Alexandria Canal (Virginia)

Alexandria Canal Tide Lock
Alexandria Canal Center with reconstructed Tidal Basin and Tidal Lock
Alexandria Canal (Virginia) is located in Alexandria Historical District
Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
Location within Alexandria Historical District
Alexandria Canal (Virginia) is located in Virginia
Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
Location within Virginia
Alexandria Canal (Virginia) is located in the United States
Alexandria Canal (Virginia)
Location within the United States
Nearest cityAlexandria, Virginia
Coordinates38°48′49.6″N 77°2′18.2″W / 38.813778°N 77.038389°W / 38.813778; -77.038389
Area5.7 acres (2.3 ha)
Built1833
ArchitectAlexandria Canal Co.
NRHP reference No.80004305[1]
VLR No.100-0099[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 15, 1980
Designated VLRNovember 20, 1979[2]

The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Georgetown in the District of Columbia to the Potomac River at the city of Alexandria both when it was a part of the District of Columbia and when it was part of Virginia.

It was often treated as an extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and called by that name. It was also sometimes called the Washington and Alexandria Canal.

History

Planning

The idea of connecting Alexandria, VA to the Ohio River predated the American Revolution. The first real effort to do that started in 1785 when George Washington formed the Potomac Company to improve the movement of boats on the Potomac River.[3] This company created some small canals to improve the navigability of the Potomac River, but it was not an easy journey.

Talk of a canal between Alexandria and Georgetown started in 1805 after the construction of the causeway to Mason's Island obstructed the safest passage for boats, making water trips between the two cities hazardous when the weather was anything other than favorable; and thus harming business interests in Alexandria. In 1812, Congress passed a law authorizing construction of a canal between the two if work began within two years; but plans were scuttled by the War of 1812.[4]

In 1825, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company (C&O Canal) was established to connect Washington, DC to the Ohio River. Its first section opened in 1830.

Construction and opening

In 1830 merchants from Alexandria (which at the time was within the jurisdiction of the federal District of Columbia) proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new canal. Unlike Georgetown, Alexandria had a deep water port and merchants there saw an opportunity. Congress granted a charter to the Alexandria Canal Company on May 26, 1830, to build a canal as a spur to the C&O Canal. A groundbreaking featuring George Washington Parke Custis was held in Alexandria on July 3, 1831, and construction began the next day.[5] The C&O Canal built the Georgetown abutment and the Alexandria Canal Company built the rest.[6] Work relied heavily upon the forced labor of enslaved people. In 1835, the canal built a causeway across Four Mile Run and a viaduct to carry the turnpike over the stream and under the canal.[7] Despite delays caused by the Panic of 1837, the aqueduct opened on July 4, 1843, and the canal opened, as far as the turning basin at Washington and Montgomery Streets on December 2, 1843.[8] The locks down to the river weren't completed until 1845.[9][10]

The Aqueduct Bridge (begun in 1833 and completed in 1843) enabled canal boats from the C&O Canal to cross the Potomac River without descending to the river level. The boats would then continue their trips downstream on a canal on the southwest side of the Potomac until they reached Alexandria's seaport.

Early Years

First Aqueduct Bridge in 1860

The canal proved to be more expensive, and less profitable, than expected. In early 1846, three years after the Canal opened, Alexandria Common Council member Lewis McKenzie, motivated by the large corporation taxes that had to be paid to fund the canal, restarted the Alexandria retrocession movement that had been on and off again since the District was formed. He introduced a motion that the mayor resend the results of the 1840 pro-retrocession vote to Congress and the Virginia legislature and promised that Congress would assume the Canal debt.[11] On February 2, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly voted to accept the retrocession of Alexandria County if Congress approved.[12][13] The debate over retrocession then moved to the U.S. Congress, where the Town Committee met with the District Committee of the House to ask for both retrocession and relief from their Canal debt, with the Committee expressing support of relief if retrocession were carried out. Town leaders then expected a bill that would provide for both, causing many to believe that the issues were tied together and that to vote for retrocession would be to vote for Congress to take on Alexandria's debt. Later the House decided to decouple the issues and to abandon relief altogether.[14] Despite this, retrocession passed later in 1846, in large part because Virginia promised to take on Alexandria's canal debt, which it did in 1848.[8]

In 1850, the C&O Canal was completed to Cumberland, extending the reach of the Alexandria Canal and the first ship made it from the mines to Alexandria on October 17, 1850.[10] From then on coal became the major commodity and source of revenue for the canal, but it was also used to ship wheat, corn, whiskey, corn meal, flour, fish, salt, plaster, and lumber. The canal also made money supplying water to mills and businesses along the canal and in the winter it sold ice to local butchers.[15] Despite this, traffic on the canal continued to decline in the face of competition from railroads, which had many advantages including the ability to run all winter. In addition, the canal needed constant repair due to freshets and silt build up.[8]

