The Potomac Company

George Washington's lifelong association with the American West began in his youth, and are highlighted by his efforts in establishing the Potomac Company in 1785. In late 1753, twenty-one-year-old Major Washington set off on a two and a half month journey on rough trails into the Ohio country to warn the French against encroachment into the Virginia backcountry in what ultimately led to the Seven Years' War in North America. In tandem with his ongoing military service, during and after the conflict, Washington became an accomplished surveyor. Washington like others became interested in waterways like the Potomac River as an important route to the west.

During the years prior to the American Revolution, Washington spent significant time acquiring and managing vast landholdings in the Ohio River Valley, notably near the Great Kanawha River, and in present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. Much of this land was awarded through a 1754 proclamation, which granted military officers from the Seven Years' War lands to the west.¹ Many of these areas were controlled by nations such as the Cherokee, Shawnee, and Delaware. By 1770, Washington amassed more than 20,000 of the almost 60,000 acres he would eventually own in the American West. He leveraged these interests to help establish the Potomac Company to ensure domestic trade.²

In 1784, Washington again journeyed to explore Ohio country, both to inspect his lands and to explore the shortest river routes for inland navigation.³ As easterners encroached there at a rapid rate, Washington believed it was vital to ensure that these settlers did not establish deep trading relations with either the Spanish or British. Washington encouraged settlers to purchase land in Ohio Territory and from Indian Territory as a means to avoid war with Indigenous people there by simply claiming and populating more land.⁴ Washington believed the development of the Potomac would provide domestic commercial benefits while also helping to create a strong political Union.

Washington helped establish the Potomac Company in 1785, working to create cooperation between the states of Virginia and Maryland in developing the Potomac River.⁵ It was the company's goal to develop links between the Potomac, James, and Ohio Rivers via networks of roads, canals, and locks in order to expedite the transportation of produce and people between the east and the west. Washington and the directors made several trips to inspect the sites and to consult about the best methods of improving the navigation of the Potomac. Ultimately, the company cleared channels and built canals and locks to negotiate the rapids between Georgetown, in Washington, D.C., and the area near Harpers Ferry. Washington believed the company would benefit the national capital.⁶ Similar companies such as the James River Company emerged at this time.⁷

The 1785 charter provided for wages and provisions for one hundred workers. Workers were divided into crews and put to work at various points along the river. During the life of the company, workers included a mixture of hired hands, indentured servants, and some enslaved people. The work was dangerous and many of the men were inexperienced in the use of explosives; several were injured and some died. Often workers' rations and their acquisition of basic equipment were delayed because contracts were not fulfilled.

Throughout the life of the project bad weather, labor problems, and mounting expenses plagued the operation. When no other individuals applied for the job as superintendent to initiate and oversee the fieldwork, George Washington offered the position to James Rumsey who Washington observed demonstrating a mechanical boat propelled by poles, an intriguing means to ease upstream navigating.⁸ Rumsey held his position for less than a year, resigning in July 1786 because of poor pay, difficulties in managing the workers, and his desire to further his experiments.⁹

The Potomac Company increased trade, with boats carrying diverse products including flour, pig iron, pork, beef, tobacco, and even cast iron stoves.¹⁰ Washington's vision for strong domestic trade shaped the development of inland navigation, and was certainly influenced by his extensive landholdings. In 1828, the canal and lock systems of the Potomac Company were eventually taken over by the Chesapeake and Ohio Company. Later the railroads superseded the canal system. Its legacy is representative of riparian transportation as an economic and political priority in the Early Republic.

Revised by Zoie Horecny, 11 March 2025.

Notes: 

1."From George Washington to Lord Dunmore and Council, 3 November 1773," Founders Online, National Archives.

2. “From George Washington to Thomas Johnson, 20 July 1770,” Founders Online, National Archives.

3. “From George Washington to Benjamin Harrison, 10 October 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives; “From George Washington to Stephen Sayre, 1 September 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives.

4. “George Washington to Jacob Read, 3 November 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives.

5. “George Washington to Henry Knox, 5 December 1784,” Founders Online, National Archives.

6. “George Washington to Alexander White, 8 December 1799,” The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008. Original Source: Retirement Series (4 March 1797–13 December 1799), Volume 4 (20 April 1799–13 December 1799).

7. “From George Washington to Edmund Randolph, 30 July 1785,” Founders Online, National Archives.

8. "George Washington to James Rumsey, 5 June 1785," The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008. Original Source: Confederation Series (1 January 1784–23 September 1788), Volume 3 (19 May 1785–31 March 1786).

9.“July 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives.

10.“To George Washington from Thomas Johnson, 13 July 1785,” Founders Online, National Archives.

Bibliography:

Abbot, W.W. "George Washington, the West, and the Union." Indiana Magazine of History 84 (March 1988): 3-14.

Bacon-Foster, Cora. Early Chapters in the Development of the Potomac Route to the West. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society, 1912, 35-100.

Chervinsky, Lindsay M. The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020, 137-138,

Garrett, Wilbur E. "George Washington's Potomac Canal," The National Geographic Society 171, June 1987: 716-52.

Fraser, Flora. The Washingtons: George and Martha Partners in Friendship and Love. Anchor Books, 2015, 279, 282.

Way, Peter. Common Labor: Workers and the Digging of North American Canals, 1780-1860. Cambridge University Press, 1993.