The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
from Georgetown to Cumberland
Introduction
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal stretches 184½ miles from Washington, DC, to
Cumberland, Maryland. On July 4, 1828, President John Quincy Adams broke
ground for the Great National Project which was to link the Chesapeake Bay
and the Ohio River. On the same day, Charles Carroll, the last living signer
of the Declaration of Independence, broke ground for another project, one
that employed new and untested technology. This other project was the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Although the railroad ultimately won the
race, and construction of the canal stopped in Cumberland, mule-drawn
canal boats carried coal, stone, food, and other goods along the Maryland
shore of the Potomac for almost 100 years. Floods along the Potomac River
frequently damaged the canal, and the damage, along with competition from
the railroads, finally put an end to the C&O as a business enterprise in
1924. In 1938 the canal was acquired by the Federal Government and placed
under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Eventually, the Park
Service proposed using the land for a scenic parkway, similar to the Blue
Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. This idea was not well received by many
supporters of the canal, and in 1954 one of them, Associate Supreme Court
Justice William O. Douglas, challenged the editors of The Washington Post
to walk the length of the canal to see its beauty and historical
significance. Douglas, six other hikers, and two editors completed the
hike in March 1954. The Washington Post changed its editorial stance and
backed the idea of turning the canal into a national park. In 1971, the
C&O officially became the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park.
I was introduced to the C&O in 1987, and over the next few years, I
gradually hiked and bicycled the entire length, a few miles at a time.
Then in 1997, I decided to try backpacking a large section at once, and
I hiked from Cumberland to Harpers Ferry, a distance of approximately 125
miles. Although I enjoyed my trip immensely, hiking two thirds of the
canal wasn't enough, and I became determined to hike the entire length.
On the 2nd of August, 1998, I started out from Mile 0, in Georgetown,
and spent the next twelve days hiking to Cumberland. This CD is a record
of my trip.
The descriptions and locations accompanying the photographs have been
adapted from Thomas Hahn's Towpath guide to the C&O Canal and Mike
High's C&O Canal Companion. Additional information on the C&O can
be found in the bibliography.