Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

===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.