Lockhouse 44 - Williamsport

Park Event · Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, District of Columbia, Maryland · Sep 5, 2026 · 10:00 AM–2:00 PM

Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, in all weather, lockkeepers attended to canal traffic. Lockkeepers were responsible for opening and closing the 74 lift locks along the canal. A lift lock works like a water elevator, raising or lowering a boat 8 to 10 feet. The lockkeeper was given a salary, a lockhouse, and an acre of land for livestock and a garden.

Lockhouse 44 is one of little more than a dozen surviving lock houses on the C&O Canal and remains as evidence of a bygone way of life. Harvey Brant, the last lockkeeper at Lock 44, operated the lock from 1915 - 1924. The Brant family left in 1961, decades after canal ceased operations.

Today, the lockhouse has been restored and the interior is furnished as it would have been in the 1920s. Our staff and volunteers offer free tours of the lockhouse and grounds at Lock 44. Inclement weather, including high winds, rain, and extreme heat may cause tours to be cancelled.

Source: National Park Service (public domain).