Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

==History==
===Early river projects===
After the [[American Revolutionary War]], [[George Washington]] was the chief advocate of using waterways to connect the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern Seaboard]] to the [[Great Lakes]] and the [[Ohio River]], which flows into the [[Mississippi River]] and ultimately to the [[Gulf of Mexico]] at [[New Orleans]].<ref name="hahn1">[[#hahn-pathway|Hahn, Pathway]], 1.</ref> In 1785, Washington founded the [[Potomac Company|Potowmack Company]] to improve the navigability of the Potomac River. His company built five skirting canals around the major falls: Little Falls, which was later incorporated in the C&O Canal, [[Patowmack Canal|Great Falls]] in [[Virginia]], Seneca Falls opposite Violette's lock, Payne's Falls of the Shenandoah, and House's Falls near [[Harpers Ferry]].<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 10</ref> These canals allowed an easy downstream float; upstream journeys, propelled by pole, were harder.

Several kinds of watercraft were used on the Patowmack Canal and in the [[Potomac River]]. [[Gondola]]s were {{convert|60|by|10|ft|0|abbr=on}} log rafts, usually sold at journey's end for their wood by their owners, who returned upstream on foot. Sharpers were flat-bottomed boats, {{convert|60|by|7|ft|0|abbr=on}}, usable only on high-water days, about 45 days per year.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]], p. 12</ref>

===Construction===

====Planning====
[[Image:Proposed Map of C and O Canal.jpg|thumb|Map of the canal's 'planned route]]
The [[Erie Canal]], built between 1817 and 1825, threatened traders south of New York City, who began to seek their own transportation infrastructure to link the burgeoning areas west of the Appalachian Mountains to mid-Atlantic markets and ports. In 1820, plans began being made for a canal to link the [[Ohio River]] and [[Chesapeake Bay]].

In early March 1825, President [[James Monroe]] signed the bill chartering the construction of the C&O Canal as one of the last acts of his presidency.<ref name="Ward">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/earlydevelopmen00wardgoog|quote=George Washington Ward.|title=Early Development of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Project|year=1899|author=Ward, George W.|publisher=[Johns Hopkins Press]|access-date=2013-12-20}} p.63</ref> The plan was to build it in two sections, the eastern section from the tidewater of Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland; and the western section over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River or one of its tributaries. Free from taxation, the canal company was required to have {{convert|100|mi}} in use in five years, and to complete the canal in 12 years.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 20</ref> The canal was engineered to have a {{convert|2|mph|0}} water current, supplying the canal and assisting mules pulling boats downstream.<ref name="Kytle p. 25">[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 25</ref>

The eastern section was the only part to be completed.<ref>Bearss, Edwin C, ''The Composite Locks'', NPS, 1968, p. 57</ref>

On October 23, 1826, the engineers submitted the study, presenting the proposed canal route in three sections. The eastern section comprised Georgetown to Cumberland; the middle section, Cumberland (going up Wills Creek to [[Hyndman, Pennsylvania|Hyndman]] then across the [[Sand Patch Grade]] crossing the [[Eastern Continental Divide]] to [[Garrett, Pennsylvania|Garrett]]<ref>According to the Army Engineers report in 1874–75, the B&O Railroad mainline from Cumberland to Pittsburgh follows the route originally surveyed for the canal. See [[#hahn-pathway|Hahn, Pathway]]. 258–259</ref>) to the [[Confluence, Pennsylvania|confluence]] of the [[Casselman River]] and the [[Youghiogheny River]]; and the western section from there to Pittsburgh.<ref name="Unrau p. 55">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 55</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Section||Distance||Ascent <br>& Descent||# of Locks||Cost
|-
|Eastern
|align="right"|185&nbsp;Mi 1078 Yds
|align="right"|578 Feet
|align="right"|74
|align="right"|$8,177,081.05
|-
|Middle
|align="right"|70 Mi 1010 Yds
|align="right"|1961 Feet
|align="right"|246
|align="right"|$10,028,122.86
|-
|Western
|align="right"|85 Mi 348 Yds
|align="right"|619 Feet
|align="right"|78
|align="right"|$4,170,223.78
|-
|Total:
|align="right"|341 Mi 676 Yds
|align="right"|3158 Feet
|align="right"|398
|align="right"|$22,375,427.69
|}

