- Hampshire and Hampden Canal
The Hampshire and Hampden Canal was the
Massachusetts segment of an convert|86|mi|km|sing=on canal that once connectedNew Haven, Connecticut to theConnecticut River north ofNorthampton, Massachusetts . ItsConnecticut segment was called theFarmington Canal .The canal dates to 1821 when New Haven businessmen began to raise capital and investigate a possible canal route from their harbor to central
Massachusetts , and on toBarnet, Vermont andCanada beyond. In this original vision, the canal would pass throughFarmington, Connecticut to the border atSouthwick, Massachusetts , then join theConnecticut River near Northampton, and from there continue to theSt. Lawrence River throughLake Memphremagog and the valley of theSt. Francis River . Two side canals were also envisioned: one running from Farmington throughUnionville, Connecticut toColebrook, Connecticut ; the other linking to theErie Canal via theHudson River or the proposed (but never built)Boston and Albany Canal .Benjamin Wright , theErie Canal 's chief engineer, was hired to conduct a preliminary survey from New Haven toSouthwick, Massachusetts . In 1822 he gave a positive report: "The terrain is favorably formed for a great work of this kind and a canal may be formed for considerable less expense per mile, than the cost of canals now in the making in the state of New York." That same year, the Connecticut legislature granted a charter to the Farmington Canal Company, and onFebruary 4 ,1823 , Massachusetts granted its corresponding charter to the Hampshire & Hampden Canal Company. After this second charter was granted, work began.Ground-breaking ceremonies took place on
July 4 ,1825 , at the Massachusetts-Connecticut border. However, when Connecticut GovernorOliver Wolcott, Jr. employed the ceremonial shovel, it broke in his hands, and this was perhaps emblematic of the canal companies' subsequent fate, as both were substantially under-capitalized and severe financial difficulties plagued their project throughout its existence. Despite these woes, however, construction proceeded with pick and shovel, and by 1828 the canal was open for business from New Haven to Farmington, including its major aqueduct over theFarmington River . By 1835 the complete route to Northampton was finished and operating.When completed, the canal was convert|86|mi|km long, of which convert|56|mi|km were in Connecticut and convert|30|mi|km in Massachusetts. It measured convert|36|ft|m across on the water's surface, convert|20|ft|m across at the bottom, and convert|4|ft|m deep. Twenty-eight locks were constructed to navigate the convert|292|ft|m|sing=on rise in elevation between New Haven and Granby. A further convert|3.5|mi|km of branch canal were constructed to Unionville, later turned into a feeder for the main canal.
Financial strains continued, however, and the two canal companies merged to form the New Haven & Northampton Canal Company. A major threat to the canal came in 1838 with the opening of the
New Haven Railroad between New Haven andMeriden, Connecticut . Although the canal company took out further loans in the 1840s to improve its efficiency, its stockholders finally petitioned the General Assembly for authority to build a railroad on their canal bed. A charter was granted, and construction commenced on January 1847. The canal closed later that year, and by 1848 trains were running from New Haven to Plainville along the canal's right of way. The company's name remained unchanged, and it kept many of the same investors. It eventually merged with theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1887.ee also
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Farmington Canal
*New Haven and Northampton Railroad
*Farmington Canal Trail References
* [http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/cthistory/81.ch.04.x.html Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute]
* [http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/hosack/APP0L7.html DeWitt Clinton's Observations relative to the Hampshire and Hampden Canals]
* Camposeo, James Mark, "The History of the Canal System between New Haven and Northampton, 1822-1849", Historical Journal of Western Massachusetts 6 (Fall, 1977).
* Ralf, A. J., "An Account of the Farmington Canal Company; of the Hampshire and Hamden Canal Company; and of the New Haven and Northampton Company", New Haven: Thomas J. Stafford, 1850.
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