George Washington Memorial Parkway - Great Falls Tavern and the C & O Canal - Great Falls, MD
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Hikenutty
N 39° 00.036 W 077° 14.871
18S E 305345 N 4319246
Great Falls, its Historic Lock Keeper's House/Tavern, and the C & O Canal Locks 19 and 20 mark the end of this amazing scenic and historical byway that starts in George Washington's Mt. Vernon and passes through the nation's Capitol.
Waymark Code: WM4AEQ
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2008
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Bernd das Brot Team
Views: 48
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The C & O Canal begins in Georgetown and makes its way 184.5 miles along the Potomac River. According to the National Parks Website, George Washington dreamed of the construction of this canal. The site notes that "He hoped to use the Potomac to improve travel to the interior of the country. His dream was to open the Ohio Valley and enable its vast raw materials to be shipped to eastern cities and seaports, thereby binding the states together in a framework of trade and mutual interest."

Along the canal's pathway lies the Great Falls where rapids and waterfalls mad canal construction tricky and required many locks. Here at the National Park Visitor Center you can stop at the Great Falls Tavern, built in the early 1800's as a Lock Keeper's house and now used as an interpretive center for the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park. You can walk along the canal, or even better, ride one of the canal boats, pulled by mules, up the canal and through one of the historic river locks.

Also at the site is the historic Washington Aqueduct and a trail to the Great Falls themselves.

To learn more about the history of the canal and the people and places that history encompasses, be sure to check out the National Park's C & O Canal National Historic Park Website.

Program: America's Byways

Website: [Web Link]

Official Name: George Washington Memorial Parkway

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