[[File:Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.jpg|thumb|right|A boat on the canal, circa 1900-1924]]
The total estimated price tag, more than $22 million, dampened the enthusiasm of many supporters, who were expecting an estimate in the $4 million to $5 million range. At a convention in December 1826, they attempted to discredit the engineers' report, and offered lower estimates: Georgetown to Cumberland, $5,273,283; Georgetown to Pittsburgh, $13,768,152.<ref name="Unrau p. 55"/> Geddes and Roberts were hired to make another report, which they gave in 1828: $4,479,346.93 for Georgetown to Cumberland.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 56</ref> With those numbers to encourage them, the stockholders formally organized the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in June 1828.<ref>Unrau, Harland D. Historic Structure Report the Culverts, Historical Data. National Park Service, Denver Colorado, January 1976. p. 6-7</ref> In the end, the final construction cost to Cumberland in 1850 was $11,071,075.21. Compared to the original cost given by the engineers in 1826 of about $8 million, removing things not in the estimate such as land purchases, engineering expenses, incidental damages, salaries, and fencing provision, the cost overrun was about 19%, which can be justified by the inflation rate of the period. The cost overrun of the other proposal (Geddes and Roberts) was about 51%<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 105</ref> thus showing that the original engineer's estimate was good.

In 1824, the holdings of the Patowmack Company were ceded to the Chesapeake and Ohio Company. (Rejected names for the canal included the "Potomac Canal" and "Union Canal".<ref>[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn, Towpath Guide]]p. 7</ref>) By 1825, the Canal Company was authorized by an act of the [[Maryland General Assembly|General Assembly of Maryland]] in the amount of subscriptions of $500,000; this paved the way for future investments and loans. According to historians,<ref>J. Thomas Scharf, "History of Baltimore City and County", published 1881, reprinted 1971</ref> those financial resources were expended until the State had prostrated itself on its own credit.

====Groundbreaking====
The C&O's first chief engineer was [[Benjamin Wright (civil engineer)|Benjamin Wright]], formerly chief engineer of the [[Erie Canal]]. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 4, 1828, attended by U.S. president [[John Quincy Adams]]. The ceremony was held near [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], at the canal's eventual {{convert|5.64|mi}} mark near Lock 6, the upstream end of the Little Falls skirting canal, and Dam No. 1.<ref>[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn, ''Towpath Guide'']] p. 27</ref><ref>On the same day, the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] set its "First Stone" with the aging, sole surviving Signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]].</ref>

[[File:Boats_on_Canal.jpg|thumb|Canal boats waiting to be unloaded in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)]]
At the groundbreaking, there was still argument over the eastern end of the canal. The directors thought that Little Falls (at the downstream end of the Patowmack Little Falls Skirting Canal) was sufficient since that literally fulfilled the charter's condition of reaching the tidewater, but people in Washington wanted it to end in Washington, connecting to the Tiber Creek and Anacostia river.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 27</ref> For that reason, the canal originally opened from Little Falls to Seneca, and the next year, was extended down to Georgetown.

The Little Falls skirting canal, which was part of the Patowmack Canal, was dredged to increase its depth from {{convert|4|to|6|ft}}, and became part of the C&O Canal.

The first president of the canal, [[Charles F. Mercer]], insisted on perfection since this was a work of national importance. This would cost the company more money to build the canal. During his term, he forbade the use of slackwaters for navigation, the use of composite locks (see section below), or reduction of the cross section of the canal prism in difficult terrain. This reduced maintenance expenditures but increased construction costs.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 25</ref> In the end, two slackwaters (Big Slackwater above Dam No. 4, and Little Slackwater above Dam No. 5) and multiple composite locks (Locks 58–71) were built.

