C&O Canal Tide Lock - Washington, D.C. - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

Since the canal has shut down some areas of the canal have fallen into neglect, the dam at the bottom of rock creek was removed and the lock has slowly been buried from the silt in the stream. Take the time to enjoy the location and to look at the sign and imagine what this place would have looked like when it was in operation.

Sign Text:
The 184.5-mile long Chesapeake and Ohio Canal begins at Tide Lock and ends at Cumberland, Maryland. Here canal boats entered the canal to bypass mountains, swift currents, and shallows. Boats exited Tide Lock into the Potomac River to proceed downstream ports to off-load cargo.

About the Canal:
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs 184.5 miles from Georgetown in Washington, DC to Cumberland, Maryland, paralleling the largely unnavigable Potomac River. Originally conceived by George Washington, the intent of the canal was to open shipping to the coal-rich area of Western Maryland, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, with the original intention of linking to the Ohio River in Pittsburgh.
Construction of the canal began on July 4, 1828, the same day that ground was broken for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Baltimore, Maryland. By the time the canal reached Cumberland in 1850 it was many years behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget. Although profitable for a brief period during the mid-19th century, as a commercial venture, the canal was doomed by the success of the railroad and operation of the canal was discontinued in 1924 following a catastrophic flood.
In 1938, the federal government acquired the canal land from the then-owner, the B&O Railroad with the intention of converting the canal and towpath into a highway, an idea that persisted well into the 1950's. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas campaigned for the preservation of the land and garnered much publicity by walking the entire towpath in March of 1954 eventually leading to the abandonment of the highway plan. The entire 184.5 miles of canal land were made into a National Historical Park by President Nixon in 1971.
For more information on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, visit www.candocanal.org

Waterway Name: Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Connected Points: links the Potomac River below the fall line to Cumberland, Maryland Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1830 Date Closed (if applicable): 01/01/1924 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Remnants Web Site: [Web Link]

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