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Most recent issue
of Towpath Topics:
March 2008
The
March 2008 issue was mailed to members during the last week of
March. |
News Item:
Colonel Loammi
Baldwin gets his sword
(YouTube video)
Become a member of the
Middlesex Canal Association
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Presidents
of the
Middlesex Canal Association |
| Arthur Louis Eno |
1962 - 1972 |
| Douglas P. Adams |
1972 - 1975 |
| Wilbar M. Hoxie |
1975 - 1977 |
| Frances B. VerPlanck |
1977 - 1981 |
| H. Lawrence Henchey, Jr. |
1981 - 1983 |
| Nolan T. Jones |
1983 - 1985 |
| Paul Pearsall |
1985 - 1987 |
| David A. Fitch |
1987 - 1990 |
| Burt VerPlanck |
1990 - 1994 |
| Nolan T. Jones |
1994 - |
The Middlesex Canal
Museum-Visitor Center
is
open noon to 4pm every Saturday and Sunday from Apr 14
to June 15 and from Sept 6 to Nov 23. See the Calendar
for exact dates.
The Middlesex Canal
Museum - Visitors Center
is located at the Faulkner Mills,
71 Faulkner St., No. Billerica MA
For more information on the Museum, call 978-670-2740.
Volunteers for the museum are being recruited. If
interested, e-mail
museum2007 AT middlesexcanal.org
Calendar of meetings of the
Middlesex Canal Association and Museum volunteering
Directions to the Museum/Visitors Center:
From Route 3 North or South:
Take Route 3 North or South to Exit 28 “Treble Cove Road, North
Billerica, Carlisle”. At the end of the ramp, turn onto Treble Cove Road
toward North Billerica. At about ¾ mile, bear left at a fork. After
another ¾ mile you'll come to a traffic light; this is Route 3A; go
straight. Go about ¼ mile to a 3-way fork;
take the middle road, which will put St. Andrew's Church on your left. Go
about ¼ mile; bear right, then turn right onto Faulkner Street. Go about
¼ mile; the Museum is on your left and you can park
across the street on your right, just beyond the falls.
From Route 495 North or South:
Take the Woburn Street N. Billerica/Lowell Exit.
From the North take a left, from the South a right onto Woburn Street,
which becomes Billerica Avenue. At the RR Station parking lot, take a
right; Go
¼ mile and the Faulkner Mill is on the right. The parking lot is on the
left.
Directions by train:
The Lowell Commuter Line runs between Boston's
North Station and Lowell's Gallagher Terminal. Get off at the North
Billerica station, which is one stop south of Lowell. From the station
side of the tracks, the Museum is a 3-minute walk down Faulkner Street on
the right side.
Telephone: 1-978-670-2740
National
Canal Museum
(in Easton, PA)
The President of the Middlesex Canal Association is Nolan
Jones.
For information about publications available through the
Middlesex Canal Association, contact Betty Bigwood.
For information on membership in the Middlesex Canal
Association, contact Neil
Devins.
For information about the Middlesex Canal Commission and
its efforts to preserve and restore what remains of the Middlesex Canal, contact
Tom
Raphael.
For information about upcoming
walks and tours of the Middlesex Canal, contact Roger Hagopian.
Send comments, suggestions, photos, and any
other interesting information about the Middlesex Canal to webmaster Robert
Winters at robert@middlesexcanal.org.
Note: All e-mail
sent to the above addresses will be forwarded to the appropriate person after
being screened by the webmaster for SPAM and viruses.
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Calendar
of Middlesex Canal Association and Related Events
June 28
to Aug 23 - Pawtucket Canal Tour, between the Concord and Merrimack
Rivers; available again after a 100 year interruption! 2-hours
in length, locking through at the Francis gate Guard Lock, the
two-lock staircase at Swamp Locks, and the two-lock staircase at
Warren Locks (a.k.a. Concord or Lower Locks). Daily, 1:00 &
2:45pm; also 10:45am available for groups to book, one week in
advance, as needed or requested.
