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The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1836 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, DC. The total length of the canal is about 184.5 miles (300 km). Commercial operations on the canal ceased in 1924 after a flood.

George Washington had a large part in its creation. Washington founded the Potowmack Company in 1785 to make improvements to the Potomac River in order to improve its navigability. The Patowmack Company built a number of skirting canals around the major falls including the Patowmack Canal in Virginia. When completed, it allowed boats and rafts to float downstream towards Georgetown. Going upstream was a bit harder. Slim boats could be slowly poled upriver. The completion of the Erie Canal worried southern traders that their business might be threatened by the Northern canal; plans for a canal linking the Ohio and Cheasapeake were drawn up as early as 1820. In 1824, the holdings of the Potowmac Company were ceded to the Chesapeake and Ohio Company. Benjamin Wright, formely Chief Engineer of the Erie Canal, was named Chief Engineer of this new effort, and construction began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 4, 1828 by President John Quincy Adams. Source:
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0001000/01430_0010026049 (added ca. 7/30/2007)



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0001000/01430_0010045829 (added ca. 4/19/2008)



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0001000/01430_0010045839 (added ca. 4/19/2008)



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0001000/01430_0010045849 (added ca. 4/19/2008)



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0001000/01430_0010045859 (added ca. 4/19/2008)

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Related subjects: History, American
Location: Wisconsin Ave just south of M St NW Washington, D.C.

Nearest Metro: Foggy Bottom - GWU (George Washington University)(Orange - Blue - Silver) (click station name for all sculptures nearby) (dcMem ID #1430 )

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'Who is That Man Anyway?' on C&O Canal(6)
Wikipedia article on C&O Canal
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C & O Canal Obelisk in Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

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