Chesapeake and Ohio Canal--Maryland

The DeFrehn Chair Factory made multiple wooden chair styles and was located on the berm side of the canal above the Conococheague Aqueduct in Williamsport. The factory paid the canal for water rents in order to power the machines used to create the chairs. In 1889, a flood destroyed the factory along with a good portion of the canal. The cost to rebuild and recover from the flood was too expensive and the owners decided to move the operation to Johnstown, PA then Hornerstown, PA.

This image of the DeFrehn Chair factory was taken after the 1889 flood.
 

The Chair Factory after the 1889 flood.

The DeFrehn Chair Factory made multiple wooden chair styles and was located on the berm side of the canal above the Conococheague Aqueduct in Williamsport. The factory paid the canal for water rents in order to power the machines used to create the chairs. In 1889, a flood destroyed the factory along with a good portion of the canal. The cost to rebuild and recover from the flood was too expensive and the owners decided to move the operation to Johnstown, PA then Hornerstown, PA.

View of the canal looking upstream at Williamsport. In the foreground are railcars waiting to be filled with coal for transport down the line. Ahead are canal boats that are in the process of being unloaded of the coal cargo.

Electric Power Station Williamsport

The Williamsport Power Station was built between May and August of 1896 near the Cushwa Warehouse at the Basin. In order for the station to be built so quickly, the construction crews worked around the clock. It was built to furnish electric power to the trolley system that would connect Williamsport and Hagerstown for four years. By 1900 a new power station had been built by the Electric Railway Company in Hagerstown to meet the increasing needs of the rail line.

This photograph of a collection of boats tied up in the canal raised many questions. The photograph was taken after 1902 since the boats belong to the Canal Towage Company. The Conococheague Aqueduct can be seen upstream. It is possible there is low water or the canal is silted, for the boats are not situated close to the edge of the canal - note the plank from the boat to the bank. In the midst of the large canal boat is a small boat, possibly that of the paymaster.

Coal train at Cushwa Warehouse

The Cushwa Warehouse was constructed circa 1800. By the late 1830s, the warehouse's main commodity was coal which was sold in the local economy and for transport down to Georgetown where there was a huge demand. The building has seen multiple floods, recessions, and even Civil War battles during its time along the canal.

The Illustrated Atlas of Washington County, 1877, includes a view of the Embrey and Cushwa Warehouse.

The description reads:
Embrey & Cushwa, Canal Basin, Williamsport, Md.
Shippers and Dealers in Georges Creek Bituminous and Best Qualities of Gas and Anthracite Coals, Also Round Top Cement, Plaster, Grain, Fertilizers &C. &C

Views, Washington County, 1877.

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.