I'd be hesitant to label the Patowmack canal a failure (my word, not WNapier's)--it all depends on whose perspective you adopt. The company never was profitable--so if you tell the story from that perspective, it is hardly a narrative of "success." But if you look at the role that the company played in promoting commercial agriculture in the Valley, in the context of other transportation improvements connecting the Valley to the eastern seaboard, the story is surely considerably less obviously one of frustrated hopes and failed investments. Quite a few Alexandria merchants did just fine off of the economic opportunity that the canal created, as did numerous farmers upstream. The amount of grain and other goods carried by the canal was non-trivial, even if underwhelming from the perspective of the company directors and investors.
___________________________
Kevin R. Hardwick
Associate Professor
Department of History, MSC 8001
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
________________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of [log in to unmask] [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 10:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: navigable rivers west of the Blue Ridge -- George Washington
There's a well-written, interesting book by Joel Achenbach, "The Grand
Idea: George Wasington's Potomac and the Race to the West." There's a good
bit of information about the nature of the never-really-successful efforts to
tame the Potomac and the people involved, as well as the "grand idea" of
Washington for creating a waterway to the west as a way of tying the
developing country together and, of course, building its commerce.
The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West
In a message dated 3/14/2011 8:16:25 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Thanks very much. I found the dissertation
online
http://wvuscholar.wvu.edu:8881//exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/L2V4bGlicmlzL2R0bC9kM18xL2FwYWNoZV9tZWRpYS8xNDAwOQ==.pdf
________________________________
From: George M. Williams <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, March 13, 2011 11:31:48 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] navigable rivers west of the Blue Ridge
The South Branch of the Potomac was used in the Spring when the waters
were at
higher levels to ship barrels of flouer to Alexandria, the boats/barges
were
built in the Moorefield area, but were not returned.
You might try Elizabeth Oliver Lee "Potomac's Valley shall become a domain
we
Create" Commercialialism and the South Branch Valley 1750-1800,
,Dissertation,
History Department,West Virginia University, 2008,
George M. Williams
----- Original Message ----- From: "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 8:54 PM
Subject: Re: navigable rivers west of the Blue Ridge
Your first stop would be to visit the Virginia Canals and Navigations
Society
Website. In it you will find information on riverine traffic modes in the
Shenandoah Valley. Bill Trout's wonderful River Atlas series has one on
the
Shenandoah that will give you a tremendous amount of information.
As for craft, these would primarily have been batteaux or the Shenandoah
River
variant called a Gundalow that had flattish ends, some of which were
dismantled
for use as housing boards upon completion of their one-way voyage.
Lyle Browning
On Mar 9, 2011, at 5:05 PM, Bill Crews wrote:
> does anyone know the extent to which any of the rivers in the Shenandoah
Valley
> were used for travel or commerce in the Colonial era? Relatedly is anyone
> familiar with a source -- ideally a primary one -- for what kinds of
craft
were
> used on these rivers?
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> ______________________________________
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