In the late 1850s the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire railroad built a trestle over the canal at what was then Water Street (then Lee Street, and now the Washington and Old Dominion Trail) and another near the current day intersection of Potomac Greens Drive and Norfolk Lane; and in the same time period the Alexandria and Washington Railroad built their railroad through an existing arch under the canal near Four Mile Run. The railroad, which was double-tracked elsewhere, had to be single-tracked under the canal, which resulted in a fatal crash in 1885.[16] In 1858-59 several new bridges were built over the canal. One was at Poor House Lane (now Monroe Avenue) and replaced one that had collapsed earlier, another at Hunter's, and a third at the locks in Alexandria.[8]

Civil War Closure

1865 Painting of the Aqueduct Bridge and canals

In 1861, the Alexandria Canal was shut down due to the Civil War and on May 23 U.S. troops used it to cross the river and take control of Alexandria. The bridge was drained and turned into a road to enable troop movement and the canal was used as an earthwork.[17] General George McClellan had the canal itself drained and turned into a military road and Fort Haggerty was built on one side of it.[18] The use as a road caused substantial damage to the banks of the canal and it took years after the war to repair it.[19]

Alexandria Canal and Bridge Company

1885 View of the Potomac Aqueduct Bridge from Georgetown into Rosslyn, Virginia

In 1866 the state ordered Alexandria to dispose of its canal stock and they did so while arranging for the Alexandria Canal Company to lease for 99 years the bridge to local businessmen - including General H.H. Wells - who formed the Alexandria Canal and Bridge Company (sometimes the Alexandria Canal, Railroad and Bridge Company). A few months later, in September, the military turned the aqueduct over to the lessees who began repairs on the canal while also obtaining permission to build a railroad, the Alexandria and Georgetown Railroad, alongside it.[20] The canal reopened on April 2, 1867, but due to the continued need for repairs, was closed again in June.[21] Over the ensuing months, a new aqueduct was constructed on the old piers.[22][23] The new canal bridge opened on May 30, 1868, and soon after it did they began to design and have authorized the construction of a bridge over the canal, on the same piers, that could hold a wagonway and a railroad line.[24][25] They received permission for the addition in late September and started work by mid-November 1868.[26][27] In December 1868, they were granted permission to lay out a small village on the Virginia side of the bridge that they wanted to call Rosslyn after the Ross farm located there. The toll bridge over the canal opened on January 12, 1869.[28]

Later in 1868, the canal lessees turned their focus to the railroad they wished to build from Georgetown to Four Mile Run. In late 1869 they hired an engineer, bought ties and iron rails and made arrangements to connect to the existing Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad at Four Mile Run.[29][30] They held a formal groundbreaking at the Virginia side of the Aqueduct Bridge on October 28, 1869, but no work was done.[31] In 1870-1871 they contracted with the National Junction Railroad, a railroad chartered in 1870,[32] to build a railroad from the south end of the bridge to Alexandria and from the north end to the B&O's depot in Washington.[33][34] Again, work was never started and instead the two parties wound up in a lengthy lawsuit.[35]

The people of Georgetown had wanted a toll-free bridge across the Potomac for years and had grown accustomed to being able to use the Aqueduct Bridge for free during the Civil War. Furthermore, boating interests wanted the bridge removed or replaced with a draw-bridge so that taller ships could travel farther up-river and they wanted the leakage repaired to keep boats from being drenched when they passed underneath. In 1881 Congress authorized the government to purchase the Aqueduct Bridge to create a toll-free bridge across the river and in 1882 they appropriated money to that end. At first the canal company refused to sell, then agreed to sell only on the condition that the aqueduct portion remain; but in 1884 it relented and agreed to receive $85,000 for the piers and $50,000 for the deck.

For the next two years the Canal, the C&O Canal, the city of Alexandria and the U.S. government fought over who owned the Georgetown abutment, debts owed, and the location of $300,000 of canal stock that the U.S. Government purchased in 1866–67, but that they claimed Alexandria never transferred to them.[36][37]

Purchase of the Aqueduct Bridge and Final Closure

Things came to a head in 1886. In July Congress passed an act obligating the Secretary of War to purchase the Aqueduct Bridge for $125,000 and to repair and reconstruct it; or if not able to buy it, to build a new bridge at Three Sisters.[38] A few days earlier the lessees had requested that the owners agree to sell.[39] On September 20, 1886, a section of the aqueduct trunk fell, releasing the water into the river.[40] An analysis of the bridge's safety led the District government to close it on October 6, 1886, and with it the Alexandria Canal.[41] Two weeks later the lessees and owners agreed to terms for the sale of the bridge.[42] At a stockholder's meeting on November 22, it was agreed that the Canal company would transfer the Bridge to the Canal and Bridge company who would then sell it to the U.S. Government for $125,000. It would use the revenue to pay all outstanding judgments against the Canal and the Canal Company would retain the nine miles of canal land in Virginia.[43] The deal was then finalized on December 21, 1886 - only one day before the deadline set by the 1886 law.[44]