At first, the canal company planned to use steamboats in the slackwaters, since without mules, the canal boats had to use oars to move upstream. After much discussion of the dangers of early steamboats, the company provided a towpath so that the mules could pull the boats through the slackwaters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/choh/canal_prism_hsr.pdf|title=Historical Structure Report, The Canal Prism, Including Towpath with Canal Berm and River Revetments Historical Data|author=Unrau, Harland D.|publisher=[US Department of the Interior, National Park Service]|access-date=2013-08-02|archive-date=2017-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225130018/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/choh/canal_prism_hsr.pdf|url-status=live}} p. 45</ref>

====Section numbers and contracts====
From Lock 5 at Little Falls to Cumberland (as mentioned above, the canal started at Little Falls, and was later extended down to Georgetown), the canal was divided into three divisions (of about {{convert|60|mi|-1}} apiece), each of which was further divided into 120 sections of about {{convert|0.5|mi|m}}. A separate construction contract was issued for each section.<ref>[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn Towpath]] p. 60-61</ref> Locks, culverts, dams, etc. were listed on the contracts by section number, not by mileage as is done today. For instance, Locks 5 and 6 are on Section No. 1,<ref name="Unrau p. 227">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 227</ref> all the way to Guard Lock No. 8 on section 367.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 239</ref> Sections A–H were in the Georgetown level below lock 5<ref name="Unrau p. 227"/>

====First part opened====
In November 1830, the canal opened from Little Falls to Seneca.<ref name="Kytle, p. 84">[[#Kytle|Kytle]], p. 84</ref> The Georgetown section opened the following year.

====Dispute for Point of Rocks; second part opened====
In 1828, the C&O Canal and the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (B&O) began fighting for sole use of the narrow strip of available land along the [[Potomac River]] from [[Point of Rocks, Maryland|Point of Rocks]] to [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harpers Ferry]].<ref name="canal">{{Cite journal|last=Lynch|first=John A.|title=Justice Douglas, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and Maryland Legal History|journal=University of Baltimore Law Forum|volume=35|issue=Spring 2005  |pages=104–125}}</ref> After a Maryland state court battle that involved [[Daniel Webster]] and [[Roger B. Taney]], the companies agreed to share the [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]].<ref name="canal"/>

In August 1829, the canal company began importing indentured laborers to Alexandria and Georgetown. These workers were promised meat three times a day, vegetables, and a "reasonable allowance of whiskey", $8 to $12 per month, $20 for masons. Still, many were dissatisfied with the slave-like conditions. Friction between the largest groups, from Ireland and Germany, meant they had to be kept in different crews.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 33-34</ref>

The width of the canal prism above Harpers Ferry was reduced to {{convert|50|ft}}, which saved money and was also appropriate from an engineering standpoint.<ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p. 43</ref>

In 1830, [[Francis Scott Key]] left his [[Key House|Georgetown home]] due to the newly opened canal, which ran through his back garden.

In 1832, the canal company prohibited liquor in a bid to improve the speed of construction, but soon repealed its ban.

In August<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 43</ref> or September 1832, an epidemic of [[cholera]] swept through the construction camps, killing many workers and leading others to throw down their tools and flee.<ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p. 42</ref>

[[File:View of Washington City - 1871 - "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1871 by E. Sachse & Co. Balto. in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.jpg|thumb|Low-angle bird's-eye view of central Washington toward the west and northwest with The Capitol in foreground. The Washington City Canal is visible running along the mall.]]

