History of the C&O Canal Association

The C&O Canal Association arose out of efforts to preserve the canal from a proposed plan to build a scenic parkway over the line of the abandoned waterway. In 1954, Supreme Court Justice and environmental activist William O. Douglas led a hike on the canal to draw attention to the efforts to protect it from development. He challenged newspaper editors who favored the parkway to hike with him. Those from the Washington Post accompanied Douglas on portions of the hike and changed their view on the parkway idea. Only nine people completed the entire hike with Douglas. They were known as the Immortal Nine. Douglas would return nearly annually in the spring for reunion hikes. The Association’s annual spring Douglas Hike commemorates the original 1954 hike.

The C&O Canal Association emerged from Douglas’s organization to protect the canal. Members from local C&O Canal Clubs, who also advocated for the preservation of the canal, quickly joined. Initially, the Association was a closed group. The organization only admitted new members upon nomination from existing members and subsequent vote. Before long membership was opened to those who supported its mission and wished to join.

For more than 70 years the Association has supported the preservation and protection of the canal by

• volunteer labor of its members,
• funding projects and events,
• protesting developments that threatened the park,
• providing historical research results to all via our website