ContentsArticles

Pawtucket Canal 1Middlesex Canal 2Lowell Power Canal System and Pawtucket Gatehouse 4Merrimack Canal 6

ReferencesArticle Sources and Contributors 7Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 8

Article LicensesLicense 9

Pawtucket Canal 1

Pawtucket Canal

Pawtucket Canal in context

The Pawtucket Canal was finished in 1796. It wasbuilt to circumvent the Pawtucket Falls of theMerrimack River in East Chelmsford, Massachusetts(now Lowell, Massachusetts). It is a major componentof the → Lowell canal system.

The Pawtucket Falls are a mile long series of falls andrapids in which the Merrimack River drops 32 feet. Thefalls hampered the shipment of inland goods, mostlylumber, to the mouth of the Merrimack andNewburyport, Massachusetts. Newburyport was thenone of the largest shipbuilding centers in New England,and a steady supply of wood from New Hampshire wascritical to its industry.

The original canal was built by wealthy Boston merchants who formed a limited liability corporation called theProprietors of Locks and Canals, one of the first of its kind in the United States. However, within a decade of itsconstruction the → Middlesex Canal was completed, connecting the Merrimack directly with Boston, Massachusetts.Bringing goods directly to Boston was more advantageous for merchants, and the Pawtucket Canal fell out of favorfor inland transport.

The investors in the Boston Manufacturing Company having successfully built upon Francis Cabot Lowell and PaulMoody's work in builing a successfully integrated cotton mill at Waltham, Massachusetts on the Charles River werelooking for a site that offered more waterpower and the Pawtucket Falls offered what they needed. In 1821 theybought the Proprietors of Locks and Canals and with it the water rights of the Merrimack River upstream from thePawtucket Falls. The Pawtucket Canal was deepened to become a power canal, and the first of 5.6 miles of canals inthe soon to be named City of Lowell, Massachusetts. The first canal built off the Pawtucket Canal was theMerrimack Canal, which powered the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, thus starting the Lowell experiment, andthe first planned industrial city in the United States.The canal is operated today by Boott Hydro, LLC.

Middlesex Canal 2

Middlesex Canal

Shawsheen River Aqueduct, Middlesex Canal, Billerica/WilmingtonTown Line, Massachusetts.

Map of the Middlesex Canal, 1801, before it was extended south ofMedford.[1]

The Middlesex Canal was a 27 mile (44 km) bargecanal connecting the Merrimack River with the port ofBoston. When operational it was 30 feet (9.1 m) wide,and 3 feet (0.9 m) deep, with 20 locks, each 80 feet (24m) long and between 10 and 11 feet (3.0 and 3.4 m)wide. It also had 8 aqueducts.

The canal was chartered on June 22, 1793 with asignature by Governor John Hancock, and was builtbetween 1795 and 1803 under the engineering guidanceof Loammi Baldwin, with the aim of opening up thevast interior of New England to merchant capital. In1795 ground was broken at North Billerica Mills andthe first boat operated on April 22, 1802.

The opening of the canal ended the commercialviability of the port of Newburyport, Massachusetts,the outlet of the Merrimack River, since all trade fromthe Merrimack Valley in New Hampshire now went viathe canal to Boston, rather than through the sometimesdifficult to navigate river.[2]

The canal ran from Middlesex Village in EastChelmsford, Massachusetts, later Lowell, throughseveral Middlesex County towns. At first it terminatedin Medford, but was later extended to Charlestown,Massachusetts with a branch near Medford Center tothe Mystic River.[1] A series of other canals along theMerrimack allowed freight to be transported as farinland as Concord, New Hampshire. The water sourcefor the canal was the Concord River at North Billerica.This was also the highest point of the canal, and is thepresent location of the Middlesex Canal Association'smuseum.

Freight boats required 18 hours from Boston up to Lowell, and 12 hours down, thus averaging 2.5 miles per hour;passenger boats were faster, at 12 and 8 hours, respectively (4 miles per hour). A roundtrip between Boston andConcord, New Hampshire usually took 7-10 days.

