Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

===Inclined plane===
[[Image:Inclined Plane Remains on C and O Canal.jpg|thumb|150px|Remains of the inclined plane]]Engineer [[William Rich Hutton]] was instrumental in getting the inclined plane built.<ref name="Unrau p. 22">[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 22</ref> Starting in 1875, a [[canal inclined plane]] was built {{convert|2|mi|spell=in}} upriver from Georgetown, so that boats whose destination was downriver from Washington could bypass the congestion (and price gouging of independent wharf owners) in Georgetown.<ref name="inclined plane">Coordinates of inclined plane: {{coord|38.907882|-77.091272|scale:500|name=Inclined Plane}}</ref> Originally the company planned to build a river lock, but then discovered that such a lock occasionally would consume more water than the level could provide. They then planned to make an inclined plane, much like the [[Morris Canal]].<ref>[[#Unrau|Unrau]] p. 480</ref> The first boat went through in 1876; 1,918 boats used the inclined plane that first year.<ref name="Towpath20">[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn ''Towpath Guide'']] p. 20</ref> Usage reports conflict: Hahn reports that was only really used for two years, and sporadically in 1889,<ref name="Towpath20"/> yet Skramstad reports that due to flood damage in 1880 to the Rock Creek outlet, any boat until 1889 (when another flood wrecked the canal) going further down the Potomac than Georgetown, had to use the inclined plane.<ref>Skramstad, Harold. "The Georgetown Canal Incline" Technology and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct. 1969), p. 555</ref> Although Hahn says it was the largest inclined plane in the world at that time, it was {{convert|600|ft}} long,<ref>[[#hahn-towpath|Hahn ''Towpath Guide'']] p. 19</ref> which is short compared to Plane 9 West of the [[Morris Canal]] at {{convert|1500|ft}}. It originally used a turbine to power it (like the Morris Canal) but was later switched to use steam power.<ref name="Towpath20"/>

The inclined plane was dismantled after a major flood in 1889 when ownership of the canal transferred to the B&O Railroad, which operated the canal to prevent its right of way (particularly at Point of Rocks) from falling into the hands of the [[Western Maryland Railway]].<ref name="canal"/>