Disposition

A series of lawsuits followed the closing. The Canal and Bridge Company sued the District for closing the canal while allowing people to use the wagonway for free.[45] The District sued them back for not maintaining the bridge for 20 years and for not paying taxes.[46] Another lawsuit against the Canal Company resulted in the officers being ousted in May 1887 and the company's assets being turned over to a receiver. At the time, the stock was owned almost entirely by the United States, Virginia and the Wheeler family (which had inherited the Charles Bennett fortune in 1850).[47] In July 1887, Virginia gave some of its stock to the United States to clear Alexandria's debt and sold the rest, making the US government the controlling interest in the company.[48]

The end of the canal also spelled the end of several businesses. The Arlington Brick Machine Company near the outlet of the canal closed, as it relied on the canal for its business and it shut down that same year - though it was replaced by the Excelsior Brick Company.[49] The coal companies cancelled their leases to the wharfs at the canal outlet as well.[50]

Despite the lawsuits and delays, the Bridge and Canal Company began removing the wooden trunk of the Aqueduct in February 1887.[51]

In 1888, the courts decided that Alexandria's claims for loans were valid, that all of the property of the Canal - including the stones and land - would be used to pay those debts and later forced the sale of the canal's property to pay debts.[10][52] The property was divided into six sections and sold at auction on June 7, 1888, as were all of the cut stones at the locks. The timber from the bridge was sold as well and the boards were cut and reused in Georgetown.[53] Before Alexandria could collect, the federal government sued claiming they were owed some of that money as well. The city of Alexandria paid nearly $500,000 into the canal over the years, but after the sale of the property for $40,000 and the payment of legal fees, they wound up evenly dividing the remaining $24,000 with the U.S. government in October 1889.[54]

The Alexandria and Washington Railroad purchased the section from Four Mile Run to the Alexandria boundary and in late July/early August 1888 they removed the canal embankment near its rail line and blew up part of the heavy stone two-arch viaduct over it with dynamite so that it could double track the railroad there.[16][55][7] The rest of the viaduct remained at least until 1891, but was eventually removed.[56] A few weeks after the auction the railroad purchased the canal property section from Four Mile Run north along the tracks.[57]

By August 1890, the canal south of Four Mile Run had been significantly filled in and the banks had been plowed down and seeded.[58]

The City of Alexandria purchased the portion of the locks and the land around it. Alexandria residents began repurposing the bricks and stones in the late 1890s.[9] Bricks were removed to build the floor of the old gas house.[10] In late 1900 they partially dismantled the locks, broke up the rough stone of the lock pools for street pavement and repurposed the smooth stones for curbs.[59] The cornerstone of the Canal, bearing the date "1844", was moved from near the railroad bridge over the canal (along the current day Mt. Vernon Trail between Canal Center Plaza and Montgomery) to the corner of Cameron and Union and used as a curb.[60]

In 1904, the Washington and Ohio railroad bridge over the canal near Del Ray was torn down as part of construction of the Potomac Yard.[61]

Route

Panoramic map of Alexandria county from 1890 in which the canal can be seen as a dark line.

The canal ran southwards for 7.12 miles from the Aqueduct Bridge through today's Arlington County and City of Alexandria, Virginia. It had arched masonry bridges (torn down during expansion north of the George Washington Parkway) over the road to Mason's Island and Rocky Run.[8] Farther south it crossed over Four Mile Run and, later, the Alexandria and Washington Railroad on a brick and stone aqueduct. It passed under the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad and then into Alexadria. In Alexandria, it dropped 38 feet through a series of four locks between Washington Street and the Potomac River. The Canal ended at a Tidal Basin (Pool No. 1), after crossing under the W&OD railroad again, and a Tidal Lock (Lift Lock No. 1) located at the north end of Old Town Alexandria.[62]

Remnants

The most prominent remnant of the canal is the continued presence of Arlington County and Alexandria in northern Virginia following retrocession. But the impact of the canal lives on in other ways as well. Historic markers are located in Alexandria at 901 N. Fairfax Street, 2501 Potomac Avenue and 525 Montgomery Street.

Bridge remnants

The Aqueduct Bridge

View of Rosslyn from the top of the Aqueduct Bridge Abutment in Georgetown

The bridge pier and abutments were used to create a new free bridge, with a 24 foot wide roadway and two 6 feet wide sidewalks, that opened on April 11, 1888.