The canal was one of the main thoroughfares in New England until the advent of the railroad. In fact, the Boston andLowell Railroad (now a part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system) was built using the plans from the originalsurveys for the canal. Portions of the line follow the canal route closely, and the canal was used to transport theconstruction materials for the railroad.The canal was no longer economically viable after the introduction of railroad competition, and the company went bankrupt in 1851. The Middlesex Turnpike, incorporated 1805, also contributed to its downfall. The proprietors proposed to convert it into an aqueduct to bring drinking water to Boston, but this effort was unsuccessful. Parts of the canal bed were covered by roads in the 20th century, including the Mystic Valley Parkway in portions of

Middlesex Canal 3

Medford and Winchester. Though significant portions of the Middlesex Canal are still visible, urban and suburbansprawl is quickly overcoming many of the remains. The Middlesex Canal Association has made an effort to erectmarkers along much of the canal's path. Prominent portions of the canal that are still visible include water-filledportions near Baldwin House (near I-95 in Woburn), and dry sections in Winchester, most notably a section at theMystic Lakes where an aqueduct was situated.

A particularly fine segment of the canal; mosthas reverted to nature or vanished.

Map of lower stretch of Middlesex Canal, 1852.

External links• Middlesex Canal Association [3]

• History of Middlesex Canal, with links [4]

• New England Magazine article, January 1898 [5]

• Early Canal Transportation: The Boats of the Middlesex Canal [6]

• Paintings: Middlesex Canal by Joseph Payro 1930s [7]

• Report of the Joint Special Committee Upon the Subject of the Flowage of Meadows on the Concord and SudburyRivers [8], by Massachusetts, General Court, published 1860. This is how the Middlesex Canal Corporation wasdissolved.

Middlesex Canal 4

References[1] http:/ / www. medfordhistorical. org/ middlesexcanal. php[2] Muir, Diana, Reflections in Bullough's Pond, University Press of New England, p.112[3] http:/ / www. middlesexcanal. org/[4] http:/ / www. geocities. com/ Athens/ Troy/ 6034/[5] http:/ / cdl. library. cornell. edu/ cgi-bin/ moa/ pageviewer?coll=moa& root=/ moa/ newe/ newe0023/ & tif=00527. TIF& view=50&

frames=1[6] http:/ / library. uml. edu/ clh/ MC/ Mc. Html[7] http:/ / library. uml. edu/ clh/ MidCan. Html[8] http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=2MQOAAAAYAAJ& pg=PA84& source=gbs_toc_r& cad=0_0#PPR1,M1

Lowell Power Canal System and PawtucketGatehouseMain Article History of Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell's Canal System

The Lowell Power Canal System is the largest powercanal system in the United States, at 5.6 miles inlength. The system's estimated output is 10,000horsepower, operating six major canals on two levels,controlled by numerous gates. The system was begunin the 1790s, beginning its life as a transportation canalcalled the → Pawtucket Canal, which was constructedto get logs from New Hampshire down the MerrimackRiver to shipbuilding centers at Newburyport,Massachusetts, bypassing the 30-plus foot drop of thePawtucket Falls.

In the early 1820s, Associates of the recently-deceasedFrancis Cabot Lowell bought up the old Pawtucket Canal in what was then East Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Withina few years, the new industrial center that became Lowell was using canals feeding off of a widened and deepenedPawtucket Canal as a direct power source for their textile mills. The first of these canals was the → MerrimackCanal, which powered the Merrimack Manufacturing Company. The repurposing of the Proprietors of Locks andCanals allowed the Associates to sell water power to other companies, starting with the Hamilton Canal, leading tothe explosive growth of the town, and then shortly thereafter, city, of Lowell.

Lowell Power Canal System and Pawtucket Gatehouse 5

Pawtucket Gatehouse, from the above the falls side

By the late 1840s, Lowell's canal system was producingas much power as possible. However, the ChiefEngineer of Locks and Canals, an Englishman by thename of James B. Francis divised the Northern Canaland the Moody Street Feeder, to increase the capacityof, and availability of water to various parts of, thewhole system. The Pawtucket Gatehouse wasconstructed to control flow from behind the PawtucketDam into the Northern Canal.

