1845-1886 7-Mile Alexandria Canal

Lock #1: (Satellite) Southern terminus

Lock #4: (Satellite, just east of Pitt Street and a little north of Montgomery Street.)

The northern terminus was the Aqueduct Bridge that connected with the C&O Canal in Georgetown.

AlexandriaVA, p1

I spent a lot of time trying to find Lock #1. I even got the oldest topo map that I could find. Nothing made sense. I finally discovered that North is on the right-hand side of the above map and that the four locks were between Montgomery and First Streets. With the correct orientation of the map, I quickly found Canal Center, which is a preservation of Lock #1 or the Tidal Lock.

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Lock #1

Satellite

 

AlexandriaVA_revealing
"Archaeological excavations of the tidelock and basin, 1982, facing east."

Jason Gallo, Nov 2023

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Lock #4

Alexandria Archaeology Museum posted
Introducing Canal Fact Friday! This winter, archaeologists uncovered the partial remains of Lock No. 4 and the third basin of the Alexandria Canal on the 900 Block of North Pitt Street. The Alexandria Canal opened in 1845 as a connector between Alexandria's waterfront and the C&O Canal in Georgetown. It was not an easy feat to keep it open - it was expensive to maintain and wasn't reliable thanks to fluctuations in water level, mechanical breaks, winter freezes, and disruption during the Civil War. When the Aqueduct Bridge that connected the Alexandria Canal to Georgetown broke in 1886, it cut off direct access to the C&O forcing the permanent closure of the Alexandria Canal. Read the latest canal updates at alexandriava.gov/go/6378.

AlexandriaVA_revealing
"Uncovering the canal lock, in progress, in December 2024, facing northeast. Two concrete footers of the 1980s building can be seen on the right (or south) side of the photo. "