USA - Bethesda, MD - Canal Lock 10

We travelled to canal lock 10, one of a series along the Potomac River. Explored a rare patch of bedrock river terrace forest and looked across the Potomac River to Virginia.
When the US federal government purchased the abandoned C&O Canal in the 1930s, it was flood-ravaged and suffering from neglect. In response to the onset of the Great Depression, the Roosevelt Administration established two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps near Carderock, Maryland, just two miles upstream from Lockhouse 10. These camps, which housed African-Americans exclusively, provided work, education, and training for hundreds of unemployed youth. Over the course of 4 years, their labor, along with workers from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the National Park Service (NPS) helped transform the C&O Canal into a resource worthy of protection and preservation. Their work set the stage for Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and later generations of conservationists to advocate successfully for the national park which now exists.