What You Can Do
Give $11 to help support the 11 Most Endangered Places.
11 Most Endangered
Monocacy Aqueduct
Year Listed: 1998
Location: Hagerstown , Maryland
Current Status: Saved
Threat: Natural Forces, Poor Public Policy
Significance
It was a wonder of 19th-century ingenuity, its seven graceful stone arches carrying the placid water--and the barge traffic--of the busy C&O Canal across the ripples of Maryland's Monocacy River. Since the canal closed in the 1920s, the aqueduct has become a magnet for hikers and cyclists on the towpath in the C&O Canal National Historical Park. But time and the elements were not kind to this engineering landmark. More than a century of floods, coupled with a chronic lack of funds for maintenance, have caused serious deterioration of the structure's stonework. The damage needs to be corrected or the Monocacy Aqueduct could collapse--cutting the C&O towpath in two and breaking an important link with America's past.
Updates
Following the listing, the National Park Service provided funding to complete an engineering design for the rehabilitation of Monocacy Aqueduct. Working with the C&O National Historical Park and others, the C&O Canal Association raised funds for preservation of the Monocacy Aqueduct, as well as a wayside exhibition that illustrates the story of this site and the preservation effort. Today, the Aqueduct is restored and interpreted for visitors.
Share your memories of this endangered place
