Middlesex Canal Association: 2000-2009 Archived Items

Canal Heritage Day at Lowell National Historical Park - Sunday, August 13, 2000
A full day of free tours, special programs, and presentations commemorating America's canal history.

Schedule of Events
Some highlights for those interested in the Middlesex Canal:
A Video Journey Along The Middlesex Canal - video by Roger Hagopian
The Middlesex Canal Today - Nolan Jones, President, Middlesex Canal Association
The Future of the Old Middlesex Canal - Tom Raphael, President, Middlesex Canal Commission
Canals of the Merrimack Tour - Bill Gerber, Middlesex Canal Association;
and Ned Martin, National Park Guide, Lowell National Historical Park
For more details, visit http://www.nps.gov/lowe/loweweb/chd.htm.

ON TO BOSTON: EXTENDING THE MIDDLESEX CANAL
Date: Sunday, Nov 5, 2000 Time: 2:30pm
Place: Hull Room, Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown

Dave Dettinger will present a talk describing the extension of the Middlesex Canal from its terminus in the Charlestown Millpond (east of what is now Rutherford Ave.) across the Charles River into the heart of Boston and its harbor. The meeting will take place at the Boston National Historical Park in Charlestown (formerly the Navy Yard) beginning at 2:30pm.

This presentation is the eighth in the series celebrating the Bicentennial Decade of the Middlesex Canal. In it, Dave will describe the background and layout of the four segments of the route: the Charlestown Millpond, the Charles River Crossing, the North Boston Millpond and its transformation into a canal at Haymarket, and finally the Mill Creek that reached the waterfront at Boston Harbor. Of this important waterway little evidence remains, save Canal Street, the one-time towpath through Boston.

Features of special interest include the design of an unusual cable system for hauling barges across the Charles River, locks capable of handling tidal rise and fall (bidirectional water flow), extended rock walls, and the exploitation of Mill Creek, which separated the North End from the Shawmut Peninsula itself.

[The Hull Room is located on the second floor of Building 5 (no elevator), the building directly ahead of the Constitution's prow. Enter by the north entrance.]

D&H Canal Museum hosts
"TALES OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL"
Sun, Nov 5, 2000 at 3pm, High Falls NY

Middlesex Canal Association Fall Walk
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2001
Time: 1:30pm
Place: Winchester

Our Fall Walk will cover the route of the Middlesex Canal through parts of Medford and Winchester. We will meet at the Sandy Beach parking lot at the Upper Mystic Lakes on the Mystic Valley Parkway in Winchester. Some sites along the way will include the aqueduct and mooring basin there, the segments of the canal bed and berm visible off the parkway as we walk into Medford, where we pass the stone wall of the Brooks estate, through which the canal once passed. We will end this portion of our journey on Boston Avenue at the Mystic River, where the canal tavern, inn and locktender's residence are located as well as the site of another aqueduct.
Upon returning to our parking area after the walk, those wishing to continue by auto caravan through Winchester may follow or carpool.
For more information please call Bill Gerber (978-251-4971) or Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868).

Fall meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
Canals of the Merrimack River
(The Other Half of the Boston, MA to Concord, NH Transportation Corridor)

Date: Sunday, November 4, 2001
Time: 2:00pm
Place: Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center
71 Faulkner St., North Billerica
Speaker: Bill Gerber, Board member of the Middlesex Canal Assn.

After the Middlesex Canal began operating, late in 1803, attention turned to opening up the interior of New Hampshire for commerce by making the Merrimack River accessible for navigation. The Pawtucket Canal had already opened in 1797, primarily to the benefit of Newburyport, and the building of a canal around Amoskeag falls in Derryfield (now Manchester) had been attempted, but with less than complete success. But, even with these, practical navigation on the river was impeded by multiple other falls and rapids. Construction of canals and locks was begun to enable boats to bypass these obstructions at more than a dozen locations along the river, and the full corridor was open for service by about 1815.
The talk will address the building of the Merrimack River canals and their use, until their demise in about 1855. These canals contributed significantly to the ability of the Middlesex Canal to compete successfully against the railroads for more than a decade.

Directions:
From Greater Boston and Route 128/95: From Burlington, take Route 3 North for about 7 miles to Exit 28 “Treble Cove Road, N. Billerica, Carlisle”. At the end of the ramp turn left onto Treble Cove Road toward North Billerica. At about ¾ mile bear left at a fork. After about another ¾ mile you’ll come to a traffic light; this is Route 3A; go straight. (Go to “Common Directions”, below)
From Greater Lowell and Route 495: Take Route 3 South to Exit 29 “Route 129, Billerica, Chelmsford”. At the end of the ramp turn right onto Route 129 toward Billerica. Go about 1¼ miles; bear right onto Route 3A South. Go about 0.1 mile to a traffic light at Treble Cove Road; turn left. (Go to “Common Directions”, below)
Common Directions (continued from above): 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.

David Dettinger will give a talk about the Middlesex Canal’s role in the history of the Mystic watershed.
Two hundred years ago, the Middlesex Canal was constructed through Winchester, Medford, and Somerville on its way from the Merrimack River to Charlestown. Providing access to New Hampshire, it played a significant role in establishing Boston as the industrial and commercial center of New England. Dug by hand throughout its 27-mile length, and incorporating 20 locks along the way, it was a triumph of its day, and a model for later American canals.
Mr. Dettinger is a retired engineer and a director of the Middlesex Canal Association.

Sponsored by the Mystic River Watershed Association. Watch for dates for other talks in our Winter Speaker Series. The speaker series is free and open to the public. For information, please contact Janet Kovner at the Mystic River Watershed Association, at 781-316-3438 or jskovnr@gis.net. You can find information about other upcoming events on the Mystic River Watershed Association website at http://www.tufts.edu/mystic.

On August 10 and 11, 2002, the American Textile History Museum will be open from 10am until 5pm. Visitors are invited to take self guided tours of “Textiles in America” to see water powered textile machinery. At 2pm on August 10, a video entitled “A Journey Along the Middlesex Canal” will be introduced by Roger Hagopian, who produced this documentary in conjunction with the Middlesex Canal Association. Hands-on activities will emphasize the respectful relationship of Native Americans towards the Merrimack River. On Saturday children can make necklaces similar to those worn at yearly festivals that the Pennacooks held in celebration of the power and abundance of the river. Regular admission fees. No charge for the program or hands-on activities.

Aug 25, 2002, 2pm at the Museum: "Tales of the Middlesex Canal"
A Play by Lewis Gardner, performed by The Atlantis Playmakers

Upcoming Events

Sept 14 -15, 2002: Billerica's Yankee Doodle Homecoming Weekend
The Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center will be open from noon to 4pm. A new museum next to ours, The Country Music Museum, will open that weekend and feature five separate country music bands in the gazebo across from the Faulkner Mills. Donna Doucette will be selling on the front steps of the Faulkner Mills her famous “Canal Dogs”, the proceeds of which will benefit the Middlesex Canal Museum. The whole Town of Billerica puts on numerous events including a parade - it’s a fun weekend.

Tea With Our Friends from Billericay, England - Billerica Historical Society. During Yankee Doodle Homecoming Weekend, Sat, Sept 14 and Sun, Sept 15, 2002.

