Here is the plaque on the golf course. On the far side of the river is the remains of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. A plaque about that might have been nice too as opposed to the dribble that’s here. The canal runs 184 miles along the north bank of the river (the Maryland side in case you’re confused) – from Georgetown in D.C. to Cumberland, MD. This was how they moved things around in the US of A – before your family was here, Donald. This was how people made money. It operated for almost 100 years, with 74 locks, the last one being completed in 1850. Unfortunately the railroad eventually made it obsolete.
It was also very strategically important during the Civil War and the Union Army fiercely protected it because it transported troops, food and other necessary war supplies. It also transported heating coal to D.C. The canal came under Union control in December 1861. In addition to transport, it served as an additional buffer against an Confederate attack. None ever happened, but the Confederates did burn canal boats all the time and canal mules were stolen back and forth: done mostly to disrupt boat traffic and keep supplies from moving. They did finally succeed in damaging dams #4, 5 and 6 and well as the Monocacy River, Antietam Creek, and Conococheague Creek aqueducts. The tow-path served as a transport road by both sides and even that was breached several times as well by both armies during the Maryland Campaign in 1862 (think Antietam).
The Union army also made a mess of things when it commandeered 100 canal boats and loaded them with junk, sailed them south towards D.C. with plans to sink them in the lower Potomac and blockade it if the CSS Virginia sailed toward the city.
Please do your research. Or get someone knowledgeable who isn’t a conspiracy theorist to do it for you. The entire state of Virginia is a treasure-trove of history and so is Maryland, but you have to actually look for it, go digging for it in some cases, and cross-reference it in other cases. If you’re actually interested in leaving a lasting legacy – even if it is simply on a golf course on Lowe’s Island along the Potomac? Research. Research. Research. And research credentials of the so-called historians as well. They might just be yanking your chain simply to make a buck.
Baltimore Through My Eyes 