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One of locks round the Falls of the Potomac canalling to Harpers Ferry - projected & executed by Genl. Washington in early life as surveyor – Historic Reproduction

One of locks round the Falls of the Potomac canalling to Harpers Ferry - projected & executed by Genl. Washington in early life as surveyor, [ca. 1828] — historic drawing
One of locks round the Falls of the Potomac canalling to Harpers Ferry - projected & executed by Genl. Washington in early life as surveyor, [ca. 1828]. Historic drawing from the West Virginia collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic drawing of One of locks round the Falls of the Potomac canalling to Harpers Ferry - projected & executed by Genl. Washington in early life as surveyor. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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One of locks round the Falls of the Potomac canalling to Harpers Ferry - projected & executed by Genl. Washington in early life as surveyor

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Drawn in pencil around 1828, this view shows one of the locks cut around the Great Falls of the Potomac, where boats had to be raised past the rocky rapids on the way toward Harpers Ferry. The title credits George Washington with projecting the work in his early years as a surveyor, but the canal and its locks were built later under the Patowmack Company, which he supported after the Revolution. Such works aimed to open the river to trade with the interior, and the drawing records engineering that was still new in the early republic. It belongs to the John Rubens Smith collection at the Library of Congress.

Created / published[ca. 1828]
Medium1 drawing : pencil.
GenrePencil works 1820-1840.Drawings 1820-1840.
NotesForms part of: John Rubens Smith Collection (Library of Congress).
SubjectsLocks (Hydraulic engineering)--Great Falls of the Potomac (Md. and Va.)--1820-1840. Canals--Great Falls of the Potomac (Md. and Va.)--1820-1840.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,667 × 3,786 px · prints to 16 × 13 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-220707

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