Historical Images of the C&O Canal

The DC Public Library has been posting images onto Flickr since last March. DCPL is one of many public institutions contributing to the Flickr Commons, a project to improve access to publicly-owned photographic archives around the world. The photostreams of the participating institutions are a great resource, and it is well worth following their streams if you are active on Flickr. DCPL has a large archive of historical images of Washington, DC. Currently they are posting images from E.B. Thompson, a photographer active in Washington in the early 20th century.

I recently found some historical images of the C&O Canal from DCPL's Thompson collection. Most of them are undated, but they appear to show the canal during its last decade or so of operation. Click through the images to go to the photo pages on Flickr.

The Key Mansion was condemned to make way for the Whitehurst Freeway.

A canal boat being towed by mules.

House boats on the canal west of Georgetown.

An abandoned lock house in about 1930.