page_title: Washington City Canal
section_title: Early planning and development
hierarchical_section_title: Washington City Canal / History / Early planning and development
caption_attribution_description: Zoom into this map at maps.bpl.org. Author: L'Enfant, Pierre Charles Publisher: Boogher, William F. Date: 1791, 1882 Location: Washington (D.C.) Dimensions: 81 x 104 cm. Scale: [ca. 1:15,100] Call Number: G3850 1791 .L46 1882
context_page_description: The Washington City Canal operated from 1815 until the mid-1850s in Washington, D.C. The canal connected the Anacostia River, called the "Eastern Branch" at that time, to Tiber Creek, the Potomac River, and later the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The canal fell into disuse in the late 19th century and the city government covered over or filled in various sections in 1871.
  Built in 1837, the canal's Lockkeeper's House remains today — at what is now the southwest corner of 17th Street, and Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., near Constitution Gardens — as the oldest building on the National Mall.
context_section_description: In the early years of the United States there was great interest among political leaders in building canals to support and stimulate economic development. Construction of a canal to run across the city of Washington was supported by local leaders, both in business and government. The plan was to connect the Eastern Branch, which was navigable into Maryland, with the Potomac, which was seen as a gateway to the West. President George Washington had founded the Potowmack Company in 1785 to improve navigation on the Potomac.
  Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant, in designing a master plan for the development of the capital city, supported construction of a canal between the Eastern Branch and Tiber Creek.  To raise funds for canal construction, lotteries were conducted in 1796, but these efforts were unsuccessful.  There was little additional work done until 1802, when Congress granted a charter for the Washington Canal Company. A small amount of construction was started, but obtaining major financing for the canal continued to be difficult.
  Congress created a new canal company in 1809 and authorized capitalization of $100,000.  A groundbreaking ceremony in southeast Washington, attended by President James Madison and other officials, took place on May 2, 1810.  Construction was delayed by the War of 1812 and resumed in 1815.
caption: Boston Public Library
  Facsimile of manuscript of Peter Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the federal capital city (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1887).[3]
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