The Washington times., 1938-08-12
U. S. TO ACQUIRE.
TITLE TO C. & O.
CANAL SHORTLY
Sale Contract to Be
Presented in Court
By DAN e. o'CoNNELL

Title to the historic Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal will be vested in
ths United States Government onl
or before next January /. Con-
tract for the sale of the 185-mile
canal for 100000 will be sub
mitted to the Circuit Court of
Washington county, Md, and the
District Court of the United
States for the District Of Colum7
bia within few days.
According to announcement oil
Secretary Of Interior Harold L..
fckeS, the % miles Of the canal
between Georgetown and Senece,
Md, will be restored by the Ma
tional Park Service to its former
physical state as q historic site.
The locks, lockhouses, and tow
path will be restored, as will the
famous hotel at Great Falls, al
fisherman'S hostelry on the canal
property, which has long been a
favorite place for picnickers.
PREPARED BY BURLEW
Beyond Senaca plans for its long
stretch to Cumberland have not
been completed by the Park Serv-
ice.
The contract Of sale between
receivers of the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal Company property
and the Government has just
been executed by Acting Secretary
Of the Interior Ebert K. Burlew.
AS soon as the courts have acted
upon the contract, it is probable
the Government will becom e
owner of all the property for
merly used by the canal company
from Georgetown to Cumberland,
Md, including the lock houses,
inns and other buildings having
historic association with the early
development of the trade routes
from the rich Cumberland Valley
to the old port Of Georgetown.
RECORDS GO WITH 1T
In addition the Government will
acquire all the records still exist
ing Of the original Patowmack
Company owned by George Wash
1ngton and his associates, who
first got the idea Of an inland
waterway to open up the fertile
farm and mining lands Of the
Cumberlands. washington was
president of this company before
becoming President Of the United
States, relinquishing his post for
that purpose. Many Of the records
are said to be in WRshington'S
handwriting and to bear his sig
nature.
The ruins OF an old canal sur
veyed by Washington at Great
Falls on the Virginia side of the
Potomac is still visible. This old
canal was a forerunner of the
present canal. AS originally
planned the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal on the Maryland side would
have been continuation Of the
canal on the Virginia side. and
Great Falls on the Maryland side.
The Virginia project was aban-
doned before the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal was opened in the
early 1840's. The old Virginia
Canal ruins are not involved in
the present restoration.
NO U. S. CONTROL
Although the canal was inter.
state in character there was never
any particular Government con-
troll or regulation of rates. The
canal remained strickly tlol line,
with fees administered locally by
officials Of the canal company up
to the time it was abandoned as
o commercial route in 1928.
Two main factors led to the
closing of the canal last year. One
was the depletion of the coal de-
positS in the Cumberland region,
and the other, the development of
faster and cheaper means of trans
portation.
Flat-bottomed boats, carrying
gross weights averaging lis to 120I
tons piled the canal, carrying
cargoes of coal from the rich
Cumberland mining district, and
grains and produce from the rich
farms of the Cumberland Valley.
UNIQUE GROUP
The canal people, as the
captains of these boats and their
families were called, were one Of
the most picturesque groups in this
section of tre country. The
women with the ir flaming colored
wrappers and touSled-headed chill
dren running around the boats or
hanging out their wash We'd in
interest with the open-air stables
provided for the mules on the
decks Of the boats.
5 CANAL ! 3