Evitts Creek Aqueduct
The Evitts Creek Aqueduct is the last of the 11 aqueducts on the Canal, and is made of “Fossilferous Tonoloway Limestone” quarried upstream and shipped to the aqueduct via a […]
Patterson Creek
Here sit stone abutments on both sides of the river – the remnants of the Patterson Creek bridge that crossed the river to the town of Patterson Creek. The bridge […]
Michael Cresap House
Built in 1762, Thomas Cresap with his 20-year-old son Michael built this house. Michael died 13 years later, but Thomas lived into his nineties. The house is one of the […]
Conococheague Aqueduct
The Conococheague Aqueduct is a watered and fully operational aqueduct in Williamsport. It has three 60 -foot arches and is 196 feet long, making it the second longest aqueduct on […]
Doubleday Hill/River View Cemetery
The long hill along the raised bank of the canal is known as Battery Hill or Doubleday Hill. Legend has it that General Abner Doubleday occupied the hill and played […]
Falling Waters
Falling Waters, West Virginia got its name from a cascading stream near the Potomac. A convenient river crossing, its most famous crossing came in the summer of 1863. After the […]
Heart of the Civil War Visitors Center
Located approximately half a mile east of Sharpsburg along Maryland Route 34 on the western edge of the Antietam Creek sits the historic Newcomer House at Antietam National Battlefield – […]
Elmwood Cemetery
Though cemeteries usually illicit thoughts of notable (albeit spooky) history, not many compare to the rich history you’ll find in Elmwood Cemetery. In 1780, Abraham Shepherd gave the Shepherdstown Presbyterian […]
Potomac Bridge, Henry Kyd Douglas, and John Brown
The Potomac Bridge may not have held much historical significance save for the events that happened here on a rainy day in 1859. Henry Kyd Douglas grew up in a […]
Antietam Battlefield
The single bloodiest day of any American war was recorded just up the road from the C&O Canal in Sharpsburg, MD. After a rousing victory at the Battle of Second […]
Fort Duncan
“The view from the top of the mountain is magnificent and will well repay any lover of the grand and beautiful in nature for the exertion necessary to climb to […]
Maryland Heights Trail
Both hikers and history buffs will tell you the 1,200 foot climb to the overlook at Maryland Heights is well worth the trip. The green-blazed trail leads you to a […]
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
The town of Harpers Ferry, wedged below high ridgelines and tightly packed on a small point of land at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, is rich in […]
Lock 33
Lock 33 of the Canal was a place of commerce situated close to the town of Harpers Ferry, just across the Potomac from town. The lock also sits below Maryland […]
Harpers Ferry & Bolivar
Harpers Ferry is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet. This junction of two rivers made it a natural site […]
Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook’s location and surrounding geographical features make it a natural gateway into Harpers Ferry from the Maryland side—and a busy little town before and during the Civil War. Here […]
Lock 25 Edward’s Ferry
Activity at Edward’s Ferry began very early in the Civil War with a Union encampment and commissary established here in 1861 by General Charles Stone. “Camp Stone,” as it was […]
Rowser’s Ford
Wherever you find a strategic location to cross the Potomac River, history always seems to follow. Rowser’s Ford, near Lock 24, is no exception. On the evening of June 27, […]