In the heart of Washington D.C a real success story is being told — about saving a classic piece of Americana. The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal begins its journey West in Georgetown. George Washington wanted to link the Potomac with the Ohio River — but the canal never got over the mountains of Western Maryland. Yet it was still a success. The group Georgetown Heritage along with the National Park have restored a key section of canal, and built one of the packet boats you would have seen on the canal in the 1850’s. Construction began in the1830’s, running from Washington D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland.  The Grand Old Ditch, as it was called, finally closed in the 1920’s — the water drained, the old canal boats torn up.

Rex Carnegie is the Director of Education and Partnerships with Georgetown Heritage. The group, in conjunction with the National Park Service, has built and launched a replica of one of the Packet boats that would have worked the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Boat trips on the C&O have begun again from Georgetown, in Washington D.C. Rex takes his knowledge of history and his passion for storytelling and joins tourists on the new boat – telling the story of the canal that first opened in the 1850’s. In our Voices of Americana segment, he talks about the effort to preserve this important American waterway — and the new boat and restored canal gates. Its history reborn on the C&O.