The dam itself, which was built twenty years earlier,was lengthened at this time, diverting the entireMerrimack (during periods of lower flow) into the twocanal system entrances above it. It is a stone damtopped with wooden flashboards - a system still usedon this dam today. The level of the water is regulated by the flashboards and the metal pins that hold them back.When there is too much water going over the top of the dam, the pins bend backwards, releasing the boards, and theoutflow of the dam is increased.The Gatehouse contains ten wooden gates that control the flow of the Merrimack into the canal. Originally, theywere opened by a Francis Turbine, also an invention of James B. Today, the Gatehouse is controlled electrically andremotely by Boott Hydroelectric, who is partially a continuation of the Proprietors of Locks and Canals, and whooperates a 24 Megawatt hydroplant on the Northern Canal.The Canal System and the Gatehouse became Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks in 1985 and are part ofLowell National Historical Park.

Timeline• 1796: → Pawtucket Canal• 1822: → Merrimack Canal• 1825: Hamilton Canal• 1828: Lowell Canal• 1831: Lawrence Canal, Western Canal• 1835: Eastern Canal• 1847: Northern Canal, Moody Street Feeder, and Pawtucket Gatehouse

External links• American Society of Mechanical Engineers profile [1]

References[1] http:/ / www. asme. org/ Communities/ History/ Landmarks/ Lowell_Power_Canal_System. cfm

Merrimack Canal 6

Merrimack CanalMerrimack Canal is a canal that runs through Lowell, Massachusetts. The canal, dug in the 1820s, begins at the →Pawtucket Canal just above Swamp Locks, and empties into the Merrimack River near the Boott Cotton Mills. TheMerrimack Canal was the first major canal to be dug at Lowell exclusively for power purposes, and delivered 32 feetof hydraulic head to the mills of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company.

Lowell's canal system today - showing the location ofthe Merrimack Canal.

Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and ContributorsPawtucket Canal  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=311373641  Contributors: CSZero, Chanheigeorge, Cmdrjameson, Daderot, Drlowell, Ezhiki, SPUI, 4 anonymous edits

Middlesex Canal  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=306194640  Contributors: 7Sharona, Appraiser, Beland, Daderot, Daniel Case, DavidBlackwell, Doug Coldwell, Durno11,Eoghanacht, Francs2000, GreatWhiteNortherner, Gregory Arkadin, Hertz1888, Jamie5989, Jph0917, Midnightdreary, NE2, NekoDaemon, Rjwilmsi, RussBlau, SPUI, Sfoskett, 8 anonymousedits

Lowell Power Canal System and Pawtucket Gatehouse  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=327145163  Contributors: CSZero, Gene93k, Tabletop, Transpoman, Woohookitty

Merrimack Canal  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=323676858  Contributors: Boogle21, CSZero, Grutness, Qxz, Rich Farmbrough

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 8

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Canal system in Lowell, Massachusetts.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Canal_system_in_Lowell,_Massachusetts.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: MarkM. Howland, Margy ChrisneyImage:Shawsheen River Aqueduct, Middlesex Canal, Massachusetts.JPG  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Shawsheen_River_Aqueduct,_Middlesex_Canal,_Massachusetts.JPG  License: unknown  Contributors: DaderotImage:Middlesex Canal (Massachusetts) map, 1801.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Middlesex_Canal_(Massachusetts)_map,_1801.jpg  License: CreativeCommons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: Osgood Carleton.Image:Middlesex Canal, Wilmington, Massachusetts.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Middlesex_Canal,_Wilmington,_Massachusetts.JPG  License: unknown Contributors: Daderot at en.wikipediaImage:Middlesex Canal (Massachusetts) map, 1852.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Middlesex_Canal_(Massachusetts)_map,_1852.jpg  License: CreativeCommons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: F. G. Sidney and R. P. Smith.Image:PawtucketGatehouse.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PawtucketGatehouse.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:CSZero

License 9

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedhttp:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/