Dismal Swamp Canal Company

The Dismal Swamp Canal, which connects Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound, was proposed as early as 1763 when George Washington and five associates formed the "Adventurers for Draining the Great Dismal Swamp." This company abandoned the project as economically unfeasible. In 1784, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company was created. On December 1, 1787, the Virginia Assembly passed an "Act for cutting a navigable canal ..." Digging of the canal finally began in 1793. Most of the work was done by the slaves of nearby landowners. It took twelve years for the twenty two mile waterway to be dug.

Robert Andrews, Thomas Newton, Jr., John Cowper, Daniel Berdinger and Donald Campbell were directors of the company in 1794.

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