National Waterway: A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal 1769-1985 (2nd ed.)

This is a record of struggle -- financial, legal, & political -- interwoven with the evolution of transportation in the U.S. Built in 1825-29 & operated as a lock canal until the end of WW1, the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal became a free, sea-level waterway in 1927. Less than 14 miles in length, it was strategically employed to protect Washington during the Civil War when northern railway & land communications were cut off. U.S. coastal shipping later used the inland waterway during WW2 to evade German subs. This new edition brings the story up to date in the 1980s. The canal has been transformed into an inland waterway served by a computerized traffic-control system.