Lockhouse 6 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

The C&O Canal Trust has restored seven original lockhouses within Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and has made them available to the public for overnight accommodations. Three of the lockhouses are just as they were in the early 1800s: no electricity, no heat, no air conditioning, no water. It’s just like camping, but inside a house. One lockhouse has electricity and heat only, while three others have been fully modernized with electricity, central heat and air, and modern bathrooms with showers.

Each lockhouse is furnished according to a particular time period, ranging from the 1830s to the 1950s. However, while all have furniture, including beds, linens are not provided. You must bring your own towels, blankets, and pillows (I suggest sleeping bags if you have them). All houses are equipped with pots, pans, and dishes, though in the rustic houses you must cook outside on a provided grill (all houses have outdoor grills). The houses with electricity have stoves and ovens. All houses have an outdoor picnic table and an inside dining table.

The lockhouses are scattered along the C&O Canal from near Georgetown to just north of Williamsport. Five have parking lots next to the house, one has parking within a couple minutes’ walk of the house, and one has parking a half mile away.

I stayed in Lockhouse 22 and Lockhouse 49. The former has no utilities and the latter has electricity only. I purposely avoided the modernized houses because I wanted to experience a night close to how those living on the canal back in the 1800s spent every night of their lives. I stayed in Lockhouse 22 on a hot and miserable day and had to deal with mosquitoes, and while I can’t imagine many people wanting to pay good money to put up with such hardships, spending one night to learn what people of the past had to deal with was worth every penny I spent, every drop of sweat I spilled, and every mosquito bite I endured. Of course, if the weather is nice—early spring or late fall—heat and bugs are not an issue. I stayed in Lockhouse 49 in late September and the weather was perfect, so I can’t complain about a thing.

For exterior photos of all houses and a detailed review and interior photos of the two houses I stayed in, check out the following web pages. For complete details on staying at a lockhouse and to make a reservation, visit the C&O Canal Trust’s Canal Quarters web page.

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