Existing comment:
Four Locks
Here the Potomac River makes a meandering four-mile loop around Prather's Neck. To avoid the bend in the river, the canal engineers cut the canal one-half mile across the neck. Because of the rapid elevation change, these four locks were necessary to lift the canal boats a total of 33 feet.
[Sidebar):
A small but busy community grew up here. Children dallied on their way to the one-room schoolhouse still standing just down the road. In the barn just ahead mules rested after long canal miles. Canal boats loaded and unloaded cargo at the warehouses at Locks 49 and 50. Other boats were repaired at the dry dock at Lock 47. |