After the Key Bridge was completed in 1923 the bridge was closed. The old superstructure of the Aqueduct Bridge was removed in 1933,[63] but the Georgetown abutment, part of the Alexandria abutment and the piers remained. In 1962, seven of the eight stone piers were demolished by the Army engineers as a training exercise and to make more room in the river for racing regattas.[8] The rubble was moved to Anacostia Park, and used as seawalls. One pier was preserved for historical purposes at the insistence of Eleanor Lee Templeman of the Arlington Historical Society.[63][64]

Rosslyn Culverts

Alexandria Canal Culvert carrying Rocky Run under the George Washington Parkway

Two culverts from the old canal still exist. A small one allowed Rocky Run to pass beneath the Canal and is now used by the George Washington Parkway to cross the stream (it can be seen from the Mt. Vernon Trail bridge over Rocky Run).[65] The other, larger one - through which the road to Analostan Island passed - also remains but is buried.[66] During prohibition it was used by bootleggers and then later for storage.[67]

Railroads and roads

In April 1888, just days after the Free Bridge opened, the Canal was filled where the Columbia Pike crossed it to create a better road.[68]

Rosslyn Connecting Railroad

In 1892, the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased the canal land from the north side of Arlington estate to Rosslyn and began construction of a line that traveled between the southern end of the Long Bridge and the southern end of the Aqueduct Bridge.[69][70] In 1893 they were granted permission to build the rail line on the canal right-of-way through the Arlington reservation (currently Arlington Cemetery).[71] It opened in 1896.[72][73] The line, which passed the present site of The Pentagon, traveled within the grade of the former canal in the area that lies between Arlington National Cemetery and the Potomac River.[74][75] In 1904, the line became the Rosslyn Connecting Railroad, which the Pennsylvania Railroad owned through a subsidiary, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (PB&W).[75][76]

Development of Arlington's waterfront led to several changes to, and the ultimate demise of, the railroad. In 1931 the railroad was moved into an underpass below Memorial Avenue to allow for the construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. When the Pentagon was erected in 1941, the railroad gave more than 12 acres of land and its tracks - including the footprint of the canal - to the War Department for construction of the building. They were given 4.5 acres of land to the east of the Pentagon to use instead.[77] In 1962 the northern 2.3 miles of the line, the part that was still on the Canal footprint, was purchased by the Virginia Highway Department to construct the approaches to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and a few months later the line was abandoned.[78][79] In 1969, the Arlington Connecting Railroad was merged into the Penndel Company.[80] The last 0.39 miles, which only served the Pentagon's Heating and Refrigeration Plant, was closed sometime later.[81]

The railroad land purchased by the Highway Department and not used by them was given to the Park Service in late 1962.[82] The Park Service allowed the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to construct an open section of Metrorail's Blue Line along a portion of the railroad's (and former canal's) route from Arlington Boulevard south to Washington Boulevard.[83] The section of the Blue Line opened on July 1, 1977.[84]

The route of the canal/connecting railroad from the old Aqueduct Bridge to Arlington Boulevard is now mostly empty land along the west side of the George Washington Memorial Parkway or under the footprint of the I-66-Route 110 interchange. A small portion of the Mt. Vernon Trail between Lynn and the Parkway sits on about 500 feet of the remaining route. From Washington Boulevard to Arlington Junction Park, the route has been supplanted by the Pentagon, its parking lots and the roads around it.

Mount Vernon Line

In 1896, ten years after the canal closed, the Mount Vernon line of the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway was constructed on the canal's bed and west-side towpath from Four Mile Run to just past Arlington Junction.[85] Arlington's South Eads Street now approximates the canal's route in this area.[86][87]

Between Four Mile Run and Canal Center there are no visible remnants of the canal, but the Mason Hall Apartments in Alexandria were built on the Canal's right of way and thus has a curve that matches the canal's curve there.

Locks

The canal's locks and basin remain, at least in part, but are all buried underground.

Parts of the canal in Alexandria were still visible, with a bridge over part and ice skating in some of the basins, as late as 1937.[88]

In the 1970s the American Canal Society began taking an interest in preserving the locks.[89] In 1979 Alexandria City archaeologists identified the exact location of lock #1 and in March 1982 began excavating it.[90] The developers of the neighboring Trans-Potomac Canal Center, settled a 1983 lawsuit with the US Justice Department over who owned the land and as part of that settlement agreed to restore the canal lock and create a Waterfront Museum.[91] They later excavated the Tidal Basin and Lock #1, removed the old gate and then covered the original remnants with a reconstruction.[92] They also removed some of the stones that lined the canal and used them to build a small stone feature in Rivergate Park. Other stones were marked with plaques, and put in public places including Beatley Central Library, Fort Ward Park, and Windmill Hill Park.[9] Work on the reconstructed lock was completed in late 1985 and the TransPotomac Canal Center opened in 1987.[93][94]

The city placed marker at street level above the buried #3 canal lock on N. Royal Street in 1983.

