Thanks to Sean Bartnik for supplying the pics!
On Wed the 27th I started out headed West on I-70 to Frederick MD, then South on Route 15 to Point of Rocks Maryland. The train station at Point of Rocks is one of the most photographed buildings in Maryland being of a unique triangle shape of very distinct architecture. This is where the Metropolitan division of the CSX railroad from Washington, D.C. joins the "OLD MAIN LINE" of the original first American Railroad, the B&O route to the Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City), site of the famous horse race between the "Iron Horse" and the real horse...a quick trip through the parking lot leads to route 28 Tuscarora and crossing the Mononcy river near the famous Viaduct that lead the C&O canal from Washington to Cumberland.
I then turned onto "Martinsburg road" one of the last surviving colonial roads in the USA. It is a single lane tree lined right of way, lined on both sides with original stone fences. About 2 miles of this original roadway remains along the Dickerson Conservation area. Then onward to the parking lot of the C&O canal national park. Here I met Sean who was to carry the "baton" south.
The exchange actually took place in the
Middle of the Potomac River, on White's Ferry, where we parked our buses side by side as we made our way over the Potomac.(side tidbit, the exchange was still made in Maryland since the boundary between Maryland and Virginia is the 'high water mark on the VA shore' of the Potomac River, a legacy of the Civil War)
This location on the C&O canal, mile point 35.5 (from Georgetown) is the ancestral home of the Piscataway Indians and long known for the quality of the marble mined here. It also had a Granary and warehouses and was a major trading point for over 200 years. The marble here was chosen by Benjamin Latrobe for the columns in the House of Representatives Chamber (now Statuary hall) and the Senate chamber, in 1817 President James Monroe made a visit to inspect the quarry. Since the C&O canal had not yet been built the marble had to be boated down the Potomac river. It was described by the architect B. Latrobe as "in this undertaking every species of difficulty has been encountered"
White's Ferry is the only active ferry across the Potomac river. it has been in operation since 1817 (formerly known as Conrad's ferry). On the Virginia side of the river here was the location of the battle of Ball's Bluff during the Civil War. White's ferry is named for Lieutenant Colonel Elijah White, who began his military career as a private in the Confederate Army in 1861. His familiarity with the area gained him notice when he helped the Confederates capture 250 Union soldiers during the battle of Ball's Bluff. He was later assigned to the Staff of Stonewall Jackson where he led many crossings of the Potomac at his farm. White's ford was the best place to ford heavy equipment between Washington DC and Harpers Ferry.
After the war he became a successful businessman and owned many stores and businesses along the Potomac in this area, he also was the Baptist minister of several churches in Loudin county VA, which may make one wonder why he named his ferry boat over the Potomac after the Hard Drinking, hard cursing General Jubal Early. All the ferryboats at this location still bear the name Jubal Early, as did the one on which the exchange took place. He died in 1907 at the age of 74.
The ferry over the Potomac is a "cable guided" ferry. meaning that there is a heavy cable across the river, the boat has only a propulsion motor but no steering. It runs the cable through pulleys on the side of the ferry and follows the cable back and forth over the river. When not being used the cable hangs down into the river so boats can easily cross over it.
"more tidbits than you ever wanted to know""
Bob, local amateur historian
