Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the Grand Old Ditch, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, which shut down completely in 1828, and could operate during months in which the water level was too low for the former canal. The canal's principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains.
| Chesapeake and Ohio Canal | |
|---|---|
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Great Falls | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 184.5 miles (296.9 km) |
| Maximum boat length | 90 ft 0 in (27.43 m) |
| Maximum boat beam | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
| Locks | 74 (Boats must pass guard locks 4 & 5 for each trip.) |
| Status | National Park |
| History | |
| Original owner | Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company |
| Principal engineer | Benjamin Wright |
| Other engineer(s) | Charles B. Fisk, William Rich Hutton |
| Date of act | 1825 |
| Construction began | 1828 |
| Date of first use | 1830 |
| Date completed | 1850 |
| Date closed | 1924 |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Georgetown, Washington, D.C. (originally Little Falls Branch) (Canal extended down to Georgetown in 1830) |
| End point | Cumberland, Maryland (originally Sections to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) |
| Connects to | Alexandria Canal (Virginia), Goose Creek, and Little River Navigation |
Construction began in 1828 on the 184.5-mile (296.9 km) canal and ended in 1850 with the completion of a 50-mile (80 km) stretch to Cumberland, although the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had already reached Cumberland in 1842. The canal had an elevation change of 605 feet (184 meters) which required 74 canal locks, 11 aqueducts to cross major streams, more than 240 culverts to cross smaller streams, and the 3,118 ft (950 m) Paw Paw Tunnel. A planned section to the Ohio River at Pittsburgh was never built.
The canal is now maintained as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, with a trail that follows the old towpath.