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Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected the city of Alexandria to Georgetown in the District of Columbia.
At times it was treated as an extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and called by that name. At other times it was called the Washington and Alexandria Canal.
Talk of a canal between Alexandria and Georgetown started in 1805 after the construction of the causeway to Mason's Island obstructed the safest passage for boats, making water trips between the two cities hazardous when the weather was anything other than favorable; and thus harming business interests in Alexandria. In 1812, Congress passed a law authorizing construction of a canal between the two if work began within two years; but plans were scuttled by the War of 1812.
In 1825, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O Canal) was established to connect Washington, DC to Cumberland - an idea that predated the American Revolution. It opened in 1830.
That same year, merchants from Alexandria (which at the time was within the jurisdiction of the federal District of Columbia) proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new canal. Unlike Georgetown, Alexandria had a deep water port and merchants there saw an opportunity. Congress granted a charter to the Alexandria Canal Company on May 26, 1830 to build a canal as a spur to the C&O Canal. Construction began on July 4, 1831 and relied heavily upon the forced labor of enslaved people. Despite delays caused by the Panic of 1837, the aqueduct opened on July 4, 1843 and the canal opened, as far as the turning basin at Washington and Montgomery Streets on December 2, 1843. The locks down to the river weren't completed until 1845.
The Aqueduct Bridge (begun in 1833 and completed in 1843) enabled canal boats from the C&O Canal to cross the Potomac River without descending to the river level. The boats would then continue their trips downstream on a canal on the southwest side of the Potomac until they reached Alexandria's seaport.
The canal proved to be more expensive, and less profitable, than expected. In early 1846, three years after the Canal opened, Alexandria Common Council member Lewis McKenzie, motivated by the large corporation taxes that had to be paid to fund the canal, restarted the Alexandria retrocession movement that had been on and off again since the District was formed. He introduced a motion that the mayor resend the results of the 1840 pro-retrocession vote to Congress and the Virginia legislature and promised that Congress would assume the Canal debt. On February 2, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly voted to accept the retrocession of Alexandria County if Congress approved. The debate over retrocession then moved to the U.S. Congress, where the Town Committee met with the District Committee of the House to ask for both retrocession and relief from their Canal debt, with the Committee expressing support of relief if retrocession were carried out. Town leaders then expected a bill that would provide for both, causing many to believe that the issues were tied together and that to vote for retrocession would be to vote for Congress to take on Alexandria's debt. Later the House decided to decouple the issues and to abandon relief altogether. Despite this, retrocession passed later in 1846, in large part because Virginia promised to take on Alexandria's canal debt, which it did in 1848.
In 1850, the C&O Canal was completed to Cumberland, extending the reach of the Alexandria Canal and the first ship made it from the mines to Alexandria on October 17, 1850. From then on coal became the major commodity and source of revenue for the canal, but it was also used to ship wheat, corn, whiskey, corn meal, flour, fish, salt, plaster, and lumber. The canal also made money supplying water to mills and businesses along the canal and in the winter it sold ice to local butchers. Despite this, traffic on the canal continued to decline in the face of competition from railroads, which had many advantages including the ability to run all winter. In addition, the canal needed constant repair due to freshets and silt build up.
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Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected the city of Alexandria to Georgetown in the District of Columbia.
At times it was treated as an extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and called by that name. At other times it was called the Washington and Alexandria Canal.
Talk of a canal between Alexandria and Georgetown started in 1805 after the construction of the causeway to Mason's Island obstructed the safest passage for boats, making water trips between the two cities hazardous when the weather was anything other than favorable; and thus harming business interests in Alexandria. In 1812, Congress passed a law authorizing construction of a canal between the two if work began within two years; but plans were scuttled by the War of 1812.
In 1825, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O Canal) was established to connect Washington, DC to Cumberland - an idea that predated the American Revolution. It opened in 1830.
That same year, merchants from Alexandria (which at the time was within the jurisdiction of the federal District of Columbia) proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new canal. Unlike Georgetown, Alexandria had a deep water port and merchants there saw an opportunity. Congress granted a charter to the Alexandria Canal Company on May 26, 1830 to build a canal as a spur to the C&O Canal. Construction began on July 4, 1831 and relied heavily upon the forced labor of enslaved people. Despite delays caused by the Panic of 1837, the aqueduct opened on July 4, 1843 and the canal opened, as far as the turning basin at Washington and Montgomery Streets on December 2, 1843. The locks down to the river weren't completed until 1845.
The Aqueduct Bridge (begun in 1833 and completed in 1843) enabled canal boats from the C&O Canal to cross the Potomac River without descending to the river level. The boats would then continue their trips downstream on a canal on the southwest side of the Potomac until they reached Alexandria's seaport.
The canal proved to be more expensive, and less profitable, than expected. In early 1846, three years after the Canal opened, Alexandria Common Council member Lewis McKenzie, motivated by the large corporation taxes that had to be paid to fund the canal, restarted the Alexandria retrocession movement that had been on and off again since the District was formed. He introduced a motion that the mayor resend the results of the 1840 pro-retrocession vote to Congress and the Virginia legislature and promised that Congress would assume the Canal debt. On February 2, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly voted to accept the retrocession of Alexandria County if Congress approved. The debate over retrocession then moved to the U.S. Congress, where the Town Committee met with the District Committee of the House to ask for both retrocession and relief from their Canal debt, with the Committee expressing support of relief if retrocession were carried out. Town leaders then expected a bill that would provide for both, causing many to believe that the issues were tied together and that to vote for retrocession would be to vote for Congress to take on Alexandria's debt. Later the House decided to decouple the issues and to abandon relief altogether. Despite this, retrocession passed later in 1846, in large part because Virginia promised to take on Alexandria's canal debt, which it did in 1848.
In 1850, the C&O Canal was completed to Cumberland, extending the reach of the Alexandria Canal and the first ship made it from the mines to Alexandria on October 17, 1850. From then on coal became the major commodity and source of revenue for the canal, but it was also used to ship wheat, corn, whiskey, corn meal, flour, fish, salt, plaster, and lumber. The canal also made money supplying water to mills and businesses along the canal and in the winter it sold ice to local butchers. Despite this, traffic on the canal continued to decline in the face of competition from railroads, which had many advantages including the ability to run all winter. In addition, the canal needed constant repair due to freshets and silt build up.