Editing Paw Paw, West Virginia (section)

==Transportation==
[[File:2016-06-25 16 07 57 View east along West Virginia State Route 9 (Henry W Miller Highway) just east of Apple Way in Paw Paw, Morgan County, West Virginia.jpg|thumb|left|WV 9 heading east out of Paw Paw]]

The C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad both played important roles in the town's growth and prosperity.<ref name="Morgan County, West Virginia, and It"/> 
The Potomac River was dangerous and difficult to navigate, and the charter to build a canal to create a trade route with western settlements in Ohio and beyond was granted on May 17, 1785, to the Potowmack Company whose investors included George Washington.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stanton|first=Richard L.|title=Potomac Journey: Fairfax Stone to Tidewater|year=1993|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington D.C.|page=49}}</ref>  Three decades later, more than $729,000 had been spent on the project, but navigation on the river was still limited to only 45 days a year.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stanton|first=Richard L.|title=Potomac Journey: Fairfax Stone to Tidewater|year=1993|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington D.C.|page=85}}</ref> The charter was taken over by the newly formed C&O Canal Company in 1828.
[[File:Candocanal.jpg|thumb|Paw Paw Tunnel South Portal]]
Construction on the Paw Paw Tunnel began in 1836 with a workforce composed largely of English, Welsh, German and Irish laborers.<ref name="Morgan County, West Virginia, and It"/> Plagued by accidents, disease, worker riots, and financial woes, the tunnel finally opened in 1850. Six million bricks were used in its construction which required cutting through 3,118 feet through stratified shale with hand tools and black powder charges.<ref name="Hahn 1973 12">{{cite book|last=Hahn|first=Thomas F.|title=Towpath Guide to the C&O Canal: Section Four Fort Frederick to Cumberland|year=1973|publisher=American Canal and Transportation Center|location=Shepherdstown, WV|page=12}}</ref> A strike in 1922, a flood in 1924, and the decline in demand for coal, which was a major source of freight revenue for the canal, after World War I led to its closure in 1925.<ref name="Hahn 1973 12"/>

The B&O Railroad began construction after the C&O Canal but reached Cumberland, Maryland, in 1842, eight years ahead of the canal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wennerstrom|first=Jack|title=Leaning Sycamores: Natural Worlds of the Upper Potomac|year=1996|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|location=Baltimore, MD|page=16}}</ref> 
Railroad construction started in Paw Paw in 1838, and over the next half century, the town became an important focal point for trade, bringing jobs and prosperity to the region. In 1905, the Western Maryland Railroad was constructed north of Paw, and in 1914, the B&O built a shortline through Paw Paw, with six local stops each day. The B&O removed the main line track from Paw Paw in 1961, bringing regular passenger service in Paw Paw to an end. The Paw Paw railroad depot, designed by noted B&O architect [[Ephraim Francis Baldwin|E. Francis Baldwin]] and constructed around 1882 replaced an earlier one opened in 1845, was permanently closed in 1961.<ref name="Morgan County, West Virginia, and It"/>

In 1928, the first bridge was built over the Potomac River from Paw Paw into [[Maryland]], enabling the completion of a road directly into Cumberland. Previously, a ferry was used to cross the river.<ref>{{cite book|title=Morgan County, West Virginia, and Its People|year=1981|publisher=Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society|location=Berkeley Springs, WV|page=15}}</ref>

Today, the primary highway into Paw Paw is [[West Virginia Route 9]]. WV 9 heads eastward to [[Berkeley Springs, West Virginia|Berkeley Springs]], the county seat, where it connects with [[U.S. Route 522 in West Virginia|U.S. Route 522]]. WV 9 also continues eastward from Berkeley Springs to [[Martinsburg, West Virginia|Martinsburg]]. To the west, WV 9 crosses the [[Potomac River]] into [[Allegany County, Maryland|Allegany County]], [[Maryland]], where it becomes [[Maryland Route 51]]. MD 51 continues westward to [[Cumberland, Maryland|Cumberland]], ending at a junction with [[Interstate 68 in Maryland|Interstate 68]], [[U.S. Route 40 in Maryland|U.S. Route 40]] and [[U.S. Route 220 in Maryland|U.S. Route 220]].