The C&O Canal Association hosted the 2021 World Canals Conference in Hagerstown August 30-September 2, 2021. We were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the creation of the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

We attracted about 100 people from around the country. (Pandemic-related travel restrictions prevented international visitors from attending.)

You can read the conference program.

Our speakers’ presentations are available in PDF format below.

WCC 2022 Leipzig

The World Canals Conference 2022
-Ulrich Hörning
City of Leipzig, Deputy Mayor of General Services

See promotional video

History and Context

Albert Gallatin, Father of American Infrastructure
-Rod Mackler

Hall’s Rifle Works and the Shenandoah Canal:
A Fraught Relationship in the Age of Waterpower
-David Gilbert

Inland Waterways and Engineering Change

“Wreck”-reation or Rē-Creation ?
A Comparative Tale of Two Michigan Inland Lake Communities
-Stacy Leroy Daniels

Recent Engineering & Construction along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
-Joseph Reed

Trails to Recreation and Education

Trailway through Time: The D&L and National Canal Museum Merge History and Recreation
-Martha Capwell Fox and Daphne Mayer

Canal Classrooms Education Program
-Hollie Lynch

Technology and Education

The Delaware and Hudson Canal-An Underappreciated American Treasure
-Cliff Robinson, Jr.
Visit the D&H Canal Historical Society YouTube channel.

Civilian Conservation Corps on the C&O Canal
-Joshua Trott

History and Context II

C&O Canal Company’s 1890 Bankruptcy Case that Established a 50-Year Trusteeship
-Karen Gray

The State of Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad Initiative
-Robert Kapsch

Maryland Tourism Initiatives

Maximizing Maryland’s Tourism Opportunities of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
-Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, Dan Spedden and Abbie Ricketts

Canal Place, Past and Present
-Deidre Ritchie

Technology and Tourism

Geospatial Technologies and Historic Canals Today:
Enhancing Education, Recreation, and Tourism for End Users with GIS
-John Ward

The Unique Tourism-Focused Initiatives of the C&O Canal Trust
-Aidan Barnes

Pandemic Programming and Volunteers

Keeping the Doors Open for History: Interpretation & Adaptation during COVID-19
-Daniel Wiles

Building Capacity Through Volunteer Partnerships
-Emily Hewitt

Near and Far:
Local Material Culture and German Reforms

More than Whiskey and Flour:
Shopping in an 1850s Canal Town
-Blyth McManus

Four Great Reformes in 500 Years
-Elke Witt

Trails to Creative Programing

The World is Your Museum:
Programming Outside the Bounds of Your Historic Site
-David Brooks and Derrick Pratt
Visit the Erie Canal Museum YouTube channel

Four Pillars of the GAP and Canal Towpath Trails:
History, Scenery, Quality, and Variety
-Doug Riegner

Conservation and the Natural Enviroment

The Capital’s Corridor:
From Purveyor of Goods to Conservation Corridor
-Joel Cohen
Go with the Flow video

“Champion” Canals: Coming by it naturally!
-Ralph Buglass

Tourism and the Small Town

The C&O Canal as the Focus for History and Tourism in a small Western Maryland Town
-Ralph Salvagno and Tracy Salvagno

The Canal Towns Partnership:
Ten Towns, Six Counties, Two States
-Abbie Ricketts

The Impact of Climate Change on Inland Waterways

PIANC and its Role Addressing Climate Change Challenges to Inland Waterways (panel discussion)
-by William Miles, Brian Joyner and Burton Suedel