Saturday, October 19, 2002, 1:30pm
Joint MCA-AMC Canal Walk (Middlesex Canal Assn., Appalachian Mountain Club)
Meet at the Wilmington Town Park parking lot on the west side of Route 38, 2.4 miles north of Route 128, in Wilmington MA, at 1:30pm. About 3+ miles along the generally level towpath of the old Middlesex Canal - through the “Oxbow” with its towrope grooved bolder, by the remains of the Maple Meadow Brook Aqueduct, past Butter's Row, to Patches Pond, and return; then south until the canal bed is obscured and return. If there is interest, we will drive and walk to other sites such as Gillis' and Nichol's Locks and the Lubber's Brook and Shawsheen Aqueducts.
Contacts: Bill Gerber (978-251-4971, bill_gerber@bostonbbs.org) & Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868, RogerHagop@aol.com). No calls after 10pm, please.

Also on Saturday, October 19, 2002 -- The New Bridge Village Tour
The New Bridge Village (former name of North Woburn) Tour will take place Sat, Oct 19 from 10am to 3pm (rain date Oct 20). Starting point is the Kiwanis Park, next to the Baldwin Mansion. (Junction of Rt 128 and Rt 38) There will be self guided tours, Historic Home Presentations in Period Dress (including Count Rumford's Birthplace), Wilmington Minutemen Encampments, a short talk about the Middlesex Canal, Minutemen Battle Reenactments from 2-3pm, photos with Minutemen, pony rides for the children, and free T-shirts for the first 300 people who come. Make a day of it - go to the Middlesex Canal Walk at 1:30 in Wilmington.

Monday, October 21, 2002, 7:00-9:00pm
Middlesex Canal President Nolan Jones will speak about the Middlesex Canal to the Souhegan Watershed Association meeting in the Keyes Room of the Wadleigh Library in Milford, NH.
Merrimac River Watershed Council      Souhegan Watershed Association

Upcoming Events:

Sunday, Nov 3, 2002, 2:00pm
Building the Middlesex Canal in the 21st Century
     This talk by Howard B. Winkler at the Middlesex Canal Museum & Visitor Center is the tenth in a series of events celebrating the bicentennial of the canal.
     The talk will describe the construction of the canal as a modern engineering project, and contrast the approach followed in the late 18th century with one that would be followed now, in the early 21st Century.
     One question that is often asked about the Middlesex Canal is the cost of its construction. In 1794, the English engineer William Weston estimated the cost at £100,000 (lawful money of Massachusetts). This is a cost with little meaning because it lacks a benchmark for comparison.
     Two methods of estimating construction costs in current dollars will be described. Using Christopher Roberts' The Middlesex Canal as a source of construction assessments levied on the stockholders and techniques developed by economic historians to assess relative value over time, costs were projected into Year 2001 dollars. The other method is to use modern construction techniques to develop costs for a canal that is 27 miles in length, with 20 locks, a bridge across a milldam, eight aqueducts, 48 bridges, and other appurtenances.
     The speaker will be prepared to stand behind his numbers, far, far, behind them.
     Please be sure to attend, and bring your questions.

Wed, Jan 29, 2003 at 7:30pm at the Medford Public Library
“The Brooks Estate - Past and Present”
Tom Lincoln, president of the Brooks Estate Land Trust and Vice President of the Middlesex Canal Commission will present “The Brooks Estate - Past and Present.” The Middlesex Canal used to go through the Brooks Estate and there are pictures of the arched stone bridge over the canal. This will be a slide show lecture on Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Medford Public Library, 111 High St. For more information call 781-395-7950.

Sat, March 8, 2003, 9:00am-1:00pm (at the Museum)
Orientation Day for Museum volunteers
“Canal Dogs” for those interested in staying for lunch. A refresher course for experienced docents and “on the job” training for new volunteers. We try to partner an experienced docent with a less experienced or less confident volunteer, so please give us a try - we really do have fun and no stress! Billerica senior residents qualify for tax abatement by volunteering at the Museum.

Thurs, March 20, 2003, 7:00pm (All Saints Church, 17 Clark St, Belmont)
Richard A. Duffy, will present "Historical Perspectives on the Mystic River." 
     This slide lecture will provide a thorough historical overview the Mystic River--from Boston Harbor to the Mystic Lakes--using a wealth of historic images and maps. Featured will be newly discovered items that have not been publicly shown before. The importance of the river as a former source of tidal waterpower will be a particular focus of the talk, along with environmental issues that have confronted the watershed going back to early Colonial times. Richard A. Duffy is a regional historian, preservation consultant and author, who has spoken on different aspects of the Mystic River and Lakes to a wide variety of audiences. He is the author of two photographic histories of Arlington, and he edited the annotated version of J. T. Trowbridge's novel, The Tinkham Brothers' Tide-Mill. Duffy is a popular lecturer whose other talks have ranged from the architectural development of suburban Boston to musical history. 
[WINTER SPEAKER SERIES : LIFE ON THE MYSTIC]

Wed, April 9, 2003, 7:00pm (Winchester Public Library, 80 Washington St)
Gerry Kehoe will present a talk entitled "Horn Pond - 10,000 Years in the Making."
     Gerry will describe the history of Horn Pond, highlight its flora and fauna, and discuss some of the other conservation areas in Woburn. Gerry Kehoe is a self-taught naturalist and nature photographer who has lived on the shores of Horn Pond for thirty years. Gerry leads walks around Horn Pond for children and adults. She is the Steward for Horn Pond as well as the Stewardship Coordinator for all the Conservation Area Stewards. 
[WINTER SPEAKER SERIES : LIFE ON THE MYSTIC]

A Description of the Middlesex Canal
by Charles Frederic Morey
(originally published in Canal News, January 1964) - posted 2003

The Middlesex Canal found its source at its summit level in Billerica, Mass. Work began about 1794 and the canal was operated from 1804 to 1853.

With the exception of a small amount drawn from Horn Pond, water came from the Concord River at Billerica Mill Pond, feeding the course to the southward to Charles River, 22 miles distant, and to the northward over a distance of nearly 6 miles to Merrimack River.

The summit was 107 feet above the tide water at Boston and 27 feet above the Merrimack. The breadth was 20 feet at bottom and 30½ feet at the water line. The trough was built to carry a depth of 3½ feet; but owing to silting after completion of the Canal the water was seldom more than three feet deep.

General specifications, in the early contracts for construction, were varied over short distances in several locations where the presence of solid ledges of rock led to a diminution of the width in some cases to 14 feet.

Occasional basins of much greater extent furnished landing places or havens where boats could congregate. The banks, 1 foot above the water line, were 10 feet wide in general on the towing path side and 5 feet wide on the other. A specification that the slopes of all banks should be 33 degrees was contained in the general plan outlined by the projectors and was embodied in the contract.

There were 20 locks, 8 aqueducts and 48 bridges, as well as the necessary safety gates, culverts, sluiceways, and waste weirs. The 20 locks included 2 tide locks on the Charles and 2 guard locks on the Concord. The latter, by regulating in part the flow of water into the canal helped to provide against the danger to the banks from variations in the level of Concord River. Locks were 10 to 12 feet wide and, though of slightly different lengths, all were large enough to accommodate Canal-Boats fully 75 feet long. The highest single lift was 10 feet about and the average lift between 7 and 8 feet. Some of the locks were of stone, others of wood. In the latter, the wooden side walls were enclosed between walls of rough masonry formed a few feet back of the timber work. The timber constituted a compact box for the water; and the masonry, a retaining wall for the earth. Struts of wood braced the two walls apart.

