Hands-on exhibit focuses on canals

April 20, 2009

WILLIAMSPORT -- "Building America's Canals," an exhibit organized by the National Canal Museum, opened Friday in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Trolley Barn Building, at the Cushwa Basin in Williamsport.

The traveling exhibit blends science and history through hands-on activities that allow children and adults to experience canal engineering firsthand, according to a press release.

The exhibit will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Oct. 11. Admission is free.

When the exhibit was in Williamsport in 2008, more than 11,000 visitors, including about 3,500 school students, visited it, the release says.

Elements of the exhibit include a chance to build your own canal, construct an aqueduct, design and operate lift locks, be your own boat captain, build a suspension bridge, and operate cranes used to load and unload canal boats.

Exhibits also provide historical background on the C&O Canal and the role the canal played in the development of canal towns like Williamsport.

C&O Canal Superintendent Kevin Brandt said in the release that "Williamsport is a classic canal town. It is only appropriate that this exhibit, 'Building America's Canals,' will be displayed in the historic Trolley Barn in Cushwa Basin in Williamsport. I am thrilled that all Washington County fourth-grade classes are participating in the Park Ranger curriculum-based education programs associated with the exhibit."

A number of elementary school classes have already scheduled field trips to visit the exhibit and participate in Ranger programs. Spaces are still available for school groups to see the exhibit.

Teachers may call 301-582-0813 to schedule a trip.

The C&O Canal Trust, in partnership with the C&O Canal National Historical Park, has provided support for the "Building America's Canals" exhibit, as have a number of local governments and businesses.

D.M. Bowman Trucking transported the exhibit from Ohio to Williamsport.

For more information, contact the Williamsport visitor center at 301-582-0813.

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