Editing Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (section)

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In 1832, the canal company prohibited liquor in a bid to improve the speed of construction, but soon repealed its ban.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