Chesapeake and Ohio Canal--Maryland

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.

Norfolk & Western Railroad Bridge with canal in foreground

The Norfolk & Western Railroad was born from the dissolved Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad and would eventually buy the troubled Shenandoah Valley Railway that had first come to Shepherdstown in 1880. The bridge was finished July 7, 1880, months after the train tracks had been laid on the southern portion of the Shenandoah Valley Railway route.

This photograph was taken around 1920 by the Consolidation Coal Company and shows the two modes of transportation, the and the canal.
 

The portage from Canal to River at Shepherdstown, WV.

A picture from one of the many canoe trips made by the Shawnee Canoe club, the three members are traversing the slope from the towpath to the river below. In the background is the Railroad Bridge.

The ferry that operated between Shepherdstown and Bridgeport was first built and owned by Thomas Swearingen sometime before 1765. John Blackford married Thomas Swearingen’s daughter Sarah and purchased the ferry along with land around Bridgeport from the Swearingen family. The ferry was reinstated in the 1930s after the third toll bridge was destroyed by the 1936 flood and was in operation until the new James Rumsey Bridge was erected in 1939, which itself was replaced in 2004.

The ferry that operated between Shepherdstown and Bridgeport was first built and owned by Thomas Swearingen sometime before 1765. John Blackford married Thomas Swearingen’s daughter Sarah and purchased the ferry along with land around Bridgeport from the Swearingen family. The ferry was reinstated in the 1930s after the third toll bridge was destroyed by the 1936 flood and was in operation until the new James Rumsey Bridge was erected in 1939, which itself was replaced in 2004.

This picture is of the third toll bridge built from the Maryland town of Bridgeport to Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The first toll bridge was built around 1849 - 1850 and was destroyed by the Confederates in 1861. It was not rebuilt until 1871 and the second bridge was destroyed by the historic flood of 1889.

This third bridge was built in 1890 and was again destroyed by flood waters in 1936 and replaced by the James Rumsey Bridge that would change the landscape of Bridgeport and Ferry Hill permanently. In 2004 a fifth bridge replaced the post–1936 bridge.

Boteler's Mill, also known as Potomac Mill, is seen on the West Virginia shore of the Potomac, downriver from Shepherdstown. Boteler’s Mill dam was made of wooden cribs filled with rubble stones and covered with planks, and provided water to the mill. The mill produced the cement that was used extensively in the early construction of the canal.