The head of the line was on the Merrimack at Middlesex Village, about one mile above the present dam at Lowell. There the entrance was formed by a nearly semi-circular basin, measuring about 200 feet along the shore of the River and extending back from the River about 100 feet. It was about 5 feet below the surface of the Merrimack at low water and about 10 or 12 feet below the natural surface of the earth.

The basin led to a flight of 3 locks of durable stone masonry set in trass mortar, which were the first and best built locks on the Canal. Through these, rafts and luggage boats were lifted to the summit level. The yards and tracks of the B. & M. R.R. now cover the ground formerly occupied by the locks.

Passing under the main street at Middlesex Village, the Canal crossed Black Brook in a wooden aqueduct near the site occupied, when the Canal was completed, by a glass factory.

The Aqueduct, with abutments 110 feet apart, was supported by 10 wooden piers on stone foundations. Its trough, about 10 feet above th e stream below, was made of timber and plank, with the timber framed together by tenons and mortises and strengthened by braces. Had the construction been with knees and bolts, after the fashion of ship building it would, doubtless, have been more durable. Continuing across what is now Chelmsford Street and then at right angles to the present track of the Lowell Framingham R.R. the Canal next traversed the Great Swamp, the location of a large portion of the two necessary miles of embankment between the Merrimack and Concord Rivers. Carried over River Meadow Brook or Hale's Brook in a small aqueduct, it continued to Billerica Mills, where a stone guard lock, excavated in a ledge of rock, formed the entrance into Concord River Mill Pond.

Remains of the guard lock may now be traced in the yard of the Talbot Mills.

Some rods below the line of the Canal at this point, a dam about 150 feet long and 8 feet high was thrown across Concord River creating the Mill Pond out of which water flowed to supply both arms of the Canal.

The water feeding the longer line toward Boston passed through a horizontal aperture of 6 feet by 1 foot, with a head of 2 feet of water above the upper part of the aperture. Waste gates in the dam made it possible to regulate to some extent the height of the water. The fountain head of the Canal was crossed by a floating Tow Path of which a section could be removed, to permit logs, timber, or driftwood coming down Concord River to pass through to several saw mills below. The trunk of the Canal left Concord River by another stone guard lock and pushed on through about one half mile of deep cutting. Some 800 feet of this was blasted through hard, granite rock. Today the Billerica Car Shops of the B. & M. R.R. are set squarely in its former path, obliterating all traces; but beyond them for nearly a mile the Canal is still found in almost navigable form. Continuing from here the Canal, today a dry ditch, reached the site of the famous Shawsheen Aqueduct, which carried it some 30 to 35 feet above the Shawsheen River. About 188 feet in length, the Aqueduct rested on 2 abutments and 3 or more central stone piers all laid without mortar, with a wooden brace or modest type of pier between each outside stone pier and the adjacent abutment. Large horizontal timbers, embedded between the piers at suitable distances, served as supports to the lower ends of the Aqueduct's braces. From each end of the Aqueduct an embankment 30 to 35 feet high ran a distance of several hundred feet. As freight and packet boats could only proceed singly over the river, basins on either side allowed them to congregate while awaiting passage. From its height and from the general nature of the surrounding low land, the Shawsheen Aqueduct was one of the imposing sights of the Canal.

A half mile south of the Shawsheen came the first drop from the summit level through Nichols' Lock. Slight remains can be identified today at Nichols Street.

A mile and one half more, fairly evenly divided between excavation and embankment, and continuing over Lubber Brook, a small Aqueduct known as Sinking Meadow Aqueduct, brought the Canal to Gillis or Jacques Lock, the second descent toward Boston Harbor. At the Sinking Meadow, an embankment of some 30 rods was originally carried across a morass, with sub-soil of decayed vegetation. The earth and gravel brought on continued for some years to sink gradually into the marsh. Estimates of the depth to which the embankment sank vary from 38 to 60 feet. The wall on the east was the first to hold firm: that on the west also ceased to settle, but continued for a time to spread. Material was carried on and impacted until the banks were consolidated. A house has been built on the ground of the second descending lock, the garden occupying the site of the basin.

The Old Canal Tavern still stands, recently occupied by tenants, one of whom was a descendant of a Tavern Keeper at Gillis Lock.

The tow path from here to Wilmington became the ground bed of a trolley line, which eventually reached a state of decay comparable to that of the Canal.

Passing from Gillis Lock over a small Aqueduct the Canal encountered more obstacles some two miles beyond, near the site of the former Wilmington Poor Farm. Here an embankment, some 80 rods long and 25 feet high, the top of the towing path, was thrown across Maple Meadow, and an Aqueduct constructed over Maple Meadow Brook, a source of the Ipswich River. To avoid further passage through this treacherous meadow, the Canal was turned sharply making an abrupt bend which came to be called the “Ox-Bow.”

The former entrance to the town of Woburn was reached a mile farther South, the route skirting or crossing the present State Highway, then paralleling or merging with the roadbed of the Woburn branch of the B. & M. R.R. through No. Woburn Central Square; and as far as the grounds of the present Woburn Public Library.

A fairly high embankment, originally, built during the winter over a sinking meadow in Woburn, caused some difficulty. By the end of the Spring thaw, it had settled so that its top was level with the natural height of the ground. Another embankment was raised upon it. In North Woburn the line runs beside the Baldwin Mansion, built in part in 1660, before which in the Public Square stands a statue of Loammi Baldwin, the Engineer of the Canal. One of the chief engineering features of the Middlesex Canal was reached after its passage beyond the site of the present Woburn Public Library. Here 3 sets of double locks, called Stoddard or Horn Pond Locks, accomplished a descent of 50 feet. The middle set of locks was separated from the set above and the one below by basinlike widenings to equalize the draft of water by locking.

High above Horn Pond stood a spacious, much frequented Canal Tavern.

Stone Lock, a nine foot drop, was situated about ½ mile further on, at the crossing of Horn Pond Brook. Water was here taken in from Horn Pond, the only source in addition to Concord River. A mile and a half below, just north of the Aberjona River, then called Symmes River, were Gardners' Locks which were double. The bed of Symmes River formerly occupied part of the Upper Basin of Mystic Lakes; the basin did not then exist.

An Aqueduct with abutments 127 feet apart and with 3 intervening stone piers effected the crossing of Symmes River. The remains of piers or abutments are still visible at the point where the Aberjona River connects the Mystic Lakes with the Upper Basin, not far from the Bronze Tablet, with its Historical Record of the Canal, erected on Mystic Parkway.

