BGuthrie Photos: MD -- C&O Canal NHP -- Mile 30.9 -- Edwards Ferry

MD -- C&O Canal NHP -- Mile 30.9 -- Edwards Ferry:

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[1] EFERRY_150829_01_STITCH.JPG

[2] EFERRY_150829_02_STITCH.JPG

[3] EFERRY_150829_03.JPG	[4] EFERRY_150829_09.JPG	[5] EFERRY_150829_15.JPG
[6] EFERRY_150829_17.JPG	[7] EFERRY_150829_21.JPG	[8] EFERRY_150829_24.JPG
[9] EFERRY_150829_26.JPG	[10] EFERRY_150829_31.JPG	[11] EFERRY_150829_34.JPG
[12] EFERRY_150829_36.JPG	[13] EFERRY_150829_42.JPG	[14] EFERRY_150829_45.JPG
[15] EFERRY_150829_50.JPG	[16] EFERRY_150829_53.JPG	[17] EFERRY_150829_61.JPG
[18] EFERRY_150829_65.JPG	[19] EFERRY_150829_71.JPG	[20] EFERRY_150829_75.JPG
[21] EFERRY_150829_83.JPG	[22] EFERRY_150829_87.JPG	[23] EFERRY_150829_90.JPG
[24] EFERRY_150829_96.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. EFERRY_150829_03.JPG: Edward's Ferry A major crossing of the Potomac River guarded by Union troops throughout the Civil War. In Oct. 1861 a Union unit crossed during the Battle of Ball's Bluff, but did not participate. From Dec. 1861 to March 1862 the base of balloon operations of Thaddeus Lowe was located here. In June 1863 the Union Army crossed here over twin pontoon bridges on the way to Gettysburg. Rebel raiders crossed here in Aug. 1863, July 1864, and Feb. 1865, damaging the canal and Union equipment.
2. EFERRY_150829_26.JPG: You can rent some of the lockhouses
3. EFERRY_150829_36.JPG: At the Junction of War and Peace: Lockhouse 25 and Edwards Ferry -- Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park -- In the mid-nineteenth century, Lockhouse 25 and the surrounding community of Edwards Ferry, Maryland, reaped the advantages of their locations. With the nearby river lock, the area served as the bustling entry point to the C&O Canal for agricultural goods from Loudoun County, Virginia to the port of Georgetown. Following the opening of the canal in 1833, a community sprouted up almost overnight. A store was established, warehouses were built, and trade with southern neighbors thrived. It was not destined to last...Virginia seceded from the Union in April 1861. The north bank of the Potomac transformed into a militarized border. Neighbors became enemies with homes occupied and innocents arrested. Farms and warehouses plundered. Crops trampled upon and destroyed. The little community at Edwards Ferry was converted into an armed camp. Life along the canal was disrupted for the next four bloody years. Experience history.... spend the night in the lockhouse! Ever wonder what it was like to live in a lockhouse? Spend the night in one of several lockhouses along the canal. Step back in time and immerse yourself in history. If you listen closely, you may hear voices from the past whispering their stories. For more information visit www.canalquarters.org.
4. EFERRY_150829_42.JPG: These ruins are what is left of a once thriving community at Edwards Ferry. They are believed to be the remains of a store of blacksmith shop.
5. EFERRY_150829_45.JPG: Artist rendition of the Edwards Ferry Community in 1861. The drawing shows the area was very business oriented with a general store, lockhouse, office, and outbuildings nearby.
Description of Subject Matter: Lockhouse 25 -- Edwards Ferry:
Situated at a Potomac River Ferry crossing that had been operating since 1791, the small but thriving community of Edwards Ferry had always welcomed travelers to and from Virginia. When the Canal reached Edwards Ferry in 1831, a river lock was built just downstream to further encourage trade and commerce. The area became an important transportation conduit between the farmlands of Loudon County, VA, and the communities up and down the 184.5 mile canal. Poised in the middle of two major transportation arteries, the C&O Canal and the Ferry Road, it seemed like Edwards Ferry was destined to have a prosperous future. That was before the Civil War.

