BGuthrie Photos: VA -- McLean -- Great Falls Park -- Visitor Center

VA -- McLean -- Great Falls Park -- Visitor Center:

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[1] GFAVAC_121126_013.JPG	[2] GFAVAC_121126_019.JPG	[3] GFAVAC_121126_025.JPG
[4] GFAVAC_121126_031.JPG	[5] GFAVAC_121126_036.JPG	[6] GFAVAC_121126_052.JPG
[7] GFAVAC_121126_056.JPG	[8] GFAVAC_121126_062.JPG	[9] GFAVAC_121126_068.JPG
[10] GFAVAC_121126_079.JPG	[11] GFAVAC_121126_085.JPG	[12] GFAVAC_121126_092.JPG
[13] GFAVAC_121126_099.JPG	[14] GFAVAC_121126_106.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GFAVAC_121126_019.JPG: Artifacts from Matildaville: The symbol carved into this stone identifies the mason who cut it for the canal.
2. GFAVAC_121126_025.JPG: Artifacts from Matildaville: Iron funnels, like this one excavated at Great Falls, were probably forged in Matildaville.
3. GFAVAC_121126_031.JPG: Artifacts from Matildaville: This heavy swage block found at Great Falls was probably used to shape iron items used on the canal.
4. GFAVAC_121126_036.JPG: Gate from Lock #1: These lock gates and sill are the remains from Lock 1. They were constructed in 1820 to replace the original 1802 gates. The frames were made from wood and protected with pitch and tar paper to prevent decay. Each gate pivoted on an iron pin fitted into a hole in the stone, and was held upright by an iron collar at the top of the gate. The sill, located at the bottom of the canal channel, provided a stop for the gate. When closed the weight of the water forced the gates tightly together, allowing little water to leak past.
5. GFAVAC_121126_068.JPG: Ancient Messages: This boulder, rescued from an eroding stream bank along the Potomac River Gorge, is covered in petroglyphs perhaps thousands of years old. Unlike pictographs, images drawn or painted on rock, petroglyphs are images carved into the rock face. Theories suggest that petroglyphs represent some kind of symbolic or ritual language made by a shaman, or spiritual leader, communicating with the spirit world. These petroglyphs are believed to be associated with the American Indian groups that once inhabited the greater Potomac River Valley region.
6. GFAVAC_121126_079.JPG: Visions of the West: After the Revolutionary War, an inland transportation system was needed to draw lands west of the Allegheny Mountains into the United States. Built from 1785 to 1802, the Patowmack Canal improved Potomac River navigability. The river carried more western goods to the East Coast, creating stronger ties with settlers on western lands. An engineering wonder of that time, it was one of the nation's first canal systems and helped launch a transportation revolution in the United States. George Washington: "The navigation of this river is equal, if not superior to any in the Union... this will become the great avenue into the Western Country." -- G. Washington Born along the Potomac River in 1732, George Washington's appreciation of the river began at an early age. His travels as a young surveyor along the Potomac River convinced Washington that the Potomac offered the best route west. He organized the Patowmack Company and became its first president in 1785 and continued until he became president of the United States in 1789. Although he died in 1799, before the completion of the Patowmack Canal, Washington played a key role in its development. Early Canal Planning: An early Potomac River visionary, John Ballendine was so taken with the notion of a Potomac route to the West that he went to England and studied the canals there in 1773. Bellendine created one of the earliest American maps proposing river improvements. His description of the work needed at Great Galls was very similar to what the Patowmack Company completed almost 30 years later. Thomas Johnson, the first governor of Maryland and second president of the Patowmack Company, was also interested in improving navigation of the Potomac River. His drawing of the lock gates foretold the design to be used by both the Patowmack and the later C&O Canal Company. Johnson's plan for the bypass canal around Great Falls was approximately the same route used almost 25 years later by the Patowmack Company. Patowmack Company: George Washington and Thomas Johnson lobbied the legislators of Maryland and Virginia to charter the Patowmack Company in 1785. Washington served as the company's first president and formed a Board of Directors that raised funds and hired workers. Although the company made little money and sold its stock to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828, it pioneered canal lock engineering in the United States. Mount Vernon Compact: From Canal to Constitution: Delegates from Virginia and Maryland met at Washington's home in 1785 to discuss free trade on the Potomac River. Because Maryland owns the Potomac River at Great Falls, Virginia needed an agreement with Maryland before construction began. The meeting resulted in the Mount Vernon Compact, which outlined America's first interstate commerce agreement. Because Congress required the approval of the other states, delegates invited all states to the Annapolis Convention -- this convention led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the drafting of the US Constitution.
