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Event Recognizes Md.'s C&O Canal Families

CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- The National Park Service is asking the families of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal workers to share their stories at an event in Cumberland.

The agency is holding the Canal Family Reunion Saturday.

People connected to the construction or operation of the old shipping route are invited to share their stories of canal life and listen to historians talk about lock tenders, boat builders and the thousands of immigrants who built the canal.

The C&O Canal National Historical Park stretches nearly 185 miles along the Potomac River from Cumberland to Georgetown in the District of Columbia.

The towpath, once used by barge-pulling mules, is now a popular hiking and biking trail.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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