Sandy Hook, the C&O and B&O
The locks of the C&O Canal between Seneca and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., were constructed between 1830 and 1833, competing for land with the railroad, which was extended from Point of Rocks to Sandy Hook between 1832 and 1834.
"The local folklore is that (Sandy Hook) was probably one of the little riverside settlements that were put together to house the railroad and canal workers in the 1830’s. The original inhabitants probably were Irish immigrants recruited to help build the canal with axes, picks and shovels.
This theory is consistent with J. Thomas Scharf's "History of Western Maryland," which says only two houses existed in Sandy Hook around 1830, including that of an early settler named Mr. Grow, but lists a population of 373 when the book was published in 1882. Today, residents guess there are about 150 people in town.
Scharf's history says the name Sandy Hook came from a quicksand pool where a teamster lost his team on the road to Frederick City. Whether or not this actually happened, residents say the name must have had something to do with the river's sandy shore near its hook-like bend.
Before it was Sandy Hook, the town was known as Keep Tryst, after the Keep Tryst Iron Furnace, where Harpers Ferry historian John King said iron ore was melted down for the foundry at Antietam Ironworks, which operated prior to the Civil War.
The C&O Canal continued commercial operations until 1924, when it succumbed to a flood and competition from the faster, more reliable B&O Railroad.
Today, Sandy Hook has only one store, Sandy Hook Grocery, within the town itself, and gets its mail from Knoxville in Frederick County, Md.
This micro cache is hidden in the only location to get off the road passing through the town. Locating the Bus turn around will lead you to the cache you seek.
Congratulations to Gr8caches for the FTF !!!!!