Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

====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.