Running close along the shore of the Mystic Lakes, the line passed through the estate of Peter C. Brooks, where an elliptical stone arch of admirable proportions carried a farm road over the Canal. Farther south, about a mile and one half, came Gilson's Lock, followed by an aqueduct, 135 feet long, borne over Mystic River by 2 stone abutments and 3 stone piers. Each pier and abutment was 12 feet high, 20 feet long about 6 feet in width. The surface of the water in the Aqueduct was about 10 feet above that in the river at high tide. One mile beyond, the Medford Branch Canal, about one quarter mile long, with a Lock and Basin at the upper end and a Lock at the lower, connected the Mystic River with the Main Canal. On the banks of this river after the coming of the Middlesex Canal grew excellent shipyards which made the name of Medford famous in the Ports of the World; and “Medford Built” became synonymous with the best of finished workmanship. From the crossing of Mystic River to the end of the line, practically all traces of the Canal have disappeared. It passed through the land now occupied by the Rivering Mills of the American Woolen Company, then under the present railroad tracks, along West St.; parallel to or in Summer Street and wound a tortuous course, avoiding the hills on the west and Mystic Marshes on the east. A little damp pool near Hancock Ave., in the rear of a brick building said to have been a hat factory when the Canal was in operation, is the last vestige that remains in this populous section.

Running along the westerly part of the old Mystic Trotting Park the Canal came out at the coal pocket on the Mystic River near the Somerville Town line, turning inland once more at the western end of Broadway Park, where a stone monument marks its former path. It then curved around the base of Mt. Benedict, Ploughed Hill of Revolutionary Times. From here to Dorrance Street in Charlestown the route passes through congested districts. Crossing the old Medford Turnpike and the rails of the B. & M. it finally passes up the spur track of a Lumber Company and meets the high brick wall around the Sullivan Square terminal of the Boston Elevated, which effectually stops further investigation. Near this was the Malden Road Lock and some 600 feet further a lock, 114 feet long, leading to the Mill Pond. Still another lock, with double gates that might be worked in either direction according to the state of the tide, let Canal Boats from the Mill Pond into Charles River. Today the site of this Mill Pond is dry land covered with streets and buildings.

Once in Charles River, the boats might be poled, sculled or sailed to any part of Boston; but a short branch Canal penetrated the City at the present site of the B. & M. R.R. Station. Entering at the river front, it crossed Causeway Street and passed inward three City blocks, running between Haverhill and Canal Streets and ending at Haymarket Square.

The author of the article, Charles Frederic Morey, of Billerica, died in 1949. He was a descendant of Samuel Morey, the inventor of the steamboat. A lifelong enthusiast of the Canal, he knew its entire course. His grandfather had been engaged in the wood business in Tewksbury, and used to deliver fire-wood to Boston by canal boat. This article was written in the late 1930's, at a time when the State of the Canal was much as it is at present, except for the few homes that are now being built in its bed. We are grateful to Mrs. Mary Morey Jacobs of Billerica for her kind permission to publish her brother's paper.

Sunday, May 18, 2003 is International Museum Day
Noon to 4pm at the Faulkner Mills (71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica MA)
Refreshments served from noon to 1pm
Open House at:
Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitors Center
New England Baseball Museum
New England Country Western Music Historical Museum
Also...
1pm - 4pm:
Open House at: 
Historical Society’s Clara E Sexton Memorial House at 36 Concord Road, Billerica
Billerica Museum in the Billerica Public Library’s Front Lobby and Local History Room
Light refreshments will be available at both locations.

Note: The WINTER SPEAKER SERIES : LIFE ON THE MYSTIC is sponsored by the Mystic River Watershed Association (MRWA) and is free and open to the public. For information, please contact Janet at 781-316-3438 or janet@mysticriver.org. 

Saturday, July 12, 2003
6:00-8:00pm   Block Party/free concert at the Concord River falls gazebo. Retro Rock & Roll (50's music) performed by the Corsairs. Hosted by the Faulkner Mills. The Middlesex Canal Museum will remain open to sell hot dogs, drinks and chips.

Saturday, July 19, 2003
5:00-8:00pm   History of the Boston Braves and Braves Field given by the Boston Braves Historical Association. N E. Baseball Museum (Faulkner Mills) open at 5:00pm. Narrative at 6:00pm in the Reardon Meeting Room of the Middlesex Canal Museum. No charge/open to the public.

Sat, Sept 6, 2003 – 9:00am to 1:00pm: Yard Sale at the Middlesex Canal Museum
Drop off your donations at the Museum Saturday or Sunday through Aug 23, or call 978-670-2740 to request a pick up of your donation. Please, no clothing, exercise equipment, or large appliances.
(Rain Date for Yard Sale is Sept 7)

FALL MEETING OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL ASSOCIATION
THE CAPE COD CANAL: A HISTORY

Date: Sunday, November 2, 2003
Time: 2:30pm
Place: Middlesex Canal Museum & Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica
Speaker: Col. Wilbar Hoxie, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, retired

Wil, a long time member, Board member, and former President of the Middlesex Canal Association, grew up on Cape Cod and has a connection with the Cape Cod Canal dating back to his youth. He will outline the Canal’s history and share his personal insights with us.

Directions: From Route 3, take exit 28, Treble Cove Road. Turn towards North Billerica. At about ¾ mile bear left at a fork. After about another ¾ mile, cross Route 28 at a traffic light. 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 & Visitor Center is on your left, and you can park across the street on your right, just beyond the falls.

  New Issue! – Towpath Topics - September 2003 (vol. 42-1)

You're Invited to a Party!
MIDDLESEX CANAL CELEBRATION
January 1, 2004, 2:00-5:00pm

In the spirit of the "grand jubilee" hosted by Col. Loammi Baldwin of Woburn when he announced that the Canal would be completed by the end of 1803 (He missed by two hours.), the Middlesex Canal Association plans a gala party at the Canal Museum-Visitor Center on New Year's Day, January 1, 2004 from 2 to 5 pm. All are welcome to this free festive occasion. Some attendees are planning to improvise costumes to help recall this historic event.

The elation of the guests in 1803 is understandable. The longest canal in the Western Hemisphere had been built in ten years with private funding, using only manual tools to move dirt and shape rock. Connecting the Merrimack and Charles Rivers, the Middlesex Canal was the critical link in providing a waterway from Boston to Concord, New Hampshire at a time when roads were primitive and railroads nonexistent.

This ten-year period has been revisited with annual events by the Middlesex Canal Association, calling it the Bicentennial Decade; this party is the culminating event in that series. Concurrently the Canal Museum has been established in North Billerica on the bank of the Concord River Millpond, which supplied the water for the Canal north and south.

The Museum is located in the Faulkner Mill at 71 Faulkner St. in North Billerica. To get to the Museum, follow Treble Cove Road north from its intersection with Route 3A, marked by a traffic light. Drive about ¼ mile to a 3-way fork; take the middle road, which will put St. Andrew's Church on your left. Drive about ¼ mile; bear right then turn right onto Faulkner St. Drive about ¼ mile; the Museum is on your left and you can park across the street on your right, just beyond the falls.

The party will begin with a reception featuring hot mulled cider, wine and cheese, followed by a lively mixer (Who am I?). There will be a brief greeting by our President Nolan Jones followed by some famous canal songs and a sing-along led by the Troubadour of the Middlesex Canal, Paul Wiggins. Finally will come some delectables, such as Baldwin apple and pumpkin pies, ham biscuits, and gingerbread.

History buffs are especially welcome; this New Year's Day party affords an opportunity to enjoy the Museum itself and become acquainted with the historic Middlesex Canal. The Museum phone number is 978- 670-2740.

