Lockhouse 44 - Williamsport

About this event

Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, in all weather, lockkeepers attended to canal traffic. Lockkeepers were responsible for opening and closing the 74 lift locks along the canal. A lift lock works like a water elevator, raising or lowering a boat 8 to 10 feet. The lockkeeper was given a salary, a lockhouse, and an acre of land for livestock and a garden. Lockhouse 44 is one of little more than a dozen surviving lock houses on the C&O Canal and remains as evidence of a bygone way of life. Harvey Brant, the last lockkeeper at Lock 44, operated the lock from 1915 - 1924. The Brant family left in 1961, decades after canal ceased operations.

Venue

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Ranger programs, tours, and events at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, from the National Park Service events calendar

Venue website

All events at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park · All venues in Washington