A New Boat for the C&O

Mercer’s company, chartered in 1825 to fulfill George Washington’s dream of a shipping canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio River, never became a commercial success. July 4, 1828, the day the first ceremonial shovelful of earth was dug at Little Falls, westward construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad also began.

At about 14.5 feet wide, this canal boat is only a few inches narrower than the lock it is entering.

Construction of the canal was fraught with difficulties. Labor problems, resistance to selling rights-of-way and financial shortfalls slowed progress. It took 22 years to complete the canal to Cumberland, Md., far short of the original goal of reaching the Ohio River Valley.

Still, the canal enjoyed an active quarter century. The years between 1850 and 1875 saw brisk traffic of boats carrying coal and other commodities. Then, competition of the B&O Railroad coupled with a series of natural disasters, forced the C&O Company into receivership. It never recovered.

In 1938, the federal government bought the entire 184.5 mile strip for use as a park. In 1950, repeated floods damaged the canal to the extent that the Secretary of the Interior proposed replacing it with a super highway.

In the 1890s partiers enjoyed a day trip to the Canal and refreshments aboard one of the boats.

Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, an ardent naturalist, disagreed. Douglas challenged the editors of The Washington Post, some of whom had supported the highway proposal, to hike from Georgetown to Cumberland with him. The natural beauty of the canal and Potomac River swayed the editors and, eventually, public opinion. In 1971, the canal became the Chesapeake & Ohio National Historical Park.

Ironically, the canal’s failure as a commercial enterprise allowed it to fulfill a greater destiny. The towpath, where mules once pulled boats loaded with coal, tobacco, grains, furs and timber to the port of Georgetown, traverses splendid scenery. Today, the public can walk, cycle or take a boat ride along this serene and beautiful stretch‹thanks to concerned citizens like Douglas, the Friends of Great Falls Tavern, and the pupils of Seven Locks Elementary School.