Lock 37 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Mile 66.9

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Lock and Lockhouse 37 are located at Mile 66.9 on the C&O Canal towpath. Mount Lock Canal Road supposedly runs right to the house where there is a parking area. However, the status of this road is unknown to me, and I never saw a parking area. If this doesn’t work out, the next closest parking area is at the Antietam Creek Aqueduct, and from there Lock 37 is 2.5 miles (one way) downstream. See the Locks and Lockhouses web page for an interactive location map.

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The masonry portions of Lock 37 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal are still in excellent condition, but no wooden parts remain (the wooden footbridge is modern). However, there is some of the metal gate hardware still attached to one of the stone walls. This is not rare, but even metal hardware does not survive on all locks along the canal.

Lock 37 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Mile 66.9

Gate hardware on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal’s Lock 37

Between the lock and the lockhouse is a ditch running parallel to the canal that is now filled with grass and other weeds. This is the sluice. 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.

Sluice of Lock 37 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Along with the lock itself stands Lockhouse 37. 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. Those who tended multiple locks got extra money per lock, up to two. The locks had to be very close together for the C&O Canal Company to assign multiple locks to one person.

Operating the lock was a year-round, 24-hour-a-day job. When a canal boat approached, the captain would blow a horn to notify the lockkeeper. If it were nighttime, somebody had to wake up and go to work. Of course that’s the benefit of being a family man—your kids had to get up for the late night and early morning arrivals!

Lockhouse 37 appears to be in good condition, but it is not open to the public.

Lockhouse 37 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

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