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Epitaph "Technology wields the scythe of obsolescence on all that came before." Such was the fate of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal. For even as it was being constructed, events were taking place in other parts of the country that would lead to it's demise. A demise that would come much to soon. In 1829, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company imported the first railroad engines in the US. Probably to pull boats over inclined passages. This started a movment which would in time span the continent, open vast expanses of land to industry and agriculture and forever change our nation. They would also bring about the end of the American canal era. It is ironic that the machine that brought down the canals would be introduced to this country by a canal company The railroad was able to move freight faster and cheaper than the canal. Most importantly, the railroads ran year round. The canal was closed during the winter months. These factors made the railroads the only choice for transportation. The Atlantic & St. Lawrence and York & Cumberland railroads were laid in the 1850's and these two lines took most of the frieght traffic from the towns of Westbrook, Gorham, Standish and Harrison. All traffic that would have gone down the canal. By the Civil War the canal was in deep decline. Ownership had changed hands twice. The Canal Bank foreclosed in 1857 and sold the operation to F.O. J. Smith of Portland and Isaac Dyer of Baldwin. The two enterprising men would endeavor to keep the canal going for another thirty years. But in the end, nothing could save it. The cheap construcion methods used led to uncontrollable repair and maintainance costs. The tolls and lockage fees were never enough to break even year to year, much less turn a profit. This situation led to a drying up of new investors. Without a steady influx of new capital, the endeavor was doomed. |
By the late 1880's, the canal was finished.
The owners had given up on the operation and abandoned much of the canal. Some sections
were still in use for local traffic. Other sections were drained to allow installation of
pipes to bring water from Sebago Lake to Portland. Sections of these pipes can still be
seen in the Stroudwater region. As time made it's march onward, memories of the canal faded. The visible signs slowly disappeared.As the bridges crossing the canal needed repair or replacement, it was easier and much less costly to fill the canal in. Nature played her part, seeding in brush and trees along the route. It would not have taken long for the undergrowth to all but erase the remmnants. They would reamain erased for almost 80 years. In Portland, growth and industry would lead to the removal of all remaining signs. As more tracks were laid along the waterfront, they covered what was left of the canal. In time, only the sections located in the marshy areas of the Fore River above Thompsons point would remain. And they remain today. In the 1970's, Ernest Knight of Raymond and a group of history enthusiasts formed a group called the Cumberland and Oxford Canal Association. They would work for the next decade to keep the memory of the C&O alive. As part of this effort, Mr. Knight produced a guide book to the canal. It dealt primarily on sites where parts of the canal could still be seen. This guide, revised in 1993 and 1998 was a major source of information for this site. Hayden Anderson's 1982 book Canals and Inland Waterways of Maine devoted several extensive chapters to the Cumberland and Oxford. This brings us to the present and this website. Having heard stories about the canal for years, I decided to do my part to keep the memory alive. It is the history of our communities that show us who we are and where we came from. It is our guide for the future. We all must work to keep the history alive and to expose the proceeding generations to it. For once lost, it is all but impossible to bring back. |
