Williamsport

The equipment at the Cushwa wharf that was used to lift coal from canal boats onto rail cars or onto the storage piles became larger and more powerful over the years. This was the busiest wharf along the line of the canal between Cumberland and Georgetown as in indicated in this photo where at least four boats are tied up, in one case two-boats deep. At mile 100, boatmen would have a short trip of only 85 miles from Cumberland with their load of coal, as contrasted with 184 miles if they were going all the way to Georgetown.

View of the toll bridge at Williamsport which is now the Rt. 11 Bridge. The temporary railroad bridge across the canal was built in 1923 by the Potomac Edison Company to transport coal across the canal. That same year a steel lift bridge was constructed to allow canal boat traffic to pass underneath. In 1924 the canal was severely damaged in a flood stopping all boat traffic and the lift bridge would rarely be used thereafter.

The building at the head of the Rt 11 bridge, on the right of the photograph, is the toll house. This was a toll bridge until 1958.
 

At the Bollman's company bridge built in 1879, the Western Maryland Railroad spur from the Cushwa basin area went through the narrow passage between the hillside and the bridge’s stone abutment. The spur served the Steffey and Findlay and F. H. Darby and Sons warehouses and mill on the berm near Lock 44. Both companies were involved in the coal and grain trade and had built their warehouses on land leased from the canal company. At times the activity at this end of the Williamsport stretch of the canal may have been as busy as around the main basin half a mile upstream.

Both the Steffey and Findlay Company and the F. H. Darby and Sons Company were located on the berm side of the canal just upstream from Lock 44 around the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. They dealt in coal and grain, and as can be seen in this photo, a Western Maryland Railroad spur ran along the berm of the canal from the Cushwa Basin area to their location. The R. Paul Smith coal-fired generating station was built in 1923 on the land between the canal and the river.

"River view"
Residence of F.H. Darby, Esq.
Williamsport, MD.

The 1880 census lists Frank H. Darby as a "grain merchant" in the Williamsport District.

Darby's Mill, near Lock 44, by Williamsport, MD. Shown are left to right, "Pots" Corby (sitting), George Lake, Eugene Ardinger, "Wash" Taylor, F.H. Darby (in doorway), Ruby Darby, Harry Price, John Ream and unidentified (Rubin, 2005)

F. H. Darby was listed in the 1877 Illustrated Atlas of Washington County as a grain merchant, and his company as:

Williamsport Business References
Grain, Coal, &c.

In 1787, when Otho Holland Williams founded the town of Williamsport, transportation played a key role in the town’s development via river trade. It is not surprising, therefore, when the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal finally arrived nearly 50 years later that it brought a period of great prosperity to the town. When the canal opened from Cumberland in 1850, the town took on new life. The trade of Hagerstown and the Cumberland Valley that previously traveled via the National Road was diverted through Williamsport, leading to a substantial increase in activity.

Although the canal was built as much as possible to protect it from runoff that would carry silt and debris into the canal, the canal company still had difficulty maintaining the intended six foot depth. In addition to dredges used for scraping up accumulated silt and debris on the bottom of the canal, the canal company needed mowers to cut out the water plants that tended to grow in the canal. In 1883 Victor Cushwa and five other businessmen who relied on the canal for transportation submitted a petition to the canal company.

Wharfs were designed to facilitate the loading and unloading of canal boats and grew up along the line of the canal wherever the need emerged to transship cargo from land to boat or visa versa. Typically the wharfs would be on the berm of the canal, and consisted of a stone wall and other facilities for the storage and transfer of cargoes.