Read more in the December 2003 Special Edition of Towpath Topics

Coming Soon: Sunday, January 25, 2004, 2:30-4:30pm at the Museum
Middlesex Canal Association Winter Meeting
featuring Fred Lawson's slides from the 1960's.

The Middlesex Canal Association will hold its winter meeting at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica on Sunday, January 25, 2004 at 2:30pm. Fred Lawson Jr., our speaker for the afternoon, had done original research on the Middlesex Canal for a college dissertation when he attended a meeting of the Billerica Historical Society in the 60's to hear Harry Lasher speak about his map of the canal.

From this meeting Lawson became one of the original founders of the Middlesex Canal Association. He will tell us how the Association got started and show us slides of the canal dating from the 1960's. We will be able to see the changes that have occurred from the pictures he took of his long walks along the canal. There will be mulled cider and refreshments after the lecture.

We welcome you to join us.

Sunday, March 14, 2004, 2:00-4:00pm - Docent Training Day (Museum)
Please RSVP Shayne Reardon if you will join us. 
e-mail: middlesexcanalcomm.jreardon@juno.com or phone: (978) 667-1787

Docent Training Day

Date: Sunday, March 14, 2004
Time: 2:00 - 4:00pm
Place: Middlesex Canal Museum/Visitors Center

Do you have an interest in the history of the Middlesex Canal? How would you like to help us keep the Middlesex Canal Museum open this summer?

Even if you feel you know all about the canal, please come and share your knowledge and experience with other volunteers.

For the newer docents, don’t be afraid to join us. We pair an experienced volunteer with a newer person to relieve the anxiety!

Each volunteer is given a procedure and docent folder of information.

The Middlesex Canal Museum will open for the season on April 3rd and continue on each Saturday and Sunday through September 26th. The hours are noon to 4:00pm each day. Plan to arrive at the Museum by 11:30am to prepare for opening and expect about 15-20 minutes to close the facility.

The choice is yours as to how often you volunteer your time.

Come Join our Team! Special dates include RiverFest (in June), Yankee Doodle Homecoming (in September), and Canal Heritage Days (October).

Spring Tea

Date: Saturday, March 20, 2004
Time: 2:00 - 4:00pm
Place: Middlesex Canal Museum/Visitors Center

This Museum fundraiser features savory sandwiches, luscious desserts, games, music, prizes, and raffles. Tickets are $10 each ($8 for seniors). Call 978-670-2740 for tickets.

The Middlesex Canal Museum/Visitors Center is located at 71 Faulkner Street, Faulkner Mills, N. Billerica.

Volunteers are needed at the Museum for a wide variety of other things. Here's a sample:

a) Help to design, research and produce new exhibits

b) Catalog our collections in PastPerfect software

c) Receipt donations and gifts

d) Develop strategies to better display our collections

e) Scan important images

f) Grant writing

g) Fund raisers

h) Handyman helpers

i) Weekend docents

Please contact Shayne Reardon if you can help out in any way. e-mail: middlesexcanalcomm.jreardon@juno.com or phone: (978) 667-1787

Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting

The Middlesex Canal Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2004 at 2:30pm in the afternoon at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica, MA.

Thomas Raphael, President of the Middlesex Canal Commission, will give an illustrated talk on the “Middlesex Turnpike and its relationship to the Middlesex Canal and the Boston and Lowell Railroad”. Following the close of the American Revolution, although the new nation was ready to expand into the interior, the only transportation system available to support the expansion was along the coast or up the rivers to the limit of navigation. Recognizing this, the state legislatures granted charters to canal and toll road companies who could then build the necessary canals and roads, recovering their investments through the charging of tolls to the users. These lasted until the mid 1800's when the railroad signaled the demise of the toll canals. Interestingly, the toll road is still very much with us today. We will follow the process from the need, the Acts of Legislature, the laying out, the construction, the operation and the demise of the turnpike corporations.

The Museum is handicapped accessible and will be open one hour prior to the lecture for those who would like to browse. For additional information please call 1-978-670-2740. Please join us for this retrospective.

Middlesex Canal Association - Appalachian Mountain Club
Spring Canal Walk

Date: Saturday, May 1, 2004
Time: 1:30pm 
Place: Winchester

Meet at the Sandy Beach parking lot off the Mystic Valley Parkway by the Upper Mystic Lakes in Winchester. The Walk will follow the route of the Canal through parts of Medford and Winchester. Sites along the way include the aqueduct and mooring basin, those segments of the canal bed and berm visible off the parkway, and the stone wall of the Brooks estate, in Medford. We will end this portion of our journey on Boston Avenue at the site of the Mystic River aqueduct, where a canal tavern, inn and locktender’s residence are located. For more information please call Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868) or Bill Gerber (978-251-4971).

Upcoming Events:

Sunday, April 25, 2004 - Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting (Museum)

Saturday, May 1, 2004, starting at 1:30pm - MCA-AMC Spring Walk (Medford/Winchester)

Saturday-Sunday, June 12-13, 2004:  The 3rd Annual RiverFest celebrates the wild and scenic Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers. Over 40 events will take place on or along these nationally recognized rivers west of Boston. Go bird watching at dawn in Carlisle or take a Concord River boat ride in Billerica. If you ar a paddler, try out your scouting skills on the Assabet River RiverQuest, join the 29 mile river relay, or learn about river history on a narrated trip. If you hike, join bird watchers in Lincoln, learn about Thoreau on a walk to Fairhaven Bay, or tour a mill village and the Middlesex Canal Museum. For more information, visit www.sudbury-assabet-concord.org or call 617-223-5225.

Saturday, June 12, 2004: RiverFest

1:00pm   "Walk around the Mill Village" – Join historian Alec Ingraham for narrated walk around the historic mill village (appose. 1.5 miles). Tour includes Middlesex Canal, Talbot and Faulkner Mill historic sites, and restored Railroad Depot. Meet at Middlesex Canal Museum . An indoor slide and lecture presentation if bad weather.

3:00pm   "Three Rivers, One Community" – The SuAsCo Watershed Community Council's informative slide presentation highlights environmental issues facing region, and solutions offered by this group and its partners. Reardon Meeting Room.

4:00pm   "Dillon Bustin in Concert" – One hour before the River Relay ends at the Billerica Dam, the concert will begin at the adjacent Middlesex Canal Museum. Dillon Bustin, Director of the Emerson Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, is renowned for song adaptation of works by Emerson, Melville, and others.

Sunday, June 13, 2004

2:30pm   "The Fordway and Beyond" – The newly protected land between the Billerica Dam and the Pollard Street Bridge in North Billerica was rich in history long before Billerica's founders forded the Concord River there. Walk with archaeologist Curtiss Hoffman around this woodland site; meet at Pollard Street Bridge. Info: CREST -978-667-8692

Fri, Sept 17, 6:00pm:  Free 50's Band Concert at the gazebo area across from the Faulkner Mills next to the Concord Falls. Sponsored by the Faulkner Mills. The Middlesex Canal Museum will be selling hot dogs, drinks, popcorn and candy, all at $1.00 each, to support the Museum. Bring a chair and come watch the concert.

Sat, Sept 18, 12:00 - 4:00pm:   Yankee Doodle Homecoming
Billerica’s annual town celebration. Parade and events behind the High School and at the Museum.

