Maryland 2018 - Day 5, The End
/I have ended up with a third post to finish out this day (and the Maryland trip). After visiting the beautiful old houses in Cumberland (this post) I went in search of more of the C & O Canal and planned to do some hiking before getting back to the motel in Frederick.
I shared photos of other parts of the canal in this post and the first post about this Maryland trip. This is the lockhouse at Lock 75, the westernmost lock on the C & O Canal.
Turtles sunning themselves in the canal near Lock 75.
I drove along some of the roads in this area looking for more places to explore and found Locks 73 and 74.
Notice the railroad over the canal in the previous two photos. The railroad and the canal were competitors for business during the era of the canal. Repeated flooding and competition from the railroad were the reasons for the demise of the canal system in 1924. 
I saw a flash of this animal as he ran under the bridge. This is the first groundhog that I've seen.
I drove on and came to a sign for the Pawpaw Tunnel. From Wikipedia: "The Paw Paw Tunnel is a 3,118-foot-long canal tunnel on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Allegany County, Maryland. Located near Paw Paw, West Virginia, it was built to bypass the Paw Paw Bends, a six-mile stretch of the Potomac Rier containing five horseshoe-shaped bends. The town, the bends, and the tunnel take their name from the pawpaw trees that grow prolifically along nearby ridges...Built using more than sixteen million bricks, the tunnel has been described as the greatest engineering marvel along he C & O Canal national Historical Park." 
I had read on line that the tunnel was closed but thought that I'd be able to see the canal and walk along the towpath. This photo seems typical of much of the length of the towpath--a beautiful hardwood forest and a broad path to walk. One thing that I noticed everywhere was the number of birds. I didn't see all of them--but there was quite a chorus in the woods. 
So I got to this sign and decided to take the detour.
Wooden planks crossed the canal.
The trail wound up into the woods.
This overlooks the town of Paw Paw, West Virginia.
Viola pedata, Birdsfoot Violet.
After hiking what seemed quite far into the woods I came back down to the canal and the towpath and saw this sign. From the looks of the terrain I assumed that is where the tunnel is even though the first sign had said it was open.
I walked the other direction, and saw this lock. The path continued around a bend.
This was confusing. I assumed that there was a reason to make a detour and wasn't sure if I continued to walk along here (towards where the detour sign had been) that I wouldn't come to an impassable spot. Why else would there have been that sign? Or was I completely turned around? It was getting late in the day and my mind started to play tricks. Are there bears in these woods? I'm all by myself and no one knows where I am or will know if I don't return. My phone battery is almost dead. There was no cell service, but I wouldn't even have a flashlight.
So I decided to turn around and go back the way I had come. 
No bears, but there were a lot of squirrels.
Crossing the canal.
I was disappointed to not find the tunnel, but this was a beautiful place to hike and a good end to the day. I drove the beautiful Country Roads of West Virginia (I want to break into song here) back to the freeway. 
I hit this point at dusk.
It was dark by the time I got to the freeway and I got back to Frederick at about 9:30 after a long day. That was it. I flew home the next day.
...to Cumberland where I finally found parking away from the touristy city center and I walked ...
...to the Visitor Center. At the Visitor Center I asked about walking on the towpath. The person there told me that I would find more attractive areas away from town but while I was in town I might want to walk do a self-guided tour of the Victorian Historic District on Washington Street. So I headed out of the Center and started my walk, first seeing a few more of points of interest near the river. 
Mules played a big role in the history of the canal. In the last post I mentioned 3000 mules on the canal. Each boat had a small stable for the mules at one end and the living quarters for the boat operator and his family at the other. The rest was cargo (lots of coal). Two mules worked on the towpath while the other two were in the stable.
The beginning of the canal system contrasts with modern transportation routes and the old buildings of the city. 
This is the last remaining structure of what was once the largest cleaning and dyeing establishment in the U.S. and a major employer in Cumberland. I think that it is now apartments.
This is the Allegany County Court House build in 1893-94. 
Here is a view inside the Courthouse.
This building has housed the Board of Education since 1936 but was built in the 1860's for William Walsh who served two terms in the House of Representatives. 
This is the stained glass above the door. 
The rest of these photos are in no particular order, but I walked several blocks and over forty of the houses are listed in the Self-Guided Walk Into History. The house above was built for an attorney in the late 1890's.
Built around 1890.
This one was built in 1890.
Some of these houses weren't listed on the Tour Guide or I just don't remember which they are.
1880.
Built in 1855, now the Woman's Civic Club House.
This house was built in the early 1880's and known as "The Little House because is is the smallest house on Washington Street. The brochure says that this house "features a beautifully curved staircase and a Colonial Revival fireplace with a bullrush design in cast iron".