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"Old
Georgetown Waterfront" by Paul McGehee. The moonlit Washington, D.C.
shoreline at Georgetown, showing the towers of Healy Hall at Georgetown
University and sailing ships loading coal from barges on the C & O
Canal. The foreground, on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, shows
the Alexandria Canal feeding onto the Aqueduct Bridge, which at that
time carried both water traffic on the lower level and vehicular
traffic on the upper level...and engineering marvel of its day. The
Aqueduct Bridge, completed in 1843 was at first built exclusively for
canal barges, but as years went by the top layer was constructed (with
the aid of Howe Trusses) for foot traffic, horses and wagons. In the
fashion depicted it was closed at the end of 1886, to be replaced by a
metal trestle structure three years later. With the bridge closed at
the end of 1886, it also meant the demise of the old Alexandria Canal,
then leaving just the C & O Canal on the Georgetown side to handle
freight coming in by barge to the Nation's Capital. The present-day Key
Bridge (named for Francis Scott Key, whose house appears at middle
right) was completed next to the old Aqueduct Bridge in 1923...it is
still in use today even though the older bridge is long gone, having
been dismantled in 1933 after years of being closed to traffic.
However, one can still see the stone abutment for the Aqueduct Bridge
on the Georgetown shoreline, and one of the original stone piers on the
Arlington side of the river. "Old Georgetown Waterfront - 1886" is
faithfully reproduced from Paul's original color pencil and acrylic
artwork in a
limited edition of 2,000 hand-signed prints.
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