Saturday - Monday, October 9, 10, 11, 2004
Canal Heritage Days (Lowell and No. Billerica)
Schedule of Events 

Middlesex Canal Association Winter Meeting
Sunday, January 30, 2005, 2:30pm

The Winter Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association will be held at the Middlesex Canal Museum at 71 Faulkner Street in North Billerica, Massachusetts on Sunday, January 30 at 2:30 in the afternoon. The Museum is handicapped accessible.

Our Speaker for the afternoon will be Michael Tougias, author of 14 books about New England. He will present a narrated slide presentation titled "Four Hundred Miles Down the Connecticut River". Tougias will take the viewer down the entire 410 miles of the Connecticut River discussing nature, history, adventure and the canals along the River.

Please join us for the afternoon. Refreshments will be served.

You can read more about our speaker at http://www.michaeltougias.com.

Middlesex Canal Museum,  71 Faulkner St. at the Faulkner Mills,  N. Billerica MA 01862

Baldwin Mansion Slide Show Presentation
Wednesday, March 9, 2005, 7:00pm at the Baldwin Mansion (Routes 128 & 38)

A slide show lecture will be given by Tom Smith in the “Long Room” on the second floor of the Baldwin Mansion on March 9th at 7:00pm and will illustrate the history of Woburn’s famous Baldwin family and the moving of the historic building to its current site. The slide show lecture is free to the public. The Woburn Historical Commission is sponsoring it to help educate and raise the awareness of the importance of preservation in the Woburn community. Please join us for an evening of history and perhaps stay afterwards for dinner afterwards with friends. – John Ciriello

Spring Tea
Saturday, March 19, 2005, 1:00-4:00pm at the Museum

This year’s tea is focused on the Town of Billerica’s 350th Anniversary. The Middlesex Canal was a vital part of commerce in Billerica during the early 1800’s.

We are having a Bingo Game where instead of letters and numbers the Bingo Board will have items related to Billerica (historic buildings, places, people, transportation, current traditional events, etc.) The bingo winners will be given various prizes from which to choose.

The entertainment will be a High School Senior Violinist, Modern Jazz Dance Routine by two Middle School girls. Two girls will sing.

We will have a variety of Raffle Items that we are now collecting. There will be a hand made afghan. All the desserts and sandwiches will be hand made.

Middlesex Canal Museum,  71 Faulkner St. at the Faulkner Mills,  N. Billerica MA 01862

Fall Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association

The Fall Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association will be held at the Middlesex Canal Museum at 71 Faulkner Street in North Billerica, Massachusetts on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 2:00 in the afternoon. The Museum is handicapped accessible.

Our Speaker for the afternoon will be Bill Gerber, Vice President of the Middlesex Canal Association. Bill has been actively researching the kind of boats used on the canal. He has a special interest in the fact that several histories of the Middlesex Canal imply that steamboats were tried but were not successful, and the idea was abandoned. He disagrees with the earlier historians. He finds the tale more interesting as he prepares for the lecture.

Please join us for the afternoon. Refreshments will be served.

WINTER MEETING
MIDDLESEX CANAL ASSOCIATION
Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:30pm

The Middlesex Canal Association will hold its winter meeting - “The Patowmack Canal” - at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 2:30pm. It is handicapped accessible.

Recently Dave Dettinger, one of our Directors, stumbled across an article in a 1987 National Geographic Magazine about an early canal using the Potomac River to connect Georgetown, Virginia (now part of Washington, D.C.) with Fort Cumberland, Maryland. He recalled having viewed it briefly during a tour of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal which paralleled and later supplanted it. Dave proposed a lecture and later volunteered to prepare it himself. He reports finding not only some fascinating technical developments but also a record of political involvement that led directly to the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

There will be refreshments after the lecture. We welcome you to join us. For additional information: 978-670-2740.

ANNUAL SPRING TEA – Sunday, March 19, 2006

The annual Spring Tea will be held from 1-4pm on Sunday, March 19, 2006 at the Middlesex Canal Museum, 71 Faulkner St., North Billerica. MA. Back by popular demand, we plan a lovely Sunday afternoon with party games, raffles, and delicious sweet and savory morsels - and of course tea! The cost is $8 for seniors and children and $10 for adults. Please join us! For more information; call 978-670-2740.

Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting – Sunday, May 7, 2006

The Middlesex Canal Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, May 7, 2006 at 2:30pm in the afternoon at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica, MA.

We invite you to hear our guest speaker Dr. Paul Hudon “From the Way Back to the Way Forward”. This is a power point presentation by the Relevance Company on the past and future of the Merrimack River and its watershed. The story begins in the way back - 20,000 years ago with the Wisconsin glacier and the formation of the Merrimack watershed: it ends in the way forward - with the proposal that we build an e/brain to manage the watershed. In between, Dr. Hudon, author of “Lower Merrimack: The Valley and its Peoples”, will survey 9000 years of human habitation in the region. In modern times, the pace of change has been astonishing. After 1790, in less than a century, the river was organized as a grandly improved commercial highway and as a world class engine of industrial power.

The Museum is handicapped accessible and will be open one hour prior to the lecture for those who would like to browse. For additional information please call 1-978-670-2740. Please join us for this retrospective.

45th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Fall Walk

Date and Time: Sunday, October 29, 2006, 1:30pm
Place: Medford/Winchester
Info: Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868), Bill Gerber (978-251-4971)

Directions: Meet at the Sandy Beach parking lot off the Mystic Valley Parkway by the Upper Mystic Lakes in Winchester. The walk will follow the route of the Middlesex Canal through parts of Medford and Winchester. Sites along the way include the aqueduct and mooring basin, those segments of the canal bed and berm visible off the parkway, and the stone wall of the Brooks estate, in Medford.

This walk is jointly listed as a Local Walk of the Boston Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).

Middlesex Canal Association Winter Meeting

Date and Time: Sunday, January 28, 2007, 2:30pm
Location: Middlesex Canal Museum/Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner St., N. Billerica
Program: “Two Weeks on the Canal du Midi” - Nolan Jones

The Canal du Midi was built in the 1680s creating a waterway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic across southern France. Joan and Nolan Jones took this trip in 1993. The terrain was delightful and the food was great. There are several unique features of that canal -- oval locks (designed by Leonardo daVinci), a Roman villa, and eight lock staircase, a “water slope”, and a flood protection device.

Canal Symposium planned

EASTON - The 26th annual Canal History and Technology Symposium will be held Saturday, March 17, 2007, at the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business Administration at Lafayette College. Sponsored by the National Canal Museum and Lafayette College, this event features the presentation of research papers on topics of transportation and industrial history.

Topics to be presented include: “Locks and Canals of the Merrimack River” by William E. Gerber; “Canals at Cohoes: Waterpower and Navigation” by Thomas X. Grasso; “The Shenandoah River Navigation and the New Shenandoah Company: 1790-1890” by Robert J. Kapsch; “Adoption of European Engineering Innovations to Create a Modern American Commercial Inland Navigation System” by Emory L. Kemp, “Design Evolution: Reconstructed Timber Swing Bridges on the Rideau Canal” and “Reconstructing Timber Bridges at Parks Canada” by Robert W. Passfield; “Coping with the Elements and Chicago on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 1848-1943” by John Thompson.

