A Canal Home

Canal companies supplied locktenders with a house next to the lock so they could work day and night, and the house gave their families a stable home. For children accustomed to the transient life of canal boats, a permanent home brought the chance to attend school and make lasting friends. In addition to the house, locktenders received a small monthly salary and an acre of land, but low pay meant they had to supplement their incomes. Garden plots helped feed the family, and excess produce could be traded with boatmen for coal and other necessities. Women baked bread or pies for trade, and children helped in the garden, fished, or hunted muskrats for the canal company’s bounty reward.

Brookmont, Maryland · United States