08/28/2026
Did you know one of America’s oldest pieces of transportation infrastructure runs right through Chesapeake, Virginia? 🌊
The Dismal Swamp Canal opened to navigation in 1805, 12 years after construction began in 1793, and stretches 22 miles through Virginia and North Carolina. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identifies it as the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States, and it remains part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.
More than 200 years later, this quiet, tree-lined waterway is still a remarkable piece of Hampton Roads history hiding in plain sight.