Cushwa's Warehouse - Williamsport
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Cushwa's Warehouse - Williamsport
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The striking red Cushwa Warehouse sits on the Cushwa Turning basin's edge, creating a vivid reflection on the C&O Canal's Williamsport, Maryland section.
The Cushwa Coal and Brick Warehouse, built between 1790-1810, predates the C&O Canal. Sometime after the Canal opened, Victor Cushwa and his partner Charles Embry, purchased the warehouse. By the 1880s, Cushwa was the sole owner. The Cushwa Warehouse was used to store coal, brick, iron, cement, and plaster. It operated as a warehouse until the 1970s.
The Cushwa Turning Basin was one of the few places along the C&O Canal that canal boats could completely turn around. During the Canal's heyday, boatmen would have their cargo boats lined up and down the Canal waiting to load and unload cargo at the Cushwa Warehouse where they were able to pull right up to the warehouse doors.
The building up the hill is a Trolley Barn. The barn was a power generating station for the trolley line that ran between Williamsport and Hagerstown. The trolley began service in 1896. Steam-powered, the station drew water from the Conococheqgue Creek to generate electricity. The trolley line grew so quickly that it only lasted a year here before building a larger power station in Hagerstown to replace it. Cushwa, who had initially donated the land to the trolley company, took over the station for additional warehouse space.
Today, this is the Williamsport Visitor Center for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
Copyright 2020 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
October 9th, 2020
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