Spinks Lockhouse (Lock 27)
Red sandstone structure completed in 1831
Monocacy Aqueduct
Built of white granite quarried on Sugarloaf Mountain, visible 4.2 miles east, this is the longest structure on the C & O Canal. Its 560-foot length is divided into 7 54-foot sections or arches. A "railroad" was specifically built to bring to stone from Sugarloaf Mountain. Constructed between 1929 and 1933 by workers, many of whom were Irish emigrants brought to this country just for this purpose
Confederate Gen. D.H.Hill’s Division crossed the Potomac River at Point of Rocks on Sept 4, 1862, and march south to clear Union forces from the area. His men breached and drained the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at several places, burned canal boats, and damaged the Spinks Ferry Lock (Lock 27) south of here. They also breached the Little Monocacy Culvert but did not have enough tools or spare gunpowder to damage the vital Monocacy Aqueduct.
On September 9th Confederate John G. Walker’s division spent several hours attempting to destroy the aqueduct but were stymies by its “extraordinary solidity and Massiveness.”
They camped near Licksville the next day and set off for Point of Rocks in the evening, after being surprised by the advance Union forces under Gen. Darius Couch. The Federals deployed artillery near here to defend the aqueduct at Cheeks Ford.
Spinks Ferry Lockkeeper Thomas Walter had been employed by the canal company since 1839. When Hill’s division arrived, he pleaded with Gen. Hill not to destroy the aqueduct or lock, arguing that the Confederates could more effectively disable the canal by breaching the earthen banks rather than the masonry structures. Witnesses reported that Walter became so heated they feared his arrest. These actions likely saved the canal company thousands of dollars, diverting destruction to more readily repairable areas. Walter was removed from his job for collaborating with the enemy, but a petition from Walters neighbors to his reinstatement and recognition for protecting key canal structures.