By 1833, the canal's Georgetown end was extended {{convert|1.5|mi|km|1}} eastward to [[Tiber Creek]], near the western terminus of the [[Washington City Canal]], which extended through the future [[National Mall]] to the foot of the [[United States Capitol]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=211|title="The Canal Connection" marker|publisher=The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726152718/http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=211|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001032.htm|title=Washington City Canal: Plaque beside the Lockkeeper's House marking the former location of in Washington, D.C.|publisher=Memorials, monuments, statues & other outdoor art in the Washington D.C. area & beyond, by M. Solberg|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2010-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223183250/http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0001032.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=210|title="The Washington City Canal" marker|publisher=The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2011-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726152730/http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=210|url-status=live}}</ref> A lock keeper's house at the eastern end of this Washington Branch of the C&O Canal remains at the southwest corner of [[Constitution Avenue]] and 17th Street, N.W., at the edge of the National Mall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=209|title="Lock Keeper's House" marker|publisher=HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2011-03-02|archive-date=2018-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217154440/https://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=111529|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="lock keeper's house">Coordinates of lock keeper's house: {{coord|38.8919305|-77.0397498|scale:1000|name=Lockkeeper's house from Washington branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal}}</ref>

[[File:C&O Canal - Georgetown.jpg|thumb|left|C&O Canal in the [[Georgetown, Washington, D.C.|Georgetown]] neighborhood of Washington, D.C.]]

In 1834, the section to Harper's Ferry opened and the canal reached Williamsport.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 84</ref>

In 1836, the canal was used by canal packets as a [[Star routes|Star Route]] to carry mail from Georgetown to [[Shepherdstown, West Virginia|Shepherdstown]]. The contract was held by Albert Humrickhouse at $1,000 ''per annum'' for a daily service of 72 book miles. The canal approached [[Hancock, Maryland]], by 1839.<ref name="hahn6">[[#hahn-pathway|Hahn, Pathway]], 6.</ref>

In March 1837, three surveys were made for a possible link to the northeast to Baltimore: via Westminster, via [[Monocacy River|Monocacy]]-Linganore, and via Seneca, but they were all deemed impractical due to lack of water at the summit level.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 41</ref>

The Canal reached Dam No. 6 (west of Hancock) in 1839.

As the canal approached Hancock, more construction problems surfaced. [[Limestone]] sinkholes and caverns caused the canal bottom to cave in near Shepherdstown, near Two Locks above Dam No. 4, around Four Locks, Big pool, and Roundtop Hill near Dam No. 6.<ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p. 49</ref> On 6 December 1839, Chief Engineer Fisk wrote, "These breaks have all evidently been occasioned by limestone sinks which exhibit themselves by a falling down of the bottom of the Canal into limestone caverns that are lower than, and extend out under the bed of the river: — in consequence of which the water from the Canal is at first conducted down below the canal bottom perhaps twenty or thirty feet and thence out along under the bed of the river ... It has been a matter of surprise to me that our Canal thus far has suffered so little from limesinks. We may yet however have much trouble from this source near and above the breach at Lock No. 37. For about a mile, there is scarcely a hundred feet in length of the canal in which there are not several small lime sink holes...". He recommended costly but necessary repairs, which were done by 1840.<ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p. 50-51</ref><ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p 52</ref>

Since it was difficult to obtain stone for the locks, engineers built [[Locks on the C&O Canal#Composite Locks|composite locks]], sometimes of [[Wood preservation#Kyanizing|kyanized]] wood.<ref>Bearss p. 33</ref>

In 1843, the [[Potomac Aqueduct Bridge]] was built near the present-day [[Francis Scott Key Bridge (Washington, D.C.)|Francis Scott Key Bridge]] to connect the canal to the [[Alexandria Canal (Virginia)|Alexandria Canal]], which led to [[Alexandria, Virginia]].<ref name="Aqueduct Bridge">Coordinates of abutment and canal bed of Potomac Aqueduct Bridge: {{coord|38.904328|-77.070407|scale:500|name=Abutment and Canal Bed of Potomac Aqueduct Bridge}}</ref>

In April 1843, floods damaged much of the finished portion of the canal between Georgetown and Harpers Ferry, including the Shenandoah river lock. One flood suspended navigation for 103 days. The company raised the embankments around Little Falls, and made a "tumbling waste" near the 4-mile marker.<ref>Unrau, ''Canal Prism'', p. 56</ref>