The complete text of the selected papers is published in the Canal History and Technology Proceedings, which is part of the registration package. Registration for the symposium, which includes continental breakfast, buffet lunch, open house at the National Canal Museum and a copy of the Proceedings, is $60 ($54 for members of Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museums). All registrations received after March 2 will incur a $5 late fee. Registrations will be accepted until March 9. Individual copies of the Proceedings can be purchased after the Symposium for $19.50 (plus tax and shipping).

If you would like a registration form for the Symposium, contact the National Canal Museum at 610-559-6616 or e-mail membership@canals.org.

Annual Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association - April 28, 2007

The Annual Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association will be held at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner St, North Billerica, on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 2:30pm.

Our speaker will be Bill Gerber, our Vice President, who will explain the canal system in our area. The presentation will summarize the actions of multiple independent companies which by 1815 produced a network of more than 120 miles of canals and navigable waterways to serve commerce and industry in eastern Massachusetts and south central New Hampshire. This will be accompanied by a slide presentation describing the Merrimack River as a component of that network and showing what remains of the system today.

There will be a special thank you to Susan Keats and Tom Raphael whose two year effort compiling the entire Middlesex Canal for presentation and inclusion into the National Historic Registry has been completed and sent to Washington for final approval. This has involved an extraordinary amount of time and dedication.

Please join us for an enjoyable afternoon.
Additional information: 978-670-2740 and middlesexcanal.org.

Joint Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and Middlesex Canal Association (MCA) - Spring Canal Walk

Date: Sunday, April 29, 2007
Time: 1:30pm
Place: North Billerica

Our Spring walk will originate at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center at the Faulkner Mills on Faulkner St. in North Billerica. The Museum and Visitor Center will be open from 12 noon to 4pm. Our bookstore will be open as well. The walk will cover the route of the canal south of the mills. Sites will include a lock, the anchors for the floating towpath bridge which once crossed the Concord River Mill Pond, and many stretches of watered canal. The walk will cover about 4-5 miles over generally level wooded terrain and streets in about 2-3 hours, rain or shine.

Directions: From Route 3 , take exit 28, Treble Cove Rd. At end of ramp turn left toward North Billerica. At about 3/4 mile bear left at fork and pass through traffic light crossing Route 3A. Follow the winding road then pass St. Andrews Church on left. Bear right as you approach the mills and follow Faulkner St. around the mills, crossing the bridge at the dam. Turn right immediately and park at the lot on the right just after the dam. The Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor center is directly across the street.

For more information call walk leaders:
Bill Gerber (978-251-4971) or Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868). Please check out our web site www.middlesexcanal.org.

Walking Tour to Mark 200th Anniversary of Manchester’s Blodget Canal - June 3, 2007

Manchester, NH – On Sunday, June 3, the Manchester Historic Association will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the completion of Samuel Blodget’s famous canal along Amoskeag Falls with a special walking tour, Power & Transportation in the Millyard. Participants will learn about the history of this transportation canal and its colorful builder, who foresaw that “here, at my canal, will be a manufacturing town that shall be the Manchester of America.” In 1807 the town of Derryfield was renamed Manchester (after the great manufacturing city of Manchester, England), in Blodget’s honor. Tour participants will also learn about the power canals of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, and the tour will explore the importance to the local economy of the Merrimack River and Amoskeag Falls over the past 250 years. As 2007 is also the 200th anniversary of Blodget’s death, the tour will pause at the former site of his home to remember the important contributions he made to the development of Manchester. The walk will be led by Aurore Eaton, MHA Public Program Coordinator.

The tour will take place on Sunday, June 3, from 1:30-3:30pm starting at the upper parking lot at PSNH Energy Park at the north end of Commercial Street in Manchester. The fee is $10 for the general public, and $8 for members of the MHA. Pre-paid reservations are required by calling (603) 622-7531.

For more information call the Millyard Museum at (603) 622-7531 or visit the website www.manchesterhistoric.org.

Feb 23, 2008- Society for Industrial Archaeology/NE, Tom Raphael’s presentation “Middlesex Canal Restoration Plans”. The Middlesex Canal Commission was formed to “return the canal to public use. 12 miles of intact canal segments remain. The first preservation and reconstruction project is at the 25% design stage, has the funds to complete the permitting and design, and to start construction. The Call for Papers may be viewed at http://www.snecsia.org/NEConfPaperCall.html. The complete SIA/NE agenda is not yet available.

Mar 1, 2008- Canal Society of New York - Winter Symposium.  Complete agenda and registration 

Apr 6, 2008 - Middlesex Canal Museum - Historic Railroad and Model Train Show, 10am to 4pm. Includes working exhibits, lectures, vendors and raffle. Low entrance fee.

Apr 18-20, 2008 - Pennsylvania Canal Society, Field Trip to the Lower Delaware Canal. Leader: Veron Wiegand. Accommodations at the Holiday Inn Select in Trevose, PA. For information, contact Susan Taylor, 215-892-2021; e-mail <fodc@eorls.com>.

Apr 26, 2008 - Joint Middlesex Canal Association - Appalachian Mountain Club Spring Canal Walk
Saturday, April 26, 2008, 1:30pm; Wilmington, MA. Walk a rural canal section from near the Wilmington Town Park to Patch's Pond, once a canal basin. Examine grooves worn in a boulder by towropes as boats wound around the Ox Bow; also the remains of Maple Meadow Brook Aqueduct, and a quarry used in its construction. For more information see our web site: www.middlesexcanal.org or contact: Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868) or Robert Winters (617-661-9230, robert@middlesexcanal.org). Directions: From Route 128/95 take exit 35 in Woburn. Follow Route 38 (Main St.) north 2.4 miles to the Wilmington Town Park on the left just prior to the railroad overpass.

View Larger Map

May 4, 2008 - Middlesex Canal Association, Annual Meeting, will be held at the Middlesex Canal Museum beginning at 1;30 PM. Lance Metz, National Canal Museum historian and featured speaker, will show recently acquired films of the Delaware Canal in operation. Also, Tom Raphael will repeat his talk to the SIA (see Feb 23, above.) Refreshments will be served following the meeting.

May 17, 2008 - Canal Society of New Jersey, Field Trip to the Union Canal Tunnel & Lebanon County Historical Society’s Canal Festival. A National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, the 600-foot-long Union Canal tunnel, cut through solid rock, was an early 19th-century link between Reading and Harrisburg. It is the oldest existing transportation tunnel in the US. A 100-acre park and a scenic water-filled section of the canal surround the tunnel, and guided boat rides pass through. The festival includes vendors, craft demonstrations, live musical entertainment, sheep shearing, antiques of the canal era, carriage rides, canoe rentals, and an evening barbeque. The cost of this one-day trip will be approximately $45 per person, including the bus from Morristown and the evening barbeque. Lunch is on your own from vendor booths. The guided boat ride costs an extra $6 per person. To reserve a space call Mark Hamill at 908-561-1250.

May 17, 2008 - Society for Industrial Archaeology/NE, Tour, Cumberland & Oxford Canal, Maine.   Details and directions     Background

Calendar of Middlesex Canal Association and Related Events

June 28 to Aug 23, 2008 - 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.

