Shenandoah Canal

In 1806, workmen with hand tools widened and deepened this channel for cargo boats to bypass, or "skirt," the rapids in the Shenandoah River. Linked with many other skirting canals en route to Washington, D.C., this passage became part of the Potowmack Canal system founded by George Washington. He envisioned these bypasses as the way to improve navigation on the Potomac River for trade with the western frontier. Within thirty years, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the Winchester and Potomac Railroad replaced this outdated transportation system. The obsolete canal became part of the waterpower system for the island's growing number of industries. Waste water from mill and foundry tailraces emptied into this former canal bed, which rejoined the Shenandoah downstream.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia · United States