In 1987 the former Hot Shoppe Restaurant at 905 N. Washington Street was razed and the Alexandria Archaeology office took the opportunity to excavate the site, which sat atop the old canal turning basin.[95]

Alexandria named a new park, located on the shores of the Potomac River east of Lee Street between Montgomery and Third streets, "Tide Lock Park" in honor of the canal in 1989.[96]

In 1993, the Waterfront Museum, which opened in 1988, was closed due to low attendance and budget constraints.[97]

In 2022, a condominium called Venue was constructed on top of lock #2 and a marker was added to the courtyard.

A 2024-2025 excavation during the demolition of the Waterman Place office building uncovered lock #4 and the basin just before it at the 900 block of North Pitt Street. It was reburied beneath the new 901 N. Pitt Street building, but some of the cut stones were salvaged and stored for eventual re-use in a public area.[88]

In 2017, during construction on the block between First, Montgomery, St. Asaph and Pitt, archaeologists uncovered the remains of the Turning Basin, just past lock #4. It also included an in-tact and still working culvert that allowed Spa Spring to flow beneath the basin.[98]

In 2026, Arlington Junction Park opened near the old route of the canal and included historical information on it.[99]

Maps

Map of canal
1878 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County, Virginia), showing the route of the Alexandria Canal (identified as the "Chesapeake and Ohio Canal") southwest of the Potomac River