Slavery on the Border:
By the mid 1800s, African-American slavery had become a major political, economic and social issue in the United States. Enslaved people, considered property and not citizens, had little or no rights under the laws of the nation.
The state of Maryland, from its earliest days, had one of the largest populations of enslaved people in the United States. The 1860 population of those enslaved in Montgomery County alone accounted for 5,500 of its inhabitants. Documentation shows that Asa Aud, the lock tender at Edwards Ferry in the 1840s, owned at least one slave, though it is unknown whether this slave resided at the lockhouse or in another building in the Edwards Ferry community.
In the more industrialized northern states, the abolitionist movement began to take hold, calling for an end to slavery. In the South, where slavery accounted for the vast majority of the agrarian workforce, many held steadfast to their way of life. Slavery became one of the central issues leading to the Civil War.
Increasing, the C&O Canal -- running from Washington, DC to Cumberland, Maryland -- was used to transport more than legal goods. Parts of the canal towpath became part of the Underground Railroad, a secretive route for those seeking freedom in the north. Edwards Ferry, as a crossing point from Virginia, was well situated to help.

War Comes to Edwards Ferry 1861-1865:
With the outbreak of Civil War in 1861, Edwards Ferry and the entire C&O Canal found themselves in the precarious position of being located on the border of north and south. Due to the ferry crossing at Edward's, this area quickly became a strategic hotspot. Suddenly the area was under martial law, trade across the river was halted, and canal traffic came under attack.
On October 21, 1861, those living in the Edward's Ferry community witnessed the Battle of Ball's Bluff, just across the Potomac River. Following the bloody encounter of Union and Confederate forces, the citizens of Edward's Ferry opened their homes as hospitals to those wounded in the battle.
In December 1861, as many as 50,000 Union troops were stationed at Edwards Ferry to guard the crossing. During that time period, inventor Thaddeus Lowe utilized his specially designed hot air balloon for reconnaissance purposes, floating above the trees and surveying the movements of the Confederate troops across the river in Virginia.
In late June 1863, during the march that would culminate with the battle of Gettysburg, 70,000 Union troops, under the command of Gen. Joseph Hooker, crossed the Potomac at Edwards Ferry using two 1400 ft. long pontoon bridges.

Peace Returns to the C&O Canal:
Once the Civil War ended, Edward's Ferry aided in the country’s healing by serving as a United States parole site. Former Confederate troops were officially pardoned if they took the Union Oath of Allegiance. Soon after the last report of oath-takers was submitted by the provost marshal in May of 1865, life at Edward's Ferry began to return to normal.
The border reopened and the ferry started running again. Commercial service also resumed on the C&O Canal as the boatmen and locktenders returned to their livelihoods. The 1870s and early 1880s proved to be the canal’s most profitable years.
Edward’s Ferry also saw a period of peace and prosperity. Former Confederate officer Elijah White and Dr. Edward Wooton purchased the longstanding general store, the ferry, and a granary.

Towards a New Century:
As the 19th century moved towards the 20th, life on the C&O Canal began to slow. The Canal could not continue to compete with the ever-improving railroad technology.
In the later years of the canal, floods became the engineering and financial bain to its existence. In 1889, when the canal was almost completely destroyed
by high flood waters, it was only with financing from the canal's old commercial rival, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, that repairs were made. The Canal operations continued for the next 25 years. In 1924, following another devastating flood, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal finally ceased its operations.
As the canal experienced its ups and downs throughout the course of its existence, so did the community of Edward’s Ferry. Eventually, families moved away, the old general store fell into ruins, the granary all but disappeared and the last family to tend the lock at Edward's Ferry moved from Lockhouse 25.
The above was from https://www.nps.gov%2Fchoh%2Fupload%2FEdwards-Ferry-LH-25.pdf&ei=D5niVc_tGsPp-QHmwp7IAg&usg=AFQjCNHsWLj9v_CsxUO-AWxWc3o8IguFIQ&sig2=2-Zg7e-GbauTYq5v2t4gkA&cad=rja
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