In June, the C&O Canal Trust’s Board of Directors and staff gathered to celebrate C&O Canal National Historical Park Superintendent Tina Cappetta’s retirement from the National Park Service after a 37-year career of service.

“After 37 years of working in America’s most treasured places with some of its finest public servants, I’m hanging up my ranger hat for good. I’m ending on a career high – working with the partnership of the C&O Canal Trust and a top-notch park management team led by Ed Wenschhof.”

Cappetta’s tenure as Superintendent of the C&O Canal began in January 2020, following nearly nine years as Superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Hampton National Historic Site, and Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. Over her 37-year National Park Service career, she held positions in 10 parks around the nation, including at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in upstate New York, where she also served as Superintendent. From 2002 to 2004, Cappetta served as Chief of Resources Management at the C&O Canal.
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The Canal Classrooms program, offered since 2013 and supported by the C&O Canal Trust, currently provides experiential learning opportunities to K-12 students in Montgomery, Washington, and Allegany Counties in Maryland. This is accomplished via STEAM-based curricula (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) taught by the Canal Classrooms Corps (CCC), a cadre of retired teachers, local educators, professionals, and volunteers. To date, over 70,000 students have participated in Canal Classrooms, including many who attend Title 1 schools. (more…)

Situated at the meeting point of the Potomac River and Conococheague Creek, Williamsport holds a significant place in American and C&O Canal history. Before it was a Canal Town, Williamsport was used as a trading location and transportation hub for groups of Indigenous people.  As European settlers moved westward, they too recognized the area’s potential to move goods east and west on the Potomac, and north to what would become Hagerstown. The growing nation developed Williamsport into a center for commerce and trade, first through the C&O Canal and later via railroads and trolleys. It remained a critical juncture for moving people and goods through World War II, when its prosperity began to decline. Aided by the establishment of the C&O Canal National Historical Park and new highway systems, Williamsport now flourishes as a vital C&O Canal Town and a hub for tourism. (more…)

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“The list of work that needs to be done is never-ending. We are so grateful for our long-standing partnership with the C&O Canal Trust,” said Amanda Zimmerman.

NPS Park Ranger Amanda Zimmerman was one of the many people who joined us out in the park on April 25 for the C&O Canal Trust’s annual public Canal Community Days volunteer event at Great Falls. Nearly 100 volunteers attended, and despite the cold and rainy day, they made an enormous impact in one of the most popular sections on the 184.5 mile stretch of the C&O Canal towpath. (more…)