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Chesapeake & Delaware Canal
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a 14-mile long, 450-foot wide and 35-foot deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in Delaware and Maryland. In the mid-17th century, mapmaker Augustine Herman observed that these great bodies of water were separated only by a narrow strip of land. In 1764, a survey of possible water routes across the Delmarva Peninsula was made, but little action followed. The idea was raised again in 1788 by regional business leaders, including famed Philadelphians Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. Despite the beginnings of a commercial venture in 1802 coincident with Canal Mania in England and Wales, it was not until 1829 until the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business". Its construction cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $113.3 million in 2024) made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time. In the present era, the C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse. The canal saves approximately 300 miles on the route between Wilmington or Philadelphia on the Delaware River and Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay, avoiding a course around the Delmarva Peninsula. (Wikipedia)