The Brunswick Railroad Museum and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park Visitor Center exist side by side today, just as the transportation modes did when first arriving here in 1834. However, the early relationship between canal and railroad was stormy at best.The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal was a continuation of George Washington’s vision for a vital route west to help unify the country and to benefit the Nation’s Capitol. Not willing to accept trade superiority over their neighbors in Washington D.C., the merchants of Baltimore began researching a new transportation route to supplant the legendary National Road.
After discovering that a canal connection from Baltimore to the Potomac River (eventually leading to the Ohio River Valley) was financially impractical, they decided to build a road on rails. Ground was broken for both the C&O Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad on the same day, July 4, 1828. This officially began the larger competition, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and race to the west. The B&O Railroad arrived here in 1834 and simply passed through, leaving only a tool shed and a small section gang. The canal had a much greater impact on the town, as the “Grand Old Ditch” afforded work for many residents over the next fifty years.
The B&O would reign supreme when it constructed major freight yards here in the 1890’s. From that time on, the C&O Canal declined while the B&O Railroad grew considerably and quickly turned Brunswick into a railroad boomtown.
(Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels) Includes location, directions, 5 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
