Paw Paw Tunnel
On my trip to western Maryland in early November, I had a chance to photograph the Paw Paw Tunnel. Located near the town of Paw Paw, West Virginia, it is parallel to the Potomac River, which is the boundary between West Virginia and Maryland. The tunnel was constructed through the mountain as the most direct way to route the C&O Canal, which runs from Washington, DC to Cumberland, Maryland. The tunnel is 3,118 feet long with a walking path, or a bike path, if you are brave. The signs on site indicated that if the tunnel had not been cut through the mountain, there would have been an arduous task of creating six additional miles of canal, crossing difficult terrain, the river, and many other obstacles. It took fourteen years to complete the tunnel, 1836-1850, and it’s lined with six million bricks. I cannot imagine the hardship.
Patricia Temples Photography 