7. GFAVAC_121126_085.JPG: Building the Canal: Construction of the Patowmack Canal required engineering skills and a labor force not easily found in 1700s America. The dangerous and labor-intensive work on the canal began in 1785 and ended at Great Falls in 1802. At that time, the project was regarded as a major technological achievement. The Engineers: James Rumsey was hired as the Patowmack Company's first superintendent in 1785. He requested early release from his position, having had nothing but trouble getting proper supplies and keeping workers under control: "Every time that they get a little drunk, I am cursed and abused about their money..." Other superintendents had similar experiences until Leonard Harbaugh, an experienced builder, took over. He completed the locks at Little Falls in 1795 and successfully built for much more difficult Great Falls locks between 1797 and 1802. The Route: The canal consisted of five "skirting" canals along the river that helped boaters avoid rugged rapids at each of these locations on the Potomac River. Making the Cut at Great Falls: The Potomac River drops nearly 80 feet in less than a mile at Great Falls. A series of five locks were planned like a steep stairway to raise and lower boats around the falls. Crews consisted of free laborers, indentured servants, and enslaved workers rented from nearby plantations who performed most of the work at Great Falls. Locks and Gates: The Patowmack Company pioneered canal lock engineering in the United States here at Great Falls: * A channel was excavated through soil and rock using manual labor and explosives. * Masons lined the channel with stone blocks quarried locally and at nearby Seneca. * An iron forge in Matildaville processed raw ore into pig iron, which was then wrought into utensils, nails, and other hardware for the canal. * Wood gates were fitted at each end of a lock to control the flow of water to raise or lower boats. The canal needed constant maintenance as heavy rains rotted the wood, deposited silt, and damaged rock walls. Blasting Through Rock: "One of our best men had the misfortune of having boath his hands most horribly maimed by a Charge of powder going off that he was attempting to Bore out." -- James Rumsey, Superintendent Locks four and five at Great Falls were blasted out of solid rock with black powder, one of the first uses of black powder for blasting in the United States. It took several years of back-breaking labor, with a number of deaths and accidents, to complete the work at Great Falls.
8. GFAVAC_121126_092.JPG: Journey on the Canal: "The hardest work ever done by man." -- Boatman traveling upriver The canal opened for business in 1802, allowing boats to travel from Cumberland to Georgetown in 3 to 5 days. The journey upstream took 10 to 12 days of poling against the current. Boat traffic normally operated from February through May. Droughts, floods, and ice made the river difficult to negotiate the rest of the year. Tobacco, Flour, Whiskey & Iron: Boats paid a toll to travel on the canal. They primarily transported flour, whiskey, tobacco, and pig iron. 1811 was a banner year for shipping items to Georgetown: * 27 hogheads of sugar * 118,076 barrels of flour * 5,718 barrels of whiskey * 465 bushels of wheat * 3,600 bushels of corn From 1799 to 1822, the company collected tolls from 13,924 boats. Matildaville: An entire town grew up around the Patowmack Company at Great Falls. Matildaville was founded by the Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee in 1790 and named for his first wife. Lee believed a town would be needed to handle the commerce delivered via the canal. Boaters stopped here to wait their turn through the locks, to change cargo, or to enjoy an evening in town before continuing on their journey. A Financial Failure: Extremes of high and low water limited toll revenues to one or two months a year. That and the high construction and maintenance costs bankrupted the canal. The Patowmack Company turned over its assets and liabilities to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1828. The new company abandoned the Patowmack Canal in 1830. With the closing of the canal, Matildaville quickly declined. Dickey's Inn (Myer's Tavern) was the only business to survive into the 1900s.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
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