Before the C&O Canal, before the B&O Railroad, between 1785 and 1828 over 200,000 tons of freight, mostly grain, was shipped down the Potomac River to Georgetown and out to a hungry world. This was the accomplishment of George Washington’s Potomac Company, established in 1785 to “get the rocks out of the way” and allow for in-river navigation of the Potomac River.
This lecture will allow you to see the Potomac River system through the eyes of our first President. It will review the technologies used to “open up” the Potomac revealing the successes and failures of the project.
Our speaker is Paul Kreingold the Conservation Director of the Loudoun County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, Virginia Master Naturalist and author of Potomac Marble: The History of the Search for the Ideal Stone.