Canal Walk Series: Tidewater Connection Locks Traditional Cache
JMUDuke95: I no longer work downtown and this one has been difficult to maintain.
Canal Walk Series: Tidewater Connection Locks
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the third and last of my Canal Walk Series. The cache is located at the heart of the Richmond Canal Walk and offers a historical lesson on the James River and Kanawha Canal Connection Locks.
The James River and Kanawha Canal was completed as far as Buchanan in 1854. The canal provided a continuous navigable waterway from Tidewater to Buchanan, a distance of 197 miles. Consisting of ninety lift locks and a total lift of seven hundred and twenty-eight feet, traffic on the canal flourished to its peak in the late 1850's.
In 1854 the Tidewater Connection Locks linked the canal basin to the Jame River tidewater below Richmond. The system contained five granite locks, each measuring 15 x 100 feet. This resulted in a flight of water stairs that lowered boats a total of 69 feet within a distance of 3½ blocks. A sixth lock, the Great Ship Lock, was located just 1½ miles east near Pear Street. Traffic on the canal peaked in the late 1850's following completion of the Tidewater Connection Locks.
With the expansion of railroads the canal suffered heavily, and in 1880 was sold to the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad Company, who built tracks along the towpaths of the canal. That company was sold to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company, which is now CSX.The James River and Kanawha Canal Connection Locks has been registered as a Virginia Historic Landmark. The plaque noting this is located on the East Byrd sidewalk near the cache location.
This cache is in an unique container with only space for the log. BYOP. Please beware of muggles in this busy area of the Canal Walk. Street parking (metered) is available on East Canal St. as well a parking garage on Canal and 12th.
Congrats to trk0602 for FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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Treasures
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