This unusual obelisk marks the beginning of the C and O Canal, a project proposed by George Washington and intended to link the Federal City with the interior of the United States. The canal proved to be more difficult and more expensive than originally expected and had the bad luck to be in competition with the brand new Baltimore and Potomac Railway. The canal eventually stretched for 184.5 miles to Cumberland, Maryland. It was primarily used to transport coal into the Nation's Capital. The National Park Service restored some of the original canal in the 1970s and summer visitors can still take a trip on a small barge drawn by mules through a few of the locks in Georgetown.