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Swimming
With Fish - by Tom Dahill
August 2-28 at the Newton Free Library, 330 Homer Street,
Newton Center, MA 02459
Opening Reception Thursday, August 7, 7:00pm
T. Dahill, Big Man and Thin Lady
Swimmers
under water with fish as companions are the figurative
subjects of the whimsical acrylic on board paintings and
pencil, pen and water color drawings which will be on view in
the Gallery
at the Newton Free Library from August 2-28. There will be
an opening reception on Thursday, August 7 at 7:00pm. These
surrealistic creations of artist Tom Dahill's imagination
draw the viewer to imagine what it would be like to, “swim
with fish.”
Tom
Dahill served in WWII as a 2nd Lt in the Army Air Force. He
holds a degree in chemistry from Tufts University and
graduated with honors from the School of the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston. He was awarded an Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship
to the American Academy in Rome. Dahill taught at the School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and also at Emerson College
where he chaired the Fine Arts Department. His works have been
exhibited in the US, the Far East and Europe, and are held in
several private collections.
Three works by Tom Dahill - Tom is a
Director of the Middlesex Canal
Association, and produced
all of the artwork in "The
Incredible Ditch" and in many of the exhibits at our
museum.
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Sept 6
to Nov 23 - The Middlesex Canal Museum will be open, Sat &
Sun, 12 to 4pm, between these dates.
Sept 7
(Sunday) - Canoe the Merrimack River, Merrimack, NH (easy). This
is the beginning of the flat reach of the river and many signs of
our rich history are still in evidence along the river. This trip is
highlighted by seeing the remains of the lock and canal system
described by Henry David Thoreau in his, “A Week on the Concord
and the Merrimack River”. Meet 9:30am in Merrimack, NH. From
south, take Everett Turnpike to exit 12 (Bedford Rd, northbound exit
only); right onto Bedford Rd. Right onto Rte 3; first left (Depot
Street) to end. Leader: Chuck Mower (603) 424-1200. Trip Partners:
NH Rivers Council, Lowell National Historical Park.
Sept 7 Addendum: Merrimack River Watershed Council
Canoe/Kayak Paddling Trips - Chuck Mower’s trip, on this date,
follows part of the route of the old boatmen and passes through the
remains of Cromwell’s Falls Canal, which, arguably, is contains
the best preserved lock of the old river canal network. (See http://www.merrimack.org/paddlingtrips/september.html).
Sept 15
to 17 - World Canals Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For an
agenda & leads to registration and accommodation information,
see www.intertaskconferences.com/canals2008/canals_E_program.html.
Historic
Bicycle Tour of the Middlesex Canal
On Saturday,
October 4, 2008, the Somerville Historic Preservation
Commission, the Middlesex Canal Commission and the Middlesex
Canal Association will sponsor the 6th Annual Historic
Bicycle Tour of the Middlesex Canal. The ride will meet at the
Canal plaque at the entrance to the Sullivan Square MBTA station at
9:00am. We will follow the route of the Canal 38 miles to Lowell and
catch the 5:00pm train back to Boston. (There will also be
opportunities to catch the train at the 20 and 28-mile points.) The
route is pretty flat and level, and includes many stops at remnants
of the Canal, the two remaining aqueducts and the North Billerica
mill village and Canal Museum. Steady rain cancels. For more
information, contact Dick Bauer at dick.bauer@alum.mit.edu,
Robert Winters at robert@middlesexcanal.org,
or Bill Kuttner at bkuttner@ctps.org.
Flyer
for last year's ride
(PDF) Cue
sheets for last year's ride (PDF)
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47th
Annual Old Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
Date:
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: Woburn
Our
Fall Walk will include two watered sections of the Middlesex
Canal in Woburn. We will meet at 1:30pm at the parking lot
behind the Woburn Cinemas on Middlesex Canal Drive, off Route
38 just south of its intersection with Route 128 (Interstate
95) at Exit 35.
