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 > > > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html