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President George Washington commissioned Pierre L'Enfant to design the Capital City in 1790. The L'Enfant Plan included a system of canals to transport heavy goods at a time when roads andstreets were few and muddy. The Washington City Canal (green) was opened in 1815. Constructionbegan in 1828 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (yellow) to connect Washington DC. to the fertileOhio Valley. The Washington Branch of the C&O Canal (red), built by 1833, joined the two waterwaysand opened the city to commerce.

The Canal ventures proved to be an expensive investment. The Washington Branch of the C&O Canaland the Washington City Canal carried so little commerce that they were abandoned 30 yearsafter construction. Railroads, not canals, dominated transportation in the nineteenth century. Inthe 1870s the long process of filling these canals began.

This Canal house built at Lock [B by 1833] sheltered the lockkeeper who also collected tolls andkept records of [commerce] on the waterway. It remains today as the only remnant of the WashingtonBranch of the C&O Canal.