Lock 27

In September 1862, Thomas Walker, the lock tender at this lock, learned that Confederate troops under General A. P. Hill intended to blow up the Monocacy Aqueduct. He pleaded with General Hill not to destroy the aqueduct. Walker recommended that the Confederates cut through the towpath bank and drain the canal. Instead Hill's troops blew a hole in Lock 27. When they learned what Walker had done, the C&O Canal Company fired him. People from the area around Lock 27 petitioned the canal company, saying that Walker's actions had protected the Monocacy Aqueduct, and thus the whole canal. The canal company ultimately reinstated Walker.