Georgetown: Lock No. 4 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Conceived as a 185-mile transportation link between Georgetown, DC, head of navigation on the Potomac River, and Cumberland in western Maryland, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was an ideal project for enabling extended trade to interior areas. Although the canal was opened to its final destination in 1850, the advent of the railroads, improvement in roads, the constant washout of canal dikes, and interrupted service, would cause its eventual demise. It was closed and operations ceased in 1924.

By 1954 the long obsolete canal had for the most part deteriorated and returned to nature. Only the beginning section of the canal in Georgetown and the loc at Great Falls Tavern, Potomac had been maintained. In this same year a proposal was endorsed to fill in the canal and provide a highway along its route.

At this point, the canal’s savior, U.S. Supreme court Justice William O. Douglas stepped forth and mounted an arduous but successful campaign to save the canal. His effort “allowing millions of people each year to enjoy the natural, cultural and recreation resources of the C & O Canal” making it one of the most heavily visited National Parks in the country.

The scene shows the canal – that was nearly paved over – late on a summer day with the 31st Street Bridge just behind, looking east toward Thomas Jefferson Street. Today, one can enjoy the sight of, or ride in a replica of a canal barge as it is navigated through this lock and towed by mules some distance, reliving in the heart of Georgetown the charm and quietude of the great canal days.

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