====Last 50 miles====
[[file:Cumberland_Boatyard_Chesapeake_and_Ohio_Canal.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Boat construction yard in Cumberland, MD]]
Building the last {{convert|50|mi||abbr=|adj=on}} segment proved difficult and expensive. [[Allen Bowie Davis]] took on the role of management.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Monumental City: Its Past History and Present Resources|author=George Washington Howard|page=648}}</ref> In Cumberland, [[Cumberland Dam|Dam No. 8]] and Guard Lock No. 8 had begun construction in 1837<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] pp. 239, 242</ref> and the final locks (70–75) to Cumberland were completed around 1840.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 237</ref> That left an {{convert|18.5|mi||abbr=|adj=on}} segment in the middle, which would eventually require building the Paw Paw tunnel, digging the deep cut at Oldtown, and building 17 locks.<ref name="Bears20">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/composite.pdf|title=The Composite Locks|author=Edwin C. Bearss|publisher=[US Department of the Interior, National Park Service]|access-date=2013-05-24|archive-date=2013-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713233303/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/choh/composite.pdf|url-status=live}} p.20</ref>

Near Paw Paw, the engineers had no good solutions. If they followed the river, they would have to cross over to West Virginia to avoid the cliffs, and an agreement with the B&O Railroad specified that the canal would avoid the south side of the river, unless it was a place where the railroad would not need it. So they took the more expensive decision to build a tunnel through the mountain.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 53-54</ref> The initial cost estimate of $33,500 proved far too low.<ref name="nps.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/choh/upload/pawpawbrochure_final.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-05-15 |archive-date=2012-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025141348/http://www.nps.gov/choh/upload/pawpawbrochure_final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The tunnel was completed for $616,478.65<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 251</ref> Among the components of the project, a kiln was built to provide bricks to line the tunnel.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 174 ff</ref>

[[Image:Map of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Terminus at Cumberland Maryland in mid 1890s.svg|200px|right|thumb|Map of Terminus in Cumberland in the mid 1890s. Yellow dots indicate modern highways as well as current (2013) location of Canal basin.]]
Originally, the company intended to go around Cumberland, behind the town of Wills Creek, but complaints from the citizens and the city caused the board to change their plans, routing the canal through the center of town.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p.207, 208</ref>

The canal was opened for trade to Cumberland on Thursday, October 10, 1850.<ref>Bearss p. 57</ref> On the first day, five canal boats, ''Southampton, Elizabeth, Ohio, Delaware'' and ''Freeman Rawdon'' loaded with a total of 491 tons of coal, came down from Cumberland. In one day, the C&O carried more coal in the first day of business than the [[Lehigh Canal]] for their full year of business in 1820.<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 64</ref>

Yet in 1850, the B&O Railroad had already been operating in Cumberland for eight years, and the Canal suffered financially.<ref name="Bears20"/><ref name="mack1">[[#mackintosh-making|Mackintosh]], 1.</ref> Debt-ridden, the company dropped its plan to continue construction of the next {{convert|180|mi|km}} of the canal into the Ohio Valley.<ref name="hahn7"/> The company long realized (especially with the experience at the Paw Paw tunnel) that construction over the mountains going to Pittsburgh was "wildly unrealistic".<ref>[[#Kytle|Kytle]] p. 61, note #10</ref> Occasionally there was talk of continuing the canal, e.g. in 1874, an {{convert|8.4|mi||abbr=|adj=on}} long tunnel was proposed to go through the Allegheny Mountains.<ref>[[#hahn-pathway|Hahn, Pathway]]. 257</ref> Nevertheless, there was a tunnel built to connect with the Pennsylvania canal.<ref>[[#davies|Davies]] p. ix. Davies does not indicate if this tunnel was ever used, nor its location.</ref>

Even though the railroad beat the canal to Cumberland, the canal was not entirely obsolete. It wasn't until the mid-1870s that improved technology, specifically with larger [[Steam locomotive|locomotives]] and [[Railway air brake|air brakes]], allowed the railroad to set rates lower than the canal, and thus seal its fate.<ref>[[#davies|Davies]] p. ix</ref>

Sometime after the canal opened in 1850, a [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal commemorative obelisk|commemorative obelisk]] was erected near its Georgetown terminus.

