Evening star., 1945-03-18
BY John Clagett Proctor.

Today it is hard to visualize Consti-
tuition avenue as waterway, and yet
this is the course followed by the Wash
ington City Canal, begun in 1909 and
completed in 1915. which continued to
exist until the period of the Board of
Public Works, 187l-1874, when it was
filled in from Rock Greek to Seventeenth
street and was converted into a sewer
from Seventeenth street to Third street.
The canal followed the line of ConSti-
tuition avenue eastward to Sixth and
Seventh streets, when it entered the
Mall, just to the south, and continued
on to Third street west, thence south to
Maryland avenue, thence southeast to
the center of South Capitol street,
thence south to point midway between
r and G streets, south, thence southeast
to near Second and. K streets Sc.
and thence to the Anacostia River or
Eastern Branch. From Third street
enthusiastically it was filled in during
the years 1873, 1879, 1880 and 1881, ex-
cept for a short section near the river.
Trip by Barge
An account of the exercises, incident
to the completion of the canal, written
at the time tells us that a barge was
provided for the directors and other
officials of the company and for men,
bers of the City Council and for promi-
nent citizens as well. The Marine Band
followed in another vessel to enliven the
occasion, and we are told it took one
half hour to make the wo-mile trip
from the starting point at Twelfth and
e streets NV. to the Eastern Branch.
However, from this time on something
was being done to the canal
In his Annals" for the year 1884 John
Sessford makes the following notes:
THE canal through the city has been
prosecuted throughout the year, and
now requires but little more work to
make it navigable throughout The bars
at the east and west ends and at Four
teenth street have proved very injurious
to the interests of the city and ought to
be forthwith removed, to admit vessels
OF draft equal to the capacity of the
canal"
Boats From the West
Writing of the canal in 1887, William
Elliott says: The work is now COM
pleted and is connected with the Chesa-
peake & Ohio Canal by lock at Seven
teenth street west, where a spacious
basin has been formed to receive the
boats descending with the various prod
ucts of the West and which is connected
by Goose Egg Island in the center. The
canal and the basin are walled with
stone throughout the whole course Its
width varies. but from the Potomac to
the Center Market House it is $50 feet
in other sections its width varies from
As to 80 feet"
Again, for the year 1850, Mr.. Sessford
tells us: "The excavation and walling of
the canal to the Anacostia branch of
the Potomac is nearly completed and
the dredging of the western section be-
tween Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets
commenced. When this portion is done,
vessels bringing coal through the Ches-
apeake & Ohio Canal can pass up as
far as the bridges will admit; also lum-
ber vessels of a draft of 7 feet can
pass up and unload on the line of
wharves, superseding the necessity of
scowing from the vessels at the mouth
of the Tiber, as is now done"
Deep Water at Fifteenth Street
In his chronicles two years later we
find this reference: THE deepening and
walling of the canal from Fifteenth
street to the Anacostia has been COM
pleted and several cesspools made along
its margin for the reception of the sedi-
ment from the drains. The excavations
west OF Fifteenth street by dredging are
still unfinished, and vessels which can
get to Seventeenth street cannot get
from thence to the deep water at Fif-
teeth street, thus continuing the neces-
sity of unloading at Seventeenth street
or OF scowing up to the business portion
Of the city"
GENERALIZATION Second street NV.
to the Potomac River-the canal took
" over the course of Tiber Creek. and
since much of the adjacent ground to
9 this stream was also frequently cov-
cred with water, building operations
were necessarily largely confined for
years to areas of Tenth street, and at
sections north of c street.
\ In referring to this locality a num-
Der of years ago, the late James Croe-
: gon had this to say: THAT section OF
Washington south of Pennsylvania ave-
nue. between Ninth and Tenth streets
= which 100 years ago bordered Tibel
Greek, now the scene of business &C.
: tivity. was for many years difncult tt
describe. Indeed, most of these square.
. were for third of a century partly
covered by water at times, and wer.
3" made up so much of marsh land that il
was difficult to delineate what was
suitable for settlement. This swamr
= land bordering the Tiber did not ever
= approximate firm land till the center
of street was reached.
Sluice Run
ut was about this point that wha1
became known as Sluice Run unitet
with the waters from Franklin SQUARE
and were merged with those of tn,
Tiber. When the waters of the latte