1870s: Booming Canal Period

Canal barges waiting to be filled with coal from the mines of Western Maryland, West Virginia, and South Western Pennsylvania.

E.B. Thompson Collection, NPS / Canal Trust photo.

In the peak years of the 1870s, canal boats hauled millions of tons of freight including mostly flour, iron, and limestone. Eventually, the largest economic benefit of the Canal was coal transport from the Cumberland mines (Today in History - October 10: The C&O Canal, n.d.).

Prosperity grew during the construction of the canal as it provided jobs for many workers. Even after the completion, the C&O Canal created markets for goods and services in transport. Costs of shipping commodities such as flour, wheat, and corn were also lowered, which increased demand of the good and services contributing to greater prosperity (Canal History: Canal Era from the 1830s-1870s, n.d.).

 

Action Challenge 1:

During the 1870s, the commodities (a basic good or resource bought or sold in society) were flour, wheat, and corn. What are some necessary commodities that you could not live without to this day?

Action Challenge 2:

Use the historical chart “Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Toll Rates for Various Commodities by Unit of Measure” to examine the various commodities.

1. What are some of the different articles of commodities listed under Class II?
2. Find the section of the chart that talks about boats. What are the types of boats that navigated the canal?
3. Find the section of the 1857 chart that mentions “Distance from Tide Lock at Georgetown. Can you find the distance between Georgetown and Kelly’s Road Culvert? What mile marker is that?

Share your answers with us on social media, using #FindYourPark, #candocanal and tag us @COcanalNPS.

 

References

Canal History: Canal Era from 1830s-1870s. (n.d.). Retrieved from Canal Trust: https://www.canaltrust.org/about-us/about-the-co-canal/history/canal-history-canal-era-from-the-1830s-1870s/
139.jpg (560×357) (canaltrust.org)
145.jpg (508×420) (canaltrust.org)

Chart of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Toll Rates for Various Commodities by Unit of Measure; 7/1/1857; Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/chart-of-chesapeake-and-ohio-canal-toll-rates-for-various-commodities-by-unit-of-measure, November 19, 2021]

Today in History - October 10: The C&O Canal. (n.d.). Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/october-10