Historic Canals of Washington D.C.

The C&O Canal was connected to the Washington City Canal by the C&O Canal Extension.  Thus, these two historic canals connected the Potomac River and the Anacostia River through the city center.  The Alexandria Canal was connected to the C&O Canal by the Alexandria Aqueduct.  Thus, the City of Alexandria was able to participate in the economic opportunities made possible by the canal infrastructure of Washington, D.C.

Please note: At the time the Alexandria Canal opened (1843), 31 square miles of land on the Virginia side of the Potomac River were still a part of the city of Washington D.C.  In 1847, the Virginia portion of Washington D.C. was retroceded back to the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The graphic above is a present-day map overlaid with the routes of the three major canals.

Click on Tour Summary to learn about - and register for - each of the LocktoberfestDC walking and biking tours that explore these historic canals. See below to learn more about the three major canals of 19th-century Washington D.C., as well as related historical maps and historical artwork.

Washington City Canal (1815-1855)

In early 1791, President George Washington appointed Pierre L'Enfant to devise a plan for the new federal city that would include a system of canals.  Construction of  the Washington City Canal began in 1810 and was completed in 1815.  It connected the Anacostia River (known as the "Eastern Branch" until 1834)  to the Potomac River, enabling goods to be moved by boat across the city.  In 1833 the Washington City Canal was connected to the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, eventually enabling goods from as far as western Maryland to be moved by boat into the city.  The Washington City Canal fell into disuse in the mid 1850s, becoming an open sewer until it was gradually covered over from 1871 to the late 1880s.

To learn more about the Washington City Canal, click here to visit the DC Preservation League website.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (1831-1924)

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, or C&O Canal, operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington D.C., and Cumberland, Maryland.  Construction on the 184.5-mile canal began in 1828 and was completed in 1850.  Rising and falling over an elevation change of 605 feet, the C&O Canal required the construction of 74 canal locks, 11 aqueducts to cross major streams, and more than 240 culverts to cross smaller streams.  It is now maintained as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, managed by the National Park Service.

To learn more about the C&O Canal, click here to visit the C&O Canal Trust website.

C&O Canal Extension

The C&O Canal Extension hugged the D.C. shoreline of the Potomac River to connect the  C&O Canal to the Washington City Canal in 1833.  The extension enabled boats to exit the tide lock at the southern terminus of the C&O Canal and travel along the Potomac River shoreline and enter the tide lock at the western terminus of the Washington City Canal.

Once the C&O Canal and Washington City Canal were connected, a canal boat carrying coal from the Allegheny Mountains in western Maryland could travel to D.C. via the C&O Canal and deliver its goods to customers in the city via the Washington City Canal.  For example, the Washington Navy Yard produced war munitions in the 19th century, and thus required lots of coal.

To learn more about the C&O Canal Extension, click here to visit the National Park Service website or here to visit the DC Preservation League website.

Alexandria Canal (1843-1886)

When the C&O Canal began operating and connected to the Washington City Canal, the City of Alexandria (which had invested money in the development of the C&O Canal) became worried that boat traffic would bypass their waterfront in favor of Georgetown and downtown Washington D.C.  Thus began a campaign to connect Alexandria to the burgeoning canal system of the federal city.  The Alexandria Canal Company was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1830.

The Alexandria Canal was just over seven miles long.  At the north end, it connected to the C&O Canal via the Alexandria Aqueduct Bridge.  It ran south for seven miles without any locks and had a small aqueduct crossing Four Mile Run.  When operations commenced in 1843, the Alexandria Canal terminated near the present-day location of N. Washington St. and Montgomery St. in the City of Alexandria.  By 1845, a series of four lift locks were constructed to extend boat travel to/from the Potomac River, overcoming an elevation change of 38 feet.  This marked the final completion of the Alexandria Canal, which operated until significant leaks developed in the Alexandria Aqueduct in 1886 and it was determined that fixing the aqueduct was not economically feasible.

To learn more about the Alexandria Canal, click here to visit the Alexandria Historical Society website.

Historical Maps

The following maps have been annotated and are available from the Library of Congress:

1. The first map below shows the Washington City Canal as it was conceived by Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant in 1791.  Construction of the Washington City Canal was 1810-1815.  On the far left of the map you can see Georgetown and a dark  line that represents the C&O Canal.

2. The second map shows the Washington City Canal in the 1792 plan for the federal city by Andrew Ellicott, who assumed Peter L'Enfant's role as planner for the federal city after L'Enfant's dismissal in March 1792.

3. The third map from 1837 shows the southern terminus of the C&O Canal where Rock Creek fed into the Potomac River, the C&O Canal Extension, and the Washington City Canal. 

4. The fourth map from 1851 shows the Greenleaf Point segment of the Washington City Canal more clearly than the 1837 map.  It also clearly shows where bridges spanned the Washington City Canal.

5. The fifth map from 1878 shows the path of the Alexandria Canal from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria.  The map is annotated with historic locations (e.g., Aqueduct Bridge) and present-day locations (e.g., National Airport).

Of course, the 1792 map was only a plan because the construction of the Washington City Canal was 1810-1815.  If you look carefully you can see the differences between the 1791/1792 plans and the actual paths of the Washington City Canal in the 1837 and 1851 maps.

L'Enfant's 1791 Plan of the City of Washington D.C.