Old C&O Canal at Georgetown

The scenic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs 185 miles from Cumberland, Maryland through Harper's Ferry to Georgetown at Washington, D.C....it was built between 1828 and 1850. Its towpath, used today by hikers and joggers, was once the path by which mules would tow barges laden with coal from West Virginia mines to heat the homes and power the industry of a young nation during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The families that lived on the barges were a hearty lot...they had to be, for the work was difficult and the hours long. It would take loaded barges a week to make the run to Georgetown, through fair weather and foul, stopping at night to give the mules and the crew a few hours of rest before the next day's journey. Finally arriving at Georgetown, they would tie up alongside the towpath just outside of town (near Georgetown University) and wait sometimes two or three days for their orders to unload. Handed down from one generation to the next, working the freight barges was a way of life from a simpler time when things moved at a slower pace. Eventually, competition from the railroads, and later the trucking industry, put an end to the canal days on the C&O, with the last barges calling at Georgetown in 1924. Today, the C&O Canal remains for us to enjoy, rescued from assured oblivion by Justice William 0. Douglas and the Department of the Interior. Its memories are kept alive by the C&O Canal Association, promoting the preservation of this, a beautiful and unique national treasure.

"Old C&O Canal at Georgetown" by Paul McGehee
Image Size: 20" x 32" ; Edition Size: 1700 S/N ; Remarqued: 300 S/N
Price Print S/N: $ 200.00 Order this print
Price Remarqued S/N: $ 800.00 (What's a "remarque"?) Order this print

Is the original still available?

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