Couple leading canal boat on C&O Canal The original canal boat

The first story I published was for the Washington Post "Sports Two" section in 1976.  My wife and I talked our way on a bus with bikes to Cumberland, Maryland.  We had a couple of flat tires but managed the 184 mile trip in four days staying at motels along the way.  The Canal is much talked about these days as it is being drained for maintainance. This image is one of the original boats drawn by mules....a messy business! 

The Canal was a project set in motion by George Washington. He saw it as the Nation’s Gateway to the West.  It stretches up to Cumberland, Maryland and I have done the trip by bicycle (The Washington Post) and by car (National Geographic Traveler).  Ironically, by time the Canal was finished, the majority of the cargo carried was coal for the train which ran parallel to it and quickly put it out of business. This image was taken on Kodachrome and scanned around 2000.  

In the early fifties, there was talk of turning the Canal into a highway. Thankfully, Justice Douglas took up the cause and walked the entire length a couple of times (challenging reporters to do the same). He eventually brought enough publicity and public pressure to put it under the protection of the National Park Service.  It’s 184 miles and has little elevation so worth a few days. There are six pages devoted to the Georgetown stretch of the Canal in DC PHOTO BOOK. The stonework and masonry are more elaborate and ornamental near DC.  It's an ambitious project and a great three or four day bike ride.  

PROOFING GEORGETOWN PAGES IN DC PHOTO BOOKIt's photography and preservation as I was checking the Georgetown section of the book and realized I had images of the old barge!
 

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