Chesapeake City’s connection with Showboat and the canal’s role in the Civil War

It was a pleasure to have a small part in this amazing documentary on the C&D Canal and Chesapeake City! I was able to talk about the canal’s interesting role in the Civil War. But for me, I really enjoyed the historical overview of the canal as well as learning more about the role it still plays today in commercial shipping as a vital link between Baltimore and points north (particularly Philadelphia and New York).

My own little part involved being filmed while chatting with author Karen Morgan on a waterfront bench in Chesapeake City. Karen is the co-author of Chesapeake City: The Canal Town Through the Years, a book that stands out for being not just an enjoyable read but also so visually engaging.

The skies threatened rain that day, but held out long enough for the film crew, Tim and David, to do their job. Director John Paulson put us through our paces. The sight of a small film crew downtown drew a knot of curious onlookers.

John did a great job of coaxing and coaching what we needed to say out of us and was also quite kind about it. Clearly, these guys love their jobs and are very skilled at documenting the people and places of Maryland. Their other recent effort was a documentary about the Conowingo Dam.

Something that stood out about this film was how the producers sped up the film of ships going through the canal, as well as the loading and unloading of cargo. Some of those massive ships are moving like Donzi speedboats! This technique actually adds some excitement and motion to the film.

Several people have pointed out that my name is misspelled in the film, but hey, I know who I am!

Click here to watch the MPT video online.