A Canal Defines its Neighborho

The canal in front of you is a section of a navigation system that extended 50 miles up the Rappahannock River. The downstream terminus was a turning basin, in the block to your right. Several industries were established nearby, some that benefited from the canal’s navigation function and others from its waterpower. <br><br> In the 1880s, R.T. Knox and Brother moved their Sumac Extract Works to an existing mill at this turning basin, after they converted their mill on the lower canal to an electric generating plant. Newly available electricity freed industries from having to locate along waterways and by the end of World War I, the Knox Brothers enterprise had moved again. Within a decade, the Canal had been rerouted and the turning basin drained and filled in. A neighborhood rapidly developed in the area, changing its character from industrial to residential.