It’s National Parks Week, and the C&O Canal Trust is partnering with the National Park Service to give visitors a chance to spend the night in a historic lockhouse along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
Lockhouse 8, located near mile marker 8 in the Cabin John area of the park, is part of the C&O Canal Trust’s Canal Quarters program, a historic preservation and education initiative that welcomes visitors to stay overnight in renovated historic dwellings along the canal.
The C&O Canal National Historical Park stretches 184.5 miles from Georgetown, D.C. through Montgomery County to Cumberland in western Maryland. Lockhouse 8 is the latest of eight historic properties managed by the Trust to welcome overnight guests through its Canal Quarters program.
“This is our most visited national historic park, not just in Maryland, but in the nation,” Redding said.
The C&O Canal Trust’s board chair boasts that Lockhouse 8 is one of the “cutest little lockhouses in the whole system!”
Friends and supporters and lovers of nature who frequent the park gushed at the idea of having the opportunity to stay overnight at Thursday’s grand opening of the newly renovated Lockhouse 8.
“Tell me this isn’t one of the cutest lockhouses in the whole system!,” said Francis Grant-Suttie, board chair of the C&O Canal Trust. “This was my running route for 40 years … it’s like an old friend of mine.”
It’s also a place with the seal of presidential approval.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated the home as housing for National Park Service employees when he declared the C&O Canal a national monument in 1961 with a presidential proclamation.
“This week the National Park Service celebrated its 110th year on the 25th and the C&O canal its 55th year,” said Ed Wenschhof, acting superintendent for the C&O Canal National Historic Park.
A touch of history frames the decor of the newly renovated Lockhouse 8.
And while the home itself looks cozy, the park service does note that spending the night isn’t a “glamping” experience. Lockhouse 8 is what they call a “half-amenity house,” meaning it features electricity and heat, but no indoor plumbing. Outhouses are located nearby and serviced once per week March through December, according to the Trust.
Beyond amenities, it offers the public a chance to have a first-hand experience with what life was like for dwellers of this home a half century ago, which is the real purpose of the overnight stay initiative, said Preservation Maryland’s Redding.
“The point is to engage young minds … and that’s what the whole Canal quarters program was,” Redding said.
Booking a stay at Lockhouse 8 is available for up to eight overnight guests for three nights maximum. The cost ranges from $90-135. For more information on the Canal Quarters program, visit https://www.canaltrust.org/philanthropic/canal-quarters/
A cast iron skillet equips the kitchen of Lockhouse 8 for overnight guests ready for mealtime.
