Seneca Lock: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park, National Park Service
Temkin M. 2010. Seneca Lock: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 975434. NPS National Capital Regional Office. National Capital Regional Office/CLI Database
Seneca Lock is a component landscape of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (C&O NHP). The inventory unit consists of about 30 acres and is located at the mouth of Seneca Creek in Montgomery County, Maryland. The northern boundary of the project area is the northern boundary of the C&O Canal lands owned in fee. Its eastern boundary is several hundred feet east of the canal basin located adjacent to Lockhouse 24 at Mile 22.80. The western boundary is at Mile 23.65, the location of a section of berm-side sandstone retaining walls. These walls are located about three-tenths of a mile west of Culvert 35 (Bull Run Creek Culvert). The National Register nomination was accepted by the Keeper on August 9, 1979. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is listed on the National Register under Criteria A and C for its architecture, engineering, commerce, transportation, conservation and military history. The period of significance is listed as 1828–1924. The period of significance for the Seneca Lock component landscape is 1828 to 1924 – the years that span the canal’s construction, operation, decline and final closure. Like the rest of the canal, Seneca Lock reflects the ascent of canal-based transportation and its ultimate decline in nineteenth-century America. Therefore, the landscape and its events have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history (National Register Criterion A). Illustrative of vernacular and industrial stone construction, the canal landscape also contains individual resources that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction (Criterion C). This CLI finds that the Seneca Lock cultural landscape retains integrity for its period of significance, 1828-1924 with all seven aspects of integrity represented. While there have been some changes to the landscape and the loss of some features, the overall integrity of Seneca Lock is high and the landscape invokes the historic significance of the property. Although Seneca Lock exhibits strong integrity, the cultural landscape is in fair condition. This is largely due to the condition of the ruins and constructed water features that date to the period of significance. A major impact on the condition of the landscape is the state of the Seneca Aqueduct. Seriously damaged in 1971, this key structure, while stable needs to be repaired. Deferred maintenance has left other Seneca Lock structures in fair to poor condition and stabilization and repairs are needed.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Temkin, Martha
- Date of Issue
- 2010-09-17
- Publisher
- NPS National Capital Regional Office
- Units
- CHOH , NCR
- Keywords
- Architecture, C&O Canal, Canals, Commerce, Culvert, Degradation of Natural Environment, Engineering, Expanding Science and Technology, Outdoor Recreation, Potomac River, Rileys Lock, Seneca Aqueduct, Seneca Creek, Seneca Historic District, Seneca Landing, Shipping and Transportation by Water, Stone Construction, The Industrial Revolution, trade, Transportation, Vernacular