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Sept. 14, 2010
Hi,
I am very much behind with our pictures and adventures. Great Falls National Park was a great place to go and we did it in two days. We went to the Va side first and the next morning we went to the Maryland side. It is in the Wa DC area. The scenery was beautiful and we learned a lot about the Potomac River and the history of the canals. The river was too rocky in this area and since it was used for transportation, it was decided to put a canal on the VA side. The first canal even had locks but was used only 26 years, until 1826. George Washington was very involved in this. Va owned its side and MD owned its side but Maryland had the water rights. There was a document that was written at Mount Vernon concerning who had what rights and is used to this day when there are disputes about the river. Recently a case went to the supreme court and it was decided according to the document. It was actually written before the constitution.
In 1828, ground was broken for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal which was on the MD side of the canal just across from the other one. It had many locks with massive stonework and miles of canals, but before it was finished, the railroad took over transportation and the canal was never completed. We saw some of what was built and they now have a boat ride down the canal as is evidenced in the pictures. It finally closed in 1924. It ran 184 miles along the Potomac River and had put many to work for many years. It was a very interesting day to see how thing once were on the river.
That is all for now and I will send more pictures soon.
Our best to you and we enjoy your responses.
Ric and Jan(ice)
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