Historic site

Providence Spring of Andersonville prison, the largest and most famous of 150 military prisons of the Civil War.

Friend at home

10 quick miles before work

It was a quiet section of the trail and the fact that we began at sunrise, it was 23 degrees, and a week day. We saw just one other intrepid trail user and also a red tail hawk, pair of wood ducks, a Carolina wren, and several cardinals. 

Mile marker 44.6                   

Nolands Ferry

Nolands Ferry was an important crossing on the Potomac River even before the United States was a nation. Native Americans crossed here traveling from the Susquehanna River southward through Maryland to the Carolinas. Licensed ferry operations date back to 1735, with the Noland family operating the ferry here as early as 1758. Thomas Jefferson crossed the Potomac here on May 10, 1776, en route to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. It was also the site of several Revolutionary War crossings, used by the colonists and the British. The ferry was surrounded by a thriving community but that faded with the construction of the Point of Rocks Bridge across the Potomac. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)

Best fun for 24 degrees

Easy ride on a cold morning. 

Mile marker 50.0                   

Point of Rocks Trail Tunnel

The rivalry between the C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad came to a head in the mid 1800s when continuation of both the Canal and the railroad tracks required passage through the narrow Point of Rocks section of the Potomac River basin. The B&O bought up much of the land in this stretch, but the C&O countered with a claim that it had the rights to the route based on a previous charter. It was eventually ruled the C&O Canal must share the right of way with the railroad as far as Harpers Ferry. To provide a little more breathing room through this very tight squeeze, the railroad built tunnels through two spurs of the Catoctin ridge following the Civil War. Once the Canal was out of business, the B&O ran tracks around the outside of the tunnels as well, and the Canal unfortunately became a dumping ground for the railroad. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)

Mile marker 48.2                   

Point of Rocks Railroad Station

The Point of Rocks Railroad Station, considered one of the most picturesque railroad depots in the nation, was built when the B&O’s connector line to Washington was constructed in the late 1860s. Its location, where the two lines meet, is truly unique. The station is unusually sophisticated for its rural setting, done in the Victorian Gothic Revival style. The station is a testament to the significance of the railroad in post-Civil War America. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is still used by CSX, the successor to the B&O Railroad, as an office. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)

Back to C&O, double dip AT too

Cloudy drizzly warm winter day. Saw many types of passerines, Canada geese, kayakers, fisher people, crazy off leash GSPs, and a woman who yelled at me for making him run.

Mile marker 60.8                   

Harpers Ferry

On the night of October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown marched his “army of liberation” down the C&O Canal towpath and crossed the B&O Railroad Bridge into Harpers Ferry to raid the federal armory. The historic town of Harpers Ferry, much of which is part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, is a must-see for history buffs. Several historical eras are interpreted for visitors, from the Industrial Revolution to the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)

Mile Marker 58.0

Weverton and Casper Wever

Today Weverton is very quiet compared to what it once was. When Caspar Wever returned to his property just south of Harpers Ferry in 1836, after resigning from work as a superintendent on the B&O Railroad, he had grand plans to sell riverfront land to investors and create a community with water-powered industries. A ready supply of potential energy and a transportation network in place wasn’t enough for the project to succeed. The Potomac Company erected a large mill but it was never used. The Henderson Steel and File Manufacturing Company erected a building in 1846 and provided files to the Harpers Ferry armory until the approach of the war, around the time Caspar Wever died. A small marble-cutting operation set up shop but the factory never took hold. There was a hotel, a train station, and a saloon but since Wever’s idea for an industrial community never took off, the demise of the C&O Canal and the demolition of the train station brought Weverton’s importance as a transportation hub to a close. Today, other than trains passing by and traffic on Route 340, Weverton is a quiet location perfect for viewing wildlife. (Source: www.canaltrust.org)