{"id":666,"date":"2024-12-11T12:48:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T17:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/?p=666"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:32:19","slug":"cement-and-canals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/potomac-river-and-enviorns\/cement-and-canals\/","title":{"rendered":"Cement and Canals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The C&O Canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac River was one of many great projects which allowed the United States to grow and prosper. Starting in 1828, the canal brought coal, wheat, stone and many other commodities from the Potomac River basin and its tributaries down to Georgetown and Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But great projects such as canals require, among other commodities, building stone. Fortunately, along the Potomac there were many sources of that stone for example the Johson Quarries for the red and white quartzite which built the beautiful Monocacy Aqueduct and the red sandstone from Seneca quarry used in many locks on the C&O Canal and all over Washington, DC including the Smithsonian Castle. For a fuller discussion of these strategically located quarries check out the posts on this website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been great fun over the last few years to explore these historical quarries along with my friend and fellow historian Jon Wolz, but yesterday our search was for something even more mundane than stone. We drove to West Virginia searching for the ruins of the great cement works of Shepherdstown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canals require a cement which will not dissolve in water, so called hydraulic cement. To produce this cement limestone deposits with a high percentage of clay are needed. In 1828 a search for such limestone proved successful. Deposits were found right along the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and soon a cement industry sprang up along the banks of the river. On June 23rd, 1829, the first bushels of hydraulic cement arrived at the Monocacy Aqueduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruins of the old cement factory are located a few miles down river from Shepherdstown along River Road. There are multiple lime kilns, a few buildings and at least two quarries in the area. The whole place is quite evocative if not a bit eerie as you imagine the hundreds of quarrymen, kiln keepers and boatmen going about their hot and dirty business joking, swearing and all the while their bosses yelling out orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only across the river is Sharpsburg, Maryland where the in 1862, Antietam, the deadliest one-day battle in American military history took place. It was also the sufficient victory President Lincoln needed to release his Emancipation Proclamation. As a result, there are historical signs relating to this great battle everywhere. As you listen closely for the ancient sounds of the early 19th century workmen, they may be drowned out by the cries and screams of the over 22,000 casualties of the mid-19th century battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-end-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some links you may find interesting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.jeffersoncountyhlc.org\/…\/botelers-cement-mill\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.jeffersoncountyhlc.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Potomac-Mills.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Monocacy Aqueduct’s requirement for hydraulic cement precipitated the construction of the Shepherdstown cement works.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The remains of the cement mill which was powered by water from the river.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You can see here the canal which brought the river water through the mill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The remains of the dam which raised the level of the river sufficiently for a mill race to power the mill. You are seeing the original stone from 1829. The top of the dam was wooden and that is long gone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The giant lime kiln.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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John Wolz stands on top of the giant lime kiln to give you an idea of its size.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jefferson County provides a suitable admonition regarding the ruins.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The “battery” of kilns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Admirable brickwork.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The larger of the two limestone quarries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You can see here how the limestone (tan rock) was removed in an orderly process.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Proof of limestone is its reaction to muriatic acid. See the bubbles?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Me at the quarry to give a sense of scale. Notice the tan limestone deposits behind and above me.



















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The C&O Canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac River was one of many great projects which allowed the United States to grow and prosper. Starting in 1828, the canal brought coal, wheat, stone and many other commodities from the Potomac River basin and its tributaries down to Georgetown and Washington. But great projects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"1","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-potomac-river-and-enviorns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":682,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potomacrocks.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}