Canal Quarters Lockhouse 10

Construction of Lockhouse 10 started in 1828 and was completed in May 1830. The total cost was $774.73. It was built of schist and gneiss rubble (local rubble stone). It is believed that the public quarries at Little Falls, MD provided the stone for the house.

Photo (left): Westward-facing side of Lockhouse 10 in 1893. Credit: National Park Service, National Capital Region Photograph Collection (P034), Courtesy People's Archive, DC Public Library, Washington, DC.

The Lock Keepers of Lock 10

"It [Lockhouse 10] appears to have been occupied for most of its years by the Burriss [sic] family. Marshall Burriss was shown there on 1865 map, and a J.W. Burriss was living there in 1894. According to Mrs. Edith Armstrong, Locks 9 & 10 were operated in the 1900's by Victor and Virgie Hall, twins who lived in the lockhouse at Lock #10." -Michael F. Dwyer, Senior Park Historian, Maryland Historic Trust

Photo (right): Lock 10 looking westward. Records indicate this photo of the Lock 10 area was most likely taken sometime between 1910 and 1920. This photo is from the "Hicks" collection. Photo courtesy of C&O Canal National Historical Park.

The C.C.C. and Lockhouse 10

As part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s, unemployed architects were hired by the Historic American Building Survey to document the canal’s historic structures. When the U.S. Government officially purchased the canal in 1938, President Roosevelt established two Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) camps just two miles upstream from Lockhouse 10. The C.C.C. was a national program designed to provide jobs and education for unemployed men after the Great Depression, with a focus on parks development and conservation of natural resources.

Did you know that the men in the C.C.C. were sometimes referred to as New Deal workers?

Photo (right): Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, Lockhouse at Lock 10, Cabin John, Montgomery County, MD by the Historic American Building Survey. Credit: Library of Congress

Setting Up Camp in Cabin John, MD

NP-1-MD housed Company 325, and NP-2-MD housed Company 333. Together the two camps housed approximately 400 African American enrollees between the ages of 18 and 25. These young men earned $30 per week in exchange for performing manual labor along the canal by clearing debris and vegetation, gathering supplies for stone masons, grading the towpath, repairing damaged locks, and assisting with rehabilitating a few lockhouses.

Photo (right): GIS mapping showing the location of Camp NP-1-MD and NP-2-MD. Credit: Trott, 2021.

Rehabilitation of Lockhouse 10

Lockhouse 10 is one of three confirmed lockhouses along the canal that the C.C.C. had a hand in rehabilitating. "They added a new kitchen and dormers. In the as-built drawings, a bathroom should have been added in the middle of the second story, between the two bedrooms. However, today the bathroom is located in the northeast corner of the second floor at the top of the stairs. Where the bathroom should have been located in the 1939 rehabilitation, is now a closet with the HVAC unit" (Sirna, 2011).

Original hardware like door hinges were found in Lockhouse 10, and these were used to replicate hardware for other structures. Workers filled in the joints of the stonework and the exterior was specified to be whitewashed (Sinai, 2011).

Photo (left): Lockhouse 10 in 1938-1939. Photo courtesy of C&O Canal National Historical Park.

Scenic and Historic Preservation

The National Park Service (NPS) performed restorations to Lockhouse 10 in 1963. In 1971, the C&O Canal became a National Historical Park.

Lockhouse 10 was continually used to house park service employees into the 1990s.

Photo (left): Lockhouse 10 in 1975. Photo credit: Michael F. Dwyer

The furnishings in Lockhouse 10 are evocative of the 1930s time period, and the decorations interpret the era of the New Deal and the C.C.C.