Lock and Lockhouse 8 at Mile 8.4 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath

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Lock and Lockhouse 8 are located at Mile 8.4 on the C&O Canal towpath. Parking for a half dozen cars is at the site. See the Locks and Lockhouses web page for an interactive location map.

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Lock 8 is the first downstream lock of seven that are within a 1.1-mile span on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, all of which are appropriately known as the Seven Locks. Many of these and others in the area were lengthened on the upstream end by ten feet to accommodate longer boats, but Lock 8 was not one of them. You can tell which locks were lengthened because the upstream gates were converted from miter gates to drop gates.

Miter gates remain on Lock 8 at Mile 8.4 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath

A miter gate has two doors that meet at an angle pointing upstream. The pressure of the downstream flowing water keeps them shut naturally. These are easily identified by their long, wooden balance beams, or levers, which are used to open and close the gate doors.

Miter gate with balance beams on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal’s Lock 2

Visitors help open the Lock 20 upstream gates by pushing the balance beam, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

A drop gate, on the other hand, is a single door that opens by falling in the upstream direction like a tailgate on a pick-up truck and closes by being hoisted back in place with mechanical gears. It cannot fall downstream because it rests against notches in the stone retaining walls of the canal. Drop gates are identified by the gears and pulleys next to the gate.

Drop gate hardware on a canal lift lock

Along with the lock itself stands Lockhouse 8. 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 whistle 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 8 is sometimes open on the weekends from May through mid-October, 10 AM to 2 PM. If visiting the house is important to you, call the park at (301) 739-4200 to confirm it is open.

Lockhouse 8 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

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