September 8, 2016–C&O Canal Intro.

We will be visiting sections of the C&O Canal during our journey, however along the way we will also visit other things of interest.  The Canal was built east to west, from Washington DC to Cumberland, MD, but we will tour it in the opposite direction.  Our fasination with this is the history attached, not only of the Canal itself, but as a reflection of our country’s development.  Think of the events that occurred during the late 1700s to late 1800s.

A little history of the Canal first.  George Washington envisioned a westward expansion in the 1700s that would connect Pittsburgh (the Ohio River) to Georgetown (later Washington, DC).   At the time, the US capitol was Philadelphia, and DC didn’t exist, remember this is prior to the Revolutionary War.  So it was his dream to connect the Ohio and Potomac Rivers.  He was going to name it the Patowmack Canal.  Well that didn’t happen, but in 1829 based on his vision, construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal began.  By 1839 they had made it to Hancock, about 130 miles. 

A shortage of funds, labor problems, constructing a tunnel (the Paw Paw Tunnel), and the recently completed railroad connecting Baltimore and Cumberland nearly killed the whole project with only 50 miles remaining to complete.  The Canal was completed in 1850 but ran only to Cumberland, not Pittsburgh as originally planned.  Not much happened until after the Civil War.  As growth in Washington exploded, the Canal carried coal, building products, farm goods, you name it.  It took approximately 5 days to complete the journey.

Business boomed until 1889 when a flood destroyed the Canal.  It went bankrupt, bought out by the B&O Railroad and reorganized in 1902, but commerce never returned.  Another flood in 1924 pretty much was the end.  In all, 184.5 miles of ditch and towpath were laid between Cumberland and Washington.  They built 74 lift locks (there is a 600 foot differential between Cumberland and Chesapeake Bay), 7 dams, 11 aqueducts, and a 3,118 foot tunnel.  Considering the tools of the day it is pretty amazing.

The first part of our journey will cover Cumberland MM 184.5 to Williamsport MM 100.  Not sure how much you will be able to decipher from the map, but hopefully it will give you and idea of where we’re at, and where we’re going.