Existing comment:
Georgetown; C&O Canal; Barge
This is the Georgetown segment of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. Begun in 1828 just inside DC, its 185-mile length extended up past Harper's Ferry before reaching its terminus here in Georgetown in 1840. This included 74 locks. Moving at just four miles an hour, the canals were a main method of transportation for goods until the railroads wiped them out.
The Canal was almost paved over in the 1950's to make way for the Whitehurst Freeway. Supreme Court justice William Douglas led a successful campaign which preserved the Canal and the freeway was built on an overpass instead.
The Canal became a popular walking and biking route. In October 1964, Mary Meyer was shot to death while walking here. She had been known to be having an affair with President John Kennedy from 1961 until his death in November 1963. She had told friends including Ben Bradlee, the publisher of the Washington Post, about it but, of course, in those days you didn't print those things. She had a diary which disappeared afterward. |