With the re-opening of the government, the C&O Canal Trust, the official nonprofit partner to the C&O Canal National Historical Park (NHP), will be working closely with Park staff in the coming weeks to assess damage done to the C&O Canal NHP during the month-long closure, and to identify immediate and longer-term maintenance needs. The Trust will then leverage its extensive volunteer network to provide boots on the ground to take care of those projects suited to the capacity and skills of community volunteers. Read More
Rod Newton joined the Trust in January 2019 as our Volunteer and Programs Coordinator. He comes to us with 20 years of experience organizing volunteers, coordinating logistics, and managing risk in diverse outdoor settings. Read More
As the government shutdown stretches into its second month, the C&O Canal Trust continues our work in support of the C&O Canal National Historical Park, but without our valued National Park Service (NPS) colleagues at our side. Because we share office space which was closed due to the shutdown, the Trust staff have been working from home as we plan for our spring Canal Pride events, manage Canal Quarters, and raise funds for towpath resurfacing and Canal Classrooms. Read More
Each month the C&O Canal Trust holds a photo contest on our Facebook page of photographs taken in the C&O Canal National Historical Park and its surrounding Canal Towns. Votes are placed by “liking” the photos. The winner receives bragging rights and their photo at the top of our Facebook and Twitter pages for one month. We receive beautiful photos every month and wanted to share our 2018 winners with you. Read More
January 5 is National Bird Day, the perfect time to share with you the results of the 2018 C&O Canal Bird Count, which was conducted in January and February 2018 by 17 volunteers led by James Speicher. Read More
Happy New Year to everyone! With the holidays behind us, we now turn to achieving those New Year’s resolutions. Here are some C&O Canal-inspired resolution ideas for you: Read More
The Trust is able to make a positive impact along the 184.5-mile length of the Park only with the support of our donors and the help of committed volunteers. In fiscal year 2018, 1,302 Trust volunteers performed 10,032 hours of service, worth $281,690 in in-kind labor.
Hagerstown, MD – The C&O Canal Trust today announced a t-shirt artwork contest to commemorate the 12th anniversary of their Canal Pride events. Amateur artists are invited to create and submit artwork that celebrates the 12th anniversary of this volunteer-driven event. The winning design will be printed on our Canal Pride t-shirts and worn by hundreds of volunteers as they work in the C&O Canal National Historical Park during the spring months. Read More
Longtime Park and Trust volunteer and former Trust Board Member Robert Mertz won the George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding individual Volunteer Service for the National Capital Region for the work he did in 2017. Read More
Following a yearlong process, the C&O Canal Trust has launched its new strategic plan, covering 2019 to 2023, that lays out ambitious but achievable goals to strengthen private support for the C&O Canal National Historical Park (NHP) through philanthropy, volunteerism, and advocacy. Read More
The C&O Canal Trust is rehabilitating Swains Lockhouse to prepare it to join the Canal Quarters program. Former residents of this lockhouse, the Swain family, have decades of memories from their life in the house, when they endured several floods and crafted methods for protecting their home through necessity. Visitors can see the metal high water markers on the side of the house placed by family and various official entities. Bert Swain, who lived at Lock 21 from 1957-1980, generously shared his family memories and photos for this post.
Cheyenne Sebold, the Trust’s Programs and Partnerships intern, recently presented a poster at the Chesapeake Conservation Corps’ annual Chesapeake Watershed Form focusing on volunteer based invasive plant programming to manage invasive species in the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Read More
Enjoy the beautiful vistas of the C&O Canal National Historical Park all year long with our 2019 Annual Calendar. Read More
The C&O Canal Trust is rehabilitating Swains Lockhouse at Lock 21 to become the newest addition to the Canal Quarters program. Bert Swain, who lived at Lock 21 from 1957-1980, generously shared his family memories and photos for this post about changes to the lockhouse and the family business over the years. Read More
On Friday, October 19, 2018, Stephen Chaudet took the helm of the Trust’s Board of Directors as its new Chairman after having served four years as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Development Committee. Read More
2018 was a banner year for the Trust’s Bench Sponsorship Program, with 18 new benches installed in the Park from Marsden Bridge in Potomac to Lock 75 near Cumberland!
The threat of Hurricane Florence this past September reminded people across the Mid-Atlantic about past hurricanes that have devastated the area.
