A History of the C&O Canal

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Join Doug Zveare, Information Officer for the C&O Canal Association Executive Board, in person on Tuesday, January 10th at 7:00 p.m. for a “History of the C&O Canal”. Doug will cover many aspects of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal including its history, operational days, Civil War era, and present-day recreational use as the C&O Canal National Historical Park. We’ll learn about how the canal functioned, the barges that traveled along the 184-mile canal and the people who operated the barges, the locks which lifted and lowered the barges and the lockhouses where the lock tenders lived, and types of cargoes that were transported. Hear about some of the interesting towns located along the right-of-way and the wildlife and plant life one encounters when traveling along the canal. 

 Historical and present-day photographs will compare scenes of the C&O Canal. A few of the over 1300 structures along the C&O Canal will be shown along with their usage.  

Location: Poolesville Presbyterian Church Sanctuary 

 Presenter Short Bio:    

Doug Zveare is a long-time member of the C&O Canal Association and currently serves on their executive board as Information Officer. Doug is a past president of the Oxon Hill, Md and Brunswick, Md Lions Clubs. Over the past 25 years he hiked and bicycled the C&O Canal towpath and Great Allegheny Passage rail trail from Georgetown in Washington DC to Pittsburg, Pa. Doug’s hobbies include gardening, photography, bicycling and hiking, and traveling the C&O Canal towpath.  

Doug ran his own business for thirty years and is a retired contractor for the FDA. A native-born Washingtonian, raised in Falls Church, VA, he currently resides in Rosemont, MD. Doug graduated from Montgomery College in Rockville with a degree in Business Administration.

 

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