On Oct. 10, 1850, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal was completed and opened for business along its entire 184.5-mile length from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland.
Sections of the canal opened for navigation as they were completed; from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Seneca, Maryland in 1831; then to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, by 1834; to Hancock, Maryland, in 1839; and finally to Cumberland, Maryland, in 1850.
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