===Intervening years===
The canal deteriorated during the Civil War. In 1869, the company's annual report said, "During the last ten years little or nothing had been done toward repairing and improving lock-houses, culverts, aqueducts, locks, lock-gates and [[waste weir]]s of the Company; many of them had become entirely unfit for use and were becoming worthless, rendering it absolutely essential to the requirements of the Company to have them repaired."<ref>41st annual report of the C&O Canal Company (1869), p. 4-5</ref> Still, some improvements were made in the late 1860s, such as replacing Dams No. 4 and 5.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 476</ref>

The early 1870s, which Unrau calls the "Golden Years", were particularly profitable. The company repaid some of its bonds. It made many improvements to the canal, including the installation of a telephone system. Yet there were still floods and other problems. By 1872, so many vessels were unfit for navigation that the company required boats to undergo annual inspections and registration. In July 1876, the crew of the ''Lezan Ragan'' stayed afloat while loading in Cumberland only by her crew's pumping. She hit some abutments of the locks near Great Falls, and finally sank at the opening Lock 15 (at the head of Widewater).<ref name="Unrau p. 813">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 813</ref>

For a brief period in the 1860s and 1870s, the company attempted to prevent boating on Sundays. But boatmen broke padlocks on the lock gates and turned to violence when confronted. The company gave up trying to enforce the rule.<ref name="Unrau p. 813"/>

The trip from Cumberland to Georgetown generally took about seven days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/choh/faqs.htm |title=Frequently Asked Questions - Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) |publisher=Nps.gov |date=2016-03-16 |access-date=2016-08-11 |archive-date=2021-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324224459/https://www.nps.gov/choh/faqs.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The fastest known time from Georgetown to Cumberland for a light boat was 62 hours, set by Raleigh Bender from Sharpsburg. Dent Shupp made it from Cumberland to Williamsport in 35 hours with 128 tons of coal.<ref name="Unrau p. 811">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 811</ref>

===Receivership===
Following the disastrous flood of 1889, the canal company entered receivership with court-appointed trustees. The trustees were given the right to repair and operate the canal under continued court oversight. The trustees represented the majority owners of the C&O Canal Company bonds issued in 1844. While the B&O owned the majority of the 1878 bonds, the B&O did not own a majority of the 1844 bonds as of 1890. However, by 1903, the B&O had acquired sufficient bonds to become "a majority holder",<ref>{{cite news |title=Local Financial News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/146397543/?terms=%22Chesapeake%20and%20Ohio%20Canal%22&match=1 |access-date=30 July 2021 |work=Evening Star, Washington, D.C. |issue=15716 |date=July 9, 1903 |page=2}}</ref> the reported reason being "to secure for the Wabash [railroad] system a foothold on the Atlantic seaboard" which had only been incorporated in February 1903.

Over the next decade, and particularly after 1902, boats on the canal shifted from independent operators to company-owned craft. Boats with colorful names (''Bertha M. Young'' or ''Lezen Ragan'') gave way to numbered craft ("Canal Towage Company" with a number) run by a schedule.<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 814-815</ref>

Despite the B&O's status as a majority bondholder, the B&O can not be said to have ever owned the C&O. This did not stop the B&O from trying to sell it. In 1936, the B&O attempted to sell part of the canal from Point of Rocks to the District line. This was blocked by the courts which had continued to oversee the C&O trustees with the court saying "It is of course well known that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company is not the owner of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal." At that time, the court also stated that the canal could not be sold in pieces but only in its entirety. <ref>{{cite court |litigants=RE: THE TITLE TO C&O CANAL FROM THE DISTRICT TO POINT OF ROCKS On The Question Of Whether The United States Can Acquire By Purchase A Valid Title To The Portion Of The Chesapeake And Ohio Canal Extending From Washington To Point Of Rocks, Md. |reporter=Mr. Assistant Attorney General Blair |date=November 14, 1936}}</ref> In 1938, new trustees were appointed by the court to handle the sale under the court's continued oversight.