Baltimore and the Maryland Cross-Cut Canal: 1820-1851
by Robert J. Kapsch
pp. 117-155, (doi 10.1061/40759(152)9)
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| Document type: |
Conference Proceeding Paper |
| Part of: |
Baltimore Civil Engineering History |
| Abstract: |
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the merchants of Baltimore were wealthy.a wealth built on the export of flour, primarily to the West Indies and South America. At the time, Baltimore was the world’s leading exporter of flour. This flour came down the Susquehanna River to Baltimore. If the trade of Baltimore was to grow and increase, then Baltimore merchants would have to gain access to the agricultural riches of the Potomac valley and the Ohio Territories beyond. In the technology of the day, this meant the construction of a canal between Baltimore and the Potomac River, later to be called the Maryland Cross-Cut canal. This canal would connect to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, then being contemplated from Washington, D.C. to the Ohio Valley, at some point above Washington. Between 1820 and 1851, no fewer than ten separate engineering and other feasibility studies were undertaken by some of the leading civil engineers of the day on this canal. Despite this effort, no route was found that proved practical except along the Anacostia River. This route, if it had been built, would have channeled the trade of the west to Baltimore’s competitors along the Potomac River - Georgetown, Alexandria and Washington City. In finding no feasible direct connections between Baltimore and the Potomac valley, the engineers studying the Maryland Cross-Cut Canal never investigated innovative approaches, such as the use of inclined planes as was being used on the Morris Canal in New Jersey. With reluctance, the merchants of Baltimore turned away from the idea of a canal to an even more innovative approach, the railroad. This led to the development of the United States’ first long distance railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio (B & O). But the idea of a cross-cut canal died hard. Long after the B & O was operational, more studies were undertaken for a canal connection between Baltimore and the west. The Maryland Cross-Cut canal became the most studied canal never to be constructed in the U.S.. |
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