Upstream end of Lock 59 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Lock 59 is located at Mile 146.5 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath. It is not accessible by vehicle. The closest parking area is at the Fifteenmile Creek Aqueduct, and from there it is 5.6 miles upstream. See the Locks and Lockhouses web page for an interactive location map.
Lock 59 is one of eight locks on a remote 15-mile stretch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal between the Paw Paw Tunnel and the Fifteenmile Creek Aqueduct that has no vehicle access. Most of these locks are only seen by those hiking or biking part or the entirety of the C & O Canal.
Locks on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal were typically made using cut stones that fit tightly together with mortar and had a very finished look. However, by the time the locks on the upper end of the canal were constructed in the early 1840s, the C&O Canal Company was in financial trouble, and it was evident that the railroad was going to put the canal out of business. To save money, locks 58 through 71 were constructed from rough, uncut stones with large gaps between them, which was not going to hold water very well. To combat leakage, a wood lining was attached to the walls. In most cases this didn’t work that well, and starting in 1891, many of the locks had the wood replaced with concrete. That does not appear to be the case with Lock 59 since the uncut stones still remain visible. For reference, compare the two photos below, the first being Lock 59 and the second a lock that was repaired with concrete, Lock 58.
Rough stone walls of Lock 59 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Cement walls of Lock 58 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The wood lining has long since rotted away on most of the composite locks, which makes Lock 59 somewhat special because it still has a few sticks attached. Furthermore, if you look closely, you can see the bolts that held the wood to the stone.
Remnants of the wood liner on the wall of Lock 59 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Another feature of Lock 59 that is not seen on many locks along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is the sluice, which is a ditch that runs parallel to the lock. When the upstream gates are closed, the sluice allows water to flow around the lock instead of backing up into a pool of excess water that could spill over the banks of the canal or put additional pressure on the lock gates. The water empties back into the canal just past the downstream gate. All locks had sluices, but today many have been filled in with dirt or are covered in vegetation and hard to spot.
Remains of the Lock 59 sluice on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
On the other side of the towpath is the foundation of the Lock 59 lockhouse. A lockhouse is the residence of the man who is hired to operate the lock. In addition to a yearly salary, he and his family—almost all lockkeepers were family men—lived in the company provided lockhouse and had use of an acre of land for farming.
Foundation of Lockhouse 59 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
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Last updated on June 29, 2026