Notes

  1. ↑ "Alexandria Canal Tide Lock". National Register of Historic Places Digital Archive on NPGallery. National Park Service. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Alexandria Canal and Tidelock" (PDF). Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Funeral of the Canal Company". The Washington Evening Star. May 21, 1887.
  4. ↑ Peterson, Arthur G. (December 3, 1933). "Story of Old Canal Is Dug From Files". The Washington Post.
  5. ↑ Clark, Charlie (December 16, 2016). "Our Man in Arlington". Falls Church News Press. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ "The Aqueduct Bridge Title". The Washington Evening Star. February 11, 1885.
  7. 1 2 "The "Arches"". Alexandria Gazette. July 30, 1888. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Morgan, Maxine Goff. "A Chronological History of the Alexandria Canal (Part II)" (PDF). Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 "Alexandria Canal FAQ". Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Miller, T. Michael (1987). Pen Portraits of Alexandria, Virginia, 1739-1900. Heritage Books.
  11. ↑ "In Council January 8, 1846". Alexandria Gazette. January 12, 1846.
  12. ↑ "Retrocession of Alexandria County". The Washington Star. September 8, 1946.
  13. ↑ "Re-annexation of Alexandria to Virginia". The Baltimore Sun. February 6, 1846. p. 2. ProQuest 533094185.
  14. ↑ "Retrocession and Relief". The Alexandria Gazette. July 20, 1846.
  15. ↑ "History of the Alexandria Canal" (PDF). Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Blowing Up the Arches". The Washington Post. July 30, 1888.
  17. ↑ Reed, Robert Carroll (1980). Old Washington, D.C., in Early Photographs, 1846-1932. New York: Dover Publications. p. 144.
  18. ↑ "Doctor Here finds Pictures Of Forgotten Rosslyn Fort". The Washington Post. March 23, 1953.
  19. ↑ "The Alexandria Canal". The Washington Evening Star. April 10, 1867.
  20. ↑ "The Georgetown Aqueduct". The Washington Evening Star. September 25, 1866.
  21. ↑ "Alexandria Items". The Washington Evening Star. June 14, 1867.
  22. ↑ "The Alexandria Canal Aqueduct". The Washington Evening Star. February 20, 1868.
  23. ↑ "Alexandria Items". The Washington Evening Star. April 3, 1867.
  24. ↑ "Appendix B B B - Bridges at Washington, D.C.", p. 3641. Archived 2014-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012-12-29.
  25. ↑ "The Alexandria Canal". The Washington Evening Star. May 30, 1868.
  26. ↑ "The New Toll Bridge". The Washington Evening Star. October 17, 1868.
  27. ↑ "Common Council". The Washington Evening Star. September 19, 1868.
  28. ↑ "Toll Bridge at Georgetown". The Washington Evening Star. January 12, 1869.
  29. ↑ "Railroad Matters". The Washington Evening Star. October 4, 1869.
  30. ↑ "The Alexandria Canal". The Washington Star. October 1, 1869.
  31. ↑ "The Berme Bank Railroad". The Washington Star. October 28, 1869.
  32. ↑ Forty First Congress Session II (PDF). 1870. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  33. ↑ "The Articles of Agreement". The Washington Star. February 17, 1870.
  34. ↑ "Berme Bank Railroad". The Washington Star. February 21, 1871.
  35. ↑ "A Railroad Suit". The Washington Star. May 27, 1872.
  36. ↑ "The Canal Stocks Case". The Washington Evening Star. March 29, 1882.
  37. ↑ "The Aqueduct Bridge". The Washington Post. September 29, 1886.
  38. ↑ U.S. Statutes at Large. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 1867. pp. 84–85. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  39. ↑ "The Aqueduct Bridge". The Washington Evening Star. September 29, 1886.
  40. ↑ Hambleton, Elizabeth (1978). Alexandria History Volume 1 (PDF). Alexandria, Virginia: Alexandria Historical Society. p. 26. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  41. ↑ "The Bridge to Be Closed". The Washington Star. October 4, 1886.
  42. ↑ "The Aqueduct Bridge Matter". The Washington Star. October 18, 1886.
  43. ↑ "The Prospect of a free bridge". The Washington Evening Star. November 23, 1886.
  44. ↑ "The New Bridge". The Washington Evening Star. April 10, 1888.
  45. ↑ "The Alexandria Canal Company Sues the District for $20,000". The Washington Star. December 22, 1886.
  46. ↑ "An Aqueduct Bridge Suit". The Washington Evening Star. January 7, 1887.
  47. ↑ "Alexandria Affairs". The Washington Evening Star. May 17, 1887.
  48. ↑ "Use the Stones of the Canal Locks for a School House". The Washington Evening Star. July 2, 1887.
  49. ↑ "Brick Manufacture". The Alexandria Gazette. March 12, 1891. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  50. ↑ "Alexandria Affairs". The Washington Star. January 8, 1887.
  51. ↑ "Affairs in West Washington". The Washington Star. February 11, 1887.
  52. ↑ "The value of the canal assets". The Washington Evening Star. April 18, 1888.
  53. ↑ "Retracing the Old Georgetown Alexandria Canal". The Washington Evening Star. January 30, 1944.
  54. ↑ "United States Court". Washington Evening Star. October 1, 1889.
  55. ↑ "Alexandria Canal Sale". The Washington Evening Star. June 7, 1888.
  56. ↑ "A Big Fall at Old Tunnel". The Alexandria Gazette. March 29, 1891. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  57. ↑ "Canal Rights and Railroad Rights". The Washington Evening Star. July 26, 1888.
  58. ↑ "Local brevities". The Alexandria Gazette. August 6, 1860. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  59. ↑ "Virginia Items". Norfolk Landmark. November 18, 1900. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  60. ↑ "A Relic of By-gone Days". Alexandria Gazette. June 18, 1900. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  61. ↑ "The New Union Yard". The Alexandria Gazette. January 2, 1905. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
  62. ↑ Hopkins. "Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington - Alexandria County - 1879". Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  63. 1 2 Kelly, John (December 7, 2013). "The Potomac Aqueduct once took canal boats across the river". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
