For an unusually quirky overnight stay, try the Canal Quarters program, which restores lockhouses along the C&O and rents them out. Canal Quarters just opened its newest, Lockhouse 8. Here’s a look.
The history: During the canal’s 1870s heyday, mule-powered boats navigated 74 locks, which were tended by lockkeepers living in houses alongside them. Only 26 lockhouses remain today. The C&O Canal Trust launched the Canal Quarters program in 2009, and there are now eight available to stay in.
The house: Built in 1830, Lock-house 8 housed generations of keepers and, briefly, a park ranger in the 1960s. After decades of dormancy, it served as the Potomac Conservancy’s River Center in the 2000s but has been empty for years. Each of the Canal Quarters lockhouses captures an era in the canal’s history. Lockhouse 8 evokes the 1960s park-ranger period. In the kitchen, chrome chairs upholstered in red vinyl surround a Formica table across from a vintage Hoosier cabinet.
The stay: Depending on the season, rates are $90 to $135 a night. (Book at canaltrust.org. ) The 725-square-foot house has electricity, heat, and room for eight, but it’s rustic: Bring your own linens and don’t expect wi-fi. There’s also (yikes!) no indoor plumbing. Jug water is provided, and outhouses are nearby.
