates over ex-Western Maryland Railway trackage to Frostburg, Maryland and back using both steam locomotive and diesel locomotives....


General references



Further reading

  • Life on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, 1859 [York, Pa. : American Canal and Transportation Center, 1975]
  • Achenbach, Joel. The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West, Simon and Schuster, 2004.
  • Blackford, John, 1771-1839. Ferry Hill Plantation journal: life on the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 4 January 1838-15 January 1839 2d ed. Shepherdstown, W. Va. : [American Canal and Transportation Center], 1975.
  • Cotton, Robert. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Through the Lens of Sir Robert Cotton
  • Fradin, Morris. Hey-ey-ey, lock! Cabin John, Md., See-and-Know Press, 1974
  • Gutheim, Frederick. The Potomac. New York: Rinehart and Co., 1949.
  • Hahn, Thomas F. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Lock-Houses and Lock-Keepers.
  • Hahn, Thomas F. Towpath Guide to the C&O Canal: Georgetown Tidelock to Cumberland. Shepherdstown, WV: American Canal and Transportation Center, 1985.
  • High, Mike. The C&O Canal Companion, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
  • Kapsch, Robert and Kapsch, Elizabeth Perry. Monocacy Aqueduct on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Medley Press, 2005.
  • Kapsch, Robert. The Potomac Canal, George Washington and the Waterway West.Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press, 2007.
  • Kytle, Elizabeth. Home on the Canal, Cabin John, Md.: Seven Locks Press, c. 1983.
  • Martin, Edwin. A Beginner's Guide to Wildflowers of the C and O Towpath, 1984.
  • Mulligan, Kate. Canal Parks, Museums and Characters of the Mid-Atlantic, Wakefield Press, Washington, DC, 1999.
  • Mulligan, Kate. Towns along the Towpath, 1997. (Available from C &O Association) Here is Chapter 3 about Seneca.
  • National Park Service, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Washington, DC: NPS Division of Publications, 1991.
  • Rada, James Jr. Canawlers, Legacy Press, 2001.


See also

  • Locks on the C&O Canal
    Locks on the C&O Canal

    The Lock on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, located in Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. of the United States, were numbered from 1 to 75 with two Lock , 63? and 64?, having fractional numbers and no lock 65....
  • Canal Place, Cumberland
    Canal Place

    Canal Place is a park operated by the National Park Service located in Cumberland, Maryland. The park includes the Western Maryland Railway Station , station plaza, a picnic area, a canal boat replica, a pedestrian bridge to George Washington?s Headquarters , picnic area, and the Crescent Lawn Festival Grounds....


External links

  • - online images from George Washington University Library.