  64. ↑ "Along Chain Bridge Road". Providence Journal. August 24, 1962. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  65. ↑ "Photograph of Rocky Run culvert-tunnel G. W. parkway, below Rosslyn". Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  66. ↑ Wood, David. "The Alexandria Canal Culvert at Rosslyn". Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  67. ↑ Templeman, Eleanor Lee (April 7, 1959). "Hidden Tunnel in Rosslyn Yields Secrets". Northern Virginia Sun. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  68. ↑ "Alexandria Affairs". The Washington Evening Star. April 13, 1888.
  69. ↑ "A Railroad Purchase". The Alexandria Gazette. August 16, 1892. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  70. ↑ "Pushing the Pennsylvania Railroad". The Washington Evening Star. June 22, 1892.
  71. ↑ "From Washington". Alexandria Gazette. February 20, 1893. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  72. ↑ Wilson, William Bender (1899). History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: with Plan of Organization, Portraits of Officials and Biographical Sketches. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Co. p. 332. OCLC 671596804. Retrieved June 27, 2017 – via Google Books. The Washington Southern Railway extends from the junction of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad at the south end of the Long Bridge, opposite Washington, D. C., to Quantico, Virginia, a distance of 32.12 miles. It has three branches — .... ; and the Rosslyn branch from the south end of the Long Bridge to the south end of the Aqueduct at the village of Rosslyn, Va., opposite Georgetown, D. C., a distance of 1.13 miles. This latter branch was opened for business April 2, 1896.
  73. ↑ "Corporate Genealogy: Washington Southern: Development of Fixed Physical Property". Valuation Reports. 31. Washington, D.C.: Interstate Commerce Commission: 297–299, 310–313. July 1930. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  74. ↑ (1) 1900 map showing the route of the Washington Southern Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad (formerly the Washington Southern Railway) inside the route of the "Old Alexandria Canal" within the "Arlington Reservation", between the Potomac River and the "National Cemetery": "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia for the Virginia Title Co". Alexandria, Virginia: The Company. 1900. Retrieved October 7, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.
    (2) Roberts, John (Denton, Texas) (February 4, 2013). "Comments". Abandoned Rails.com: Alexandria to Bluemont. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. The Pennsylvania Railroad had a very short line over on the Virginia side of the river. It ran from the Virginia end of the 14th Street Bridge to a terminal in Roslyn. I am not sure if the Pennsylvania Branch connected to the W&OD Roslyn Branch, but the ends of the two branches were very close. The Pennsylvania Branch served the old Pickle Factory that later served as the power house for the Pentagon. Then it ran in front of the Potomac-facing side of the Pentagon and then followed the route of the old Georgetown and Alexandria Canal to Roslyn. At the Pentagon, the rails ran under the concrete east entrance. That is, it did not run under the Pentagon Building itself. The branch line was not electrified, even though the Pennsylvania electric lines ran across the 14th Street Bridge to Potomac Yard.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    (3) CSXvet (July 26, 2003). "Re: W&OD Railroad - Adjacent to Pentagon?". Nostalgia & History > W&OD Railroad. Trainorders.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017 – via Digicert.com. The railroad that ran past the Pentagon was the onetime Pennsylvania RR Rosslyn branch. This branch left the mainline at RO (for Rosslyn) tower at the south end of the bridge over the Potomac and basically followed the Potomac northwest to Rosslyn. Part of it was built on the bed of the old canal that connected Alexandria with the C&O Canal in Georgetown. The line was always strictly freight and served some building supply companies in Rosslyn. Although the W&OD also terminated in Rosslyn, there was no connection between the two. The PRR's terminal was on the east side of town, and the W&OD ended just west of the Rosslyn traffic circle. I can't tell you when the Rosslyn end was abandoned, but I think the line remained intact as far as the Pentagon for some years longer.
  75. 1 2 The Commission (1926). "Valuation Docket No. 160: Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Company: Appendix 1". Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States (Valuation Reports): October 1925 — February 1926. 106. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office: 678. ISSN 0083-1530. OCLC 6392128. Retrieved October 26, 2019 – via HathiTrust Digital Library. The grading is rather light. Most of the line follows along the route of an old disused canal and in constructing the roadbed the carrier used the canal grading as far as possible.
  76. ↑ (1) "History: Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Co.". Third Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia for the Year Ending December 31, 1905. Vol. 2. Richmond, Virginia: Davis Bottom, Superintendent Public Printing. 1906. p. 541. OCLC 5329199. Retrieved June 27, 2017 – via Google Books.
    (2) Pennsylvania Railroad (1958). "Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Company". Record of Transportation Lines Owned and Operated by and Associated in Interest with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Philadelphia. p. 74. OCLC 35068648. Retrieved June 27, 2017 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    (3) "Rosslyn Connecting Railroad" (PDF). Cheyenne, Wyoming: LaBelle Woodworking Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
    (4) "Rails and Transit in Washington DC" (blog). Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads. March 22, 2017 – via WordPress. As well as owning the bridge from Washington to Virginia used by all passengers from the south, the Pennsylvania Railroad also owned the Rosslyn Connecting Railroad. This line ran from Potomac Yard to Rosslyn and used to supply the Pentagon (which it almost touched) with coal.
