The liftwheel pumping plant of the original Chesapeake and Delaware Canal provided water for navigation between Chesapeake City, Maryland, and Delaware City, Delaware, from 1837 to 1927. The United States Government purchased the canal in 1919 to make it a link in the intracoastal waterway, and the Corps of Engineers converted it to sea level between 1923 and 1927. Since then, the site has served as a resident engineer depot. In 1965, the pumping plant was registered as a National Historic Landmark, and in 1968 it was designated a museum of canal history. The buildings and old engines preserved here are significant artifacts of America’s development in transportation and technology.