The
walk will be conducted in two segments. The first will proceed
south along the watered canal from the parking lot to Winn
Street and return. After returning to our cars, we will drive
to park again for the second segment, north of Route 128.
Leaving
the Cinemas parking lot on Middlesex Canal Drive, take a left
back onto Route 38 heading north. After passing under Route
128, take a right turn at the lights onto Alfred Street to the
Baldwin mansion, a few hundred feet on the left. The second
segment of the walk will proceed north from the parking lot
behind the mansion, currently a Chinese restaurant.
For
more information please call Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868) or
e-mail Robert Winters (robert@middlesexcanal.org). |
Oct
17-19 - Pennsylvania Canal Society, Field Trip to Lower Chesapeake
& Ohio Canal. Trip will cover the Monocacy Aqueduct, Whites
Ferry, Edwards Ferry, Lock 25, Seneca Aqueduct , Lock 24 Violettes
Lock, Pennyfield Lock and a tour of the refurbished Great Falls
Tavern Visitors Center. A Ride on the mule drawn canal boat will be
included in the trip. For information, contact Dave Johnson at
301-530-7473. |
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1890 photo of the remains of the Shawsheen
Aqueduct of the Middlesex Canal (from a glass slide)
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Towpath Topics
(newsletter of the Middlesex Canal Association)
Communication from
Robert Fulton
(from the September 1994 and March 2000 issues of Towpath Topics)
The Canal Boat by Nathaniel Hawthorne
(Hawthorne's account of a trip on the Erie Canal,
originally published in the December 1835 issue of New-England
Magazine, as transcribed by the University of Rochester.)
The First Issue:
Canal News -
October 1963 (vol. 1, no. 1)
(added May 12, 2003)
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The Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting on May 4,
2003 featured
guest speaker J.R. Greene, historian and author of many books on the
history of the Quabbin Reservoir and the towns that were eradicated to
create the reservoir. If you are interested in the books of J.R. Greene, a
listing and contact information is provided here.
Books by
J.R. Greene
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The first issue of the Middlesex
Canal Association newsletter was published in October 1963. Originally
named “Canal News”, the first issue featured a contest to name the
newsletter. A year later, the newsletter was renamed “Towpath Topics”.
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"To step down from some busy thoroughfare
onto the quiet towpath of a canal....is to step backward a hundred years or more and to
see things in a different, and perhaps more balanced perspective." Tom
Rolt,
British author
Anchor stone of the floating towpath (foreground)
Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitors Center at Faulkner Mills (background)
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BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF
BALDWIN, MAINE
June 23, 2002
On June 22-23, 2002, six members of the Middlesex Canal Association made the 115-mile journey to Baldwin, Maine to join the festivities as they celebrated their 200th anniversary. Baldwin is just west of Sebago Lake. There was a parade, historical exhibit, barbecue, and block dance on Saturday. On Sunday, a formal program of speeches by prominent community members was followed by the release of green and white balloons, an ice cream social and birthday cake. It was a lot of fun.
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Few people realize that Loammi Baldwin and Josiah Pierce (Count Rumford's half brother) formed a business partnership in what was then northern Massachusetts. Josiah ran the logging business for Loammi and later became its owner. This tract of land was named Baldwin after
Loammi.
Loammi Baldwin constructed a home there similar to the Baldwin Mansion in North Woburn. The current Josiah Pierce, a direct descendant, gave us a most gracious tour of the beautiful estate that they still operate as a farm. Count Rumford's mother, Ruth Thompson Pierce, is buried there in the family burial ground.
- Betty Bigwood
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This appeared as a two inch by two inch advertisement on
the fourth and last page of the AMERICAN TRAVELLER, Boston MA, Tuesday
morning, June 8, 1830, Vol. 5, No. 8.
(Donated to the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center by John Ciriello)
Middlesex
Canal Corporation Records
Mogan Center Archives
at UMass Lowell
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