    (5) "Certificate: Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Company - Virginia 1944". Scripophily.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017. Continuing south in Virginia was the Alexandria and Washington Railroad, opened in 1857. The Baltimore and Potomac acquired this line after reaching it, operating it until 1901, when the Washington Southern Railway (the successor of the Alexandria and Washington) was taken over by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, an independent bridge line owned equally by the PRR and five other railroads. Soon after, in 1904, the line from the Long Bridge to Rosslyn, built by the Washington Southern, was split off into the Rosslyn Connecting Railroad, owned by the PRR.
    (6) 1942 map showing the Rosslyn Connecting Railroad, the planned route of Virginia State Route 110 (below the railroad), The Pentagon building and Arlington National Cemetery: "Plate 22". Plat Book of Arlington County, Virginia. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Franklin Survey Company. 1943. Retrieved October 25, 2019 – via Historic Map Works, LLC. Residential Genealogy.
  77. ↑ "Federal Land Exchange With Railroad Approved". The Washington Star. October 3, 1945.
  78. ↑ Dewer, Helen (January 21, 1962). "Virginia Drops Plan to Buy W&OD line". The Washington Post.
  79. ↑ "Arlington Rail Line Abandonment Okayed". The Washington Star. May 14, 1962.
  80. ↑ Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Commerce. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1970. p. 756. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  81. ↑ (1) "Rosslyn Connecting". Traffic World. 110. Washington, D.C.: Traffic Service Corporation: 95. 1962. ISSN 0041-073X. OCLC 1767684. Retrieved July 3, 2017 – via Google Books. The Commission .... has authorized the carrier to abandon a portion of line extending from valuation point 26 plus 49 near the Pentagon to ....
    (2) The Commission (1969). "Finance Docket No. 21989: Pennsylvania Railroad Company — Merger — New York Central Railroad Company: Appendix B-5: 6. Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Company". Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States (Finance Reports): March 1966 — April 1966. 327. United States Government Printing Office: 959. ISSN 0083-1530. OCLC 1768456. Retrieved October 26, 2019 – via Google Books. Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Company. — A class II railroad operating 2.69 miles of road from south of Potomac Bridge to Rosslyn, Va. This road abandoned 2.3 miles of road in 1962. It is wholly owned by the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company, a subsidiary of P.R.R.
    (3) "Rosslyn Connecting Railroad Memorabilia Value Guide". Railroad Collectables. Dale@RailroadCollectibles.com. 2014. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2017. The Rosslyn Connecting Railroad started operations in 1904 and stopped service in 1969 for a total period of operations of 65 years.
  82. ↑ Schuette, Paul (August 23, 1962). "Compromise Clears Plants for Link to Roosevelt Bridge". The Washington Post.
  83. ↑ (1) Frank IBC (July 26, 2014). "Comments". The Metro plan has changed a lot since 1968. Greater Greater Washington. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017. There used to be a rail line from Rosslyn to the Long Bridge, but that was replaced by the Blue Line.
    (2) Maps and images of the area near the former route of the Alexandria Canal at the Arlington Cemetery Station of Metrorail's Blue Line (Coordinates: 38°53′03″N 77°03′46″W / 38.884224°N 77.062888°W)
  84. ↑ (1) Feaver, Douglas B. (July 1, 1977). "Today, Metro could be U.S. model". The Washington Post. p. A1. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. With the opening today of its 12-mile-long Blue Line from National Airport to RFK Stadium, Washington's Metro subway grows from a downtown demonstration line into the spine of a regional transportation system that could rival the Capital Beltway in its effect on Washington.
    (2) "Metro History" (PDF). Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. 1977 ... July 1: Blue Line opens from National Airport to Stadium-Armory — 18 stations and 12 miles of line.
  85. ↑ (1) 1900 map showing the route of the "Washington, Alexandria & Mt. Vernon Electric R. W." within the route of the "Old Alexandria Canal" northeast of Four Mile Run and west of the Alfred Richards Brick Co. and the Morrison Brick Co.: "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia for the Virginia Title Co". Alexandria, Virginia: The Company. 1900. Retrieved October 7, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.
  86. ↑ (1) ""Transportation" marker". HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
    (2) Maps and images of the area near the former route of the Alexandria Canal at S. Eads Street and 18th Street S. (Coordinates: 38°51′27″N 77°03′11″W / 38.8574133°N 77.0530951°W)
  87. ↑ "The Mount Vernon Road". The Washington Evening Star. August 21, 1895.
  88. 1 2 "Revealing Sections of the Alexandria Canal". Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  89. ↑ "Alexandria Canal Locks". The Washington Post. July 6, 1974.
  90. ↑ "Metro Notes". The Washington Post. March 26, 1982.
  91. ↑ Hodge, Paul (June 3, 1983). "Alexandria Landowners Settle in Waterfront Suit". The Washington Post.
  92. ↑ (1) "The Alexandria Canal: Gone but Not Forgotten". Jaybird's Jottings. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
    (2) "Alexandria Canal". Alexandria Archaeology Museum. Government of the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
    (3) "Alexandria Canal and Tide Lock: Canal Center Plaza". Alexandria Sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Alexandria, Virginia: Government of the City of Alexandria. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  93. ↑ "Potomac Canal Center Completed in Virginia". The Washington Post. August 10, 1987.
  94. ↑ "Canal Center Advances". The Washington Post. February 17, 1986.
  95. ↑ "Restaurant Faces Wrecking Ball". The Washington Post. March 26, 1987.
  96. ↑ "CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS". The Washington Post. May 4, 1989.
  97. ↑ Hong, Peter (May 20, 1993). "In Alexandria, What's Past Is Prolonged". The Washington Post.
  98. ↑ "The Tale of Spa Spring" (PDF). Retrieved April 29, 2026.
  99. ↑ "Arlington Junction Park". Retrieved April 27, 2026.

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