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  • The Potomac Canal: George Washington and the Waterway West
  • August Nigro
The Potomac Canal: George Washington and the Waterway West. By Robert Kapsch. (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Pp. 373.)

Robert Kapsch's book traces the rise and fall of the Potomac Canal, which connected the port city of Georgetown Maryland, to the agriculturally rich Appalachian frontier during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Kapsch points out that, while overshadowed by its more profitable successors, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Potomac Canal played an instrumental role in the nation's early transportation revolution, a role that has often been ignored. To correct this, Kapsch traces the development of the canal, from the earliest plans to use the Potomac as a conduit to the west in the mid-eighteenth century, to its construction at the turn of the century, and to its eventual demise in the late 1820s.

Begun in 1785 and eclipsed by the C & O Canal in 1828, the Potomac Canal's utility as a transportation conduit was relatively short-lived. Regardless of its eventual failure as a profitable navigation system, Kapsch is correct in pointing out its unique role in the early nation's history. One of the most interesting points of the book is showing the close connection between the Potomac Company and George Washington, one of its most fervent boosters. Beginning with his early travels up the Potomac during the buildup to the French and Indian War, and continuing into his presidential administration, Washington pressed to use the Potomac as a gateway to the West. The story of Washington's enchantment with the river has been told before, most recently in Joel Achenbach's The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004). But Kapsch broadens his narrative to move beyond this well-told tale.

By looking at the development of one of the earliest canal systems created in the United States, Kapsch does an excellent job highlighting the difficulties and demands in the nation's early canal construction. Relying heavily on the work of more experienced English engineers, the Potomac Company built what would prove to be an inadequate system of sluice [End Page 111] channels to bypass the river's treacherous rapids and falls. Once completed, the canal was mainly used to ship flour and coal to the port city of George-town. Limited to descending navigation during the spring and summer months, the Potomac Canal never fulfilled Washington's vision of a viable gateway to the west. As Kapsch states, "it would be left to later navigation and transportation systems to [build] on the successes and missteps of the visionary, but flawed, Potomac Company" (301).

Kapsch does an admirable job detailing the rise and fall of the Potomac Canal. This narrative is greatly aided by the rich illustrations found throughout the work. Beautifully illustrated with architectural drawings of the canal and numerous paintings of the surrounding countryside, Kapsch's book serves as a rich source of primary material on both the early history of canal building in America and the Potomac River valley. The Potomac Canal provides an excellent reference guide to anyone interested in the history of American canal building in general or the history of the Potomac River valley in particular.

August Nigro
Atlantic Cape Community College
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