Aftermath of Hurricane Agnes at Lock 7 – NPS photo
In June of 1972, Hurricane Agnes came roaring into Maryland. It would go on to cause over $110,000,000 worth of damage in Maryland alone. Susan S. Garmon was a 17 year-old teenager at the time, living in Lockhouse 6 with her family in the newly-created Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. This is her story. Read More
The C&O Canal Trust is rehabilitating Swains Lockhouse at Lock 21 to become the newest addition to the Canal Quarters program. Bert Swain, who lived at Lock 21 from 1957-1980, generously shared his family memories and photos for this post. Read More
I embarked on my first towpath ride on Saturday, July 29, planning to ride from Georgetown to Cumberland over a week’s time. This was not my first time going long-distance on the towpath, as I participated in the Sierra Club’s 50 mile walk from Washington, D.C. to Harpers Ferry, WV when I was a decade younger. But this was my first time traversing the miles by bike. Read More
Get out your cameras! The C&O Canal Trust sponsors a monthly photo contest highlighting the best photos you have taken of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Read More
Flood History
With its location along the Potomac River, it’s not a matter of if the C&O Canal and its lockhouses will be flooded but when. The Canal has experienced flooding ranging from inconvenient to destructive throughout its history. In early June of this year, the Potomac reached its highest level in 8 years as rehabilitation work continued at Swains Lockhouse. Read More
The C&O Canal Trust will be hosting its Eighth Annual Park After Dark gala event on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. to benefit the C&O Canal National Historical Park (NHP). This unique event is held under the stars at the Historic Great Falls Tavern within the C&O Canal NHP and features live music, great food, libations, a silent auction, a campfire, and more. A paddle raise will also be held to raise funds to make long-term sustainable repairs to the towpath and fix damage from the recent flooding. Read More
The Bald Eagle, considered a sign of strength since the times of the ancient Romans, has been our national symbol since 1782. Fun fact: Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to his daughter in 1784, described the bald eagle as “a bird of bad moral character”. This regal bird has now become an icon symbolizing American strength and fortitude. Read More
Say it ain’t so! Molly and Lil, two of the Park’s stable of six mules, are retiring this year. One of the most popular parts of guests’ visits to Great Falls, the mules represent an important part of the C&O Canal National Historical Park’s history. Read More
Canal Quarters Program
The Canal Quarters program hosts visitors for overnight stays in lockhouses to deepen their appreciation for the Canal’s history. Each lockhouse has been furnished to represent a time period in American history, allowing visitors to step back in time and experience life as a lock keeper once lived. Swains Lockhouse is currently being rehabilitated and will be furnished as it could have appeared in 1916, with some creative liberties in the amenities and an ADA-accessible first floor. Read More
Here are some recent shots of the progress being made at Swains Lockhouse! The contractor is 40% finished. They have completed the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work on the first floor and have moved to the second floor. Read More
By Christine Rai
Read More
The Paw Paw Tunnel near Oldtown, Maryland, is one of the most notable features of the C&O Canal. The Tunnel itself is an incredible feat of engineering, and its construction alone has a colorful history. Here are five things you may not know about this incredible part of the canal! Read More
The C&O Canal Trust will be holding its first-ever C&O Canal Giving Days April 21-29, 2018, coinciding with National Park Week. C&O Canal Giving Days is an opportunity for the community to make financial gifts to support the ongoing preservation and beautification of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Read More
The C&O Canal is wonderful for many reasons, but one of them is its vast history. With the White House only a 10-minute walk from the Park, various Presidents have enjoyed the Canal and the Potomac River over the years for both its recreational opportunities and tranquility.
Without further ado, let’s take a stroll through history on the Canal with our former Presidents. Read More
The C&O Canal Trust and the C&O Canal National Historical Park broke ground on the Swains Lockhouse rehabilitation project on March 17, 2018. Read More
These gorgeous blue flowers create wonderful patches of color along the towpath and are a welcome sight for those who are tired of the dreary winter weather.
The C&O Canal Trust’s new mobile app, the C&O Canal Explorer, was awarded the Innovative Product Partnership Award from the Public Lands Alliance on February 28 during the Public Lands Alliance Convention and Trade Show in Palm Springs, CA. Read More
Two years ago, we announced the rehabilitation of Swains Lockhouse and successfully raised $75,000 for the project. Well, the wheels of historic preservation sometime turn slowly, and we encountered several delays while we looked for a contractor who could restore Swains to its former glory in a fiscally-responsible manner. We persevered and are thrilled that construction began last week on the rehab! Read More
The Billy Goat Trail is one of the most popular hiking spots in the D.C.-Maryland area. It has three sub-sections, but this week’s entry is focused around the most difficult and most popular section of all three: Trail A. Read More
In the previous blog post, brief mention was made of educational advisor C. Rushton Long, the lone African American administrator within the canal camps. This one man, more than any other, was the most important man at both Camp NP-1 and Camp NP-2. Long quite likely served as the first true coach, educator, and leader these enrollees had ever known. Read More
William Allen lived and worked at Camp NP-2 in Cabin John, and was well known to his fellow enrollees as the “camp jitterbug No. 1” for his dancing all about the camp. In June 1938, the camp welcomed a new batch of enrollees from Baltimore. Not long after that, Allen stopped dancing – those “Baltimore boys” were experienced visitors to jazz clubs, and Allen was essentially shamed into early dancing retirement by his friends. Read More
