Enfield Falls Canal

Enfield Falls Canal is a canal that was built to circumvent the shallows at Enfield Falls on the Connecticut River. It is situated along the west side of the river, adjacent to the towns Suffield and Windsor Locks of Hartford County in the state of Connecticut, USA. Windsor Locks is named after the series of locks on the canal.

Prior to the opening of the canal, the scows or flat-bottomed boats which plied the Connecticut River could only carry some 10 or 12 tons over the falls, and any additional freight had to be offloaded and carried around the falls by ox teams. The boats then had to be poled through the rapids, requiring large teams of men to do this.

Construction of the canal commenced in 1824 and it was opened on November 11 1829. The canal was 5¼ miles (8.5 km) long and had a vertical drop of 32 ft (9.75 m). The locks admitted craft up to 90 ft (27 m) long and 20 ft (6 m) wide.

Once the canal was opened, boats were able to carry much larger loads, and steamboat services were introduced. However by 1844 the Hartford and Springfield Railroad had started operation, and navigation on the Connecticut River gradually reduced. However the canal obtained a new lease of life as a supplier of water power.

Today the canal is closed to navigation, but mostly still in water and used industrially. Most of the towpath is open for hiking and cycling. The canal is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

As of 10/23/04 the canal is owned by Ahlstrom corp. (see the second reference)

References

*Connecticut Heritage (Dorothy A. DeBisschop). " [http://www.our-oxford.info/other-history/W-locks.htm The Canal at Windsor Locks] ". Retrieved January 20 2006.
*American Canal Society (2004). " [http://www.americancanals.org/Connecticut/Enfield%20Falls%20Canal.pdf Enfield Falls Canal] ". Retrieved January 20 2006.