Sept 7, 2008 (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 14 to 17, 2008 - World Canals Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For an agenda & leads to registration and accommodation information, see www.intertaskconferences.com/canals2008/canals_E_program.html.

Sept 20, 2008 - Waterloo Heritage Day, Morris Canal, Stanhope, NJ; 11-4. 908-722-9556.

Oct 3-5, 2008 - Canal Society of Ohio trip to the Ohio & Erie Canal’s Akron/Portage Lakes section; see new parts of the Towpath Trail. HQ: Akron Quality Inn. Contact Larry Turner at 330-658-8344 or towpathturner@aol.com.

Oct 4, 2008 - Geology hike in the C&O Canal’s Great Falls & Billy Goat trail area. nancymadeoy@aol.com or 703-723-6884.

Oct 5-7, 2008 - New York State Canal Conference, Grand Island (near Buffalo), NY; rivers@riversorg.com; 585-586-6906; www.canalsnys.org.

Oct 10 to 12, 2008 - Canal Society of Indiana Fall Field Trip to the Cross-Cut Canal & Greene County, Indiana. Contact Carolyn and Bob Schmidt, 5909 Chase Creek Court, Fort Wayne, IN 46804; 260-432-0279; indcanal@aol.com.

Oct 11 & 25, 2008 - Waterloo Heritage Day, Morris Canal, Stanhope, NJ; 11-4. 908-722-9556.

Oct 13 to 18, 2008 - Chesapeake & Ohio Canal through bike ride, Cumberland to Georgetown. Contact Tom Perry at 301-223-7010.

Oct 17-19, 2008 - 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.

Oct 24-26, 2008 - CSNYS trip to the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. Michele Beilman, mbeilman@twcny.rr.com; 315-730-4495.

Sept 6 to Nov 23, 2008 - The Middlesex Canal Museum will be open, Sat & Sun, 12 to 4pm, between these dates.

Nov 15, 2008 - Geology hike in the Point of Rocks area, C&O Canal. 703-723-6884 or nancymadeoy@aol.com.

Nov 23, 2008 - Continuing hike series, 10:30 am, Goose Creek Navigation System, south of Leesburg, Va. Contact Pat White, 301-977-5628 or hikemaster@candocanal.org.

Dec 13-14, 2008 - "Civil War Event 2008" will be held at the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center in Savannah, Georgia. Activities will include a Civil War encampment and reenactment of events that took place at the Canal in 1864 during Sherman's March to the Sea. There will be period craftsmen, tours of historic Locks 5 & 6, children's activities and sales of food and gift items. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children 4-12. For more information, please call (912) 748-8068 or e-mail info@savannahogeecheecanal.com.

Dec 31, 2008 & Jan 1, 2009 - New Year's Eve and New Year's Day hikes along the C&O Canal. Details to be announced. Check the website, candocanal.org.

WINTER MEETING OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL ASSOCIATION - Sunday, February 8, 2009

Our Winter meeting will be held at 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon, February 8, 2009 in the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center at 71 Faulkner Street in North Billerica, MA.

Our meeting will center around the Town of Medford, one of the nine Towns through which the Middlesex Canal traversed.

Medford during its heyday was a major ship producer employing two to three thousand workers in at least 13 separate firms. The wealth accumulated by these shipbuilders and the need for cheap wood from the undeveloped forests of New Hampshire offered backing for the construction of the canal. Medford historian, Dee Morris, will be our main speaker as she brings to life facts about this interesting story in "The Shipbuilders of Medford".

The initial planning for the Middlesex Canal Corporation took place in the Blanchard Tavern in Medford which was captured beautifully by David Dettinger's play, snippets of which will be shown. Initially there were plans for the canal to end in Medford at the tidal Mystic River but final plans completed the canal in Charlestown at the Charles River. Medford was given a short branch canal to supply logs to the shipping trade.

Please join us for an interesting afternoon. Refreshments will be served. We are handicapped accessible.

Questions: 978-670-2740 or visit our website at middlesexcanal.org.    Flyer for the meeting (PDF)

Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Canal Society of New York, Winter Symposium at Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY. See www.canalsnys.org for details.

Saturday, March 14, 2009 - Canal History and Technology Symposium. The 28th annual Canal History and Technology Symposium will be held at the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business Administration, Lafayette College, Easton PA. See www.canals.org for details.

Friday-Sunday, April 3-5, 2009 - Pennsylvania Canal Society Spring Field Trip - Middle and Eastern Divisions of the Sandy and Beaver Canal. Info: Dan Schuster, (440) 237-9003.

April 4 through end of May 2009 - Whitewater rafting will resume on the Concord River, in Lowell Massachusetts, beginning on April 4th, 2009, and continuing on weekends through April and May. There will be two “sessions” each day, one at 9am and the second at 1pm. Each session provides two runs over the same stretch of the river, each including 'drops' through three significant (Class III and IV) falls/rapids. If of interest, please visit www.lowelllandtrust.org for more information or call 800-532-7483 to make an early reservation.

At the end of each whitewater rafting session, the rafts need to be 'locked-up' through Warren Locks (a.k.a. Lower Locks or Concord Locks) of the Pawtucket Canal, from the Concord River level to the level of the patio behind the Double Tree Hotel. Lock tenders are needed, twice a day, to effect the raft ascents through the locks. To provide the necessary lock tenders, Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust (LP&CT) will conduct a Lock Tender Training session for volunteers, beginning at 9am on April 4th, at Warren Locks, located behind the hotel. This is an excellent opportunity for canal aficionados to gain first-hand experience with the operation of a “legacy” (early, primitive, wickets-in-gates) two-lock staircase. If of interest, please visit www.lowelllandtrust.org/Volunteer.html for more information and/or call the LP&CT office at 978-934-0030, ext. 3 to volunteer.

Middlesex Canal Prism
75 ft. Buffer

Sun, May 3, 2009, 2:00pm -- Annual Meeting of the MCA, at the Middlesex Canal Museum, 71 Faulkner Street in North Billerica. Dave Barber, Professional Engineer, President of the American Canal Society and former director of the MCA, will talk about “Restorable Canals”. Tom Raphael, Director of the Middlesex Canal Commission will also discuss efforts to preserve and transform segments of the Middlesex Canal.

May 9, 2009 – Hands Along the D&R Canal for its 175th anniversary; 10am; handsalongthecanal2009@yahoo.com; 732-340-1411; pick a spot and celebrate the canal's anniversary.

May 9, 2009 – Spring canoe trip through the historic Santee Canal. Learn about the plants and animals in the swamp. 1pm-3pm; $15; pre-register by May 13th; meet at the Interpretive Center. Contact: Brad Sale, Old Santee Canal Park, 900 Stony Landing Road, Moncks Corner, SC 29461; 843-899-5200; parkinfo@santeecooper.com; www.oldsanteecanalpark.org.

May 16, 2009 – Canal Authors Extravaganza to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the opening of the D&R Canal; Griggstown, NJ. For details, contact Linda Barth at 908-722-7428 or barths@att.net.

May 16-17, 2009 – Two one-day canoe trips on the Monocacy River. Bill Burton, 703-801-0963; billburton@earthlink.net.

June 7, 2009 – Garden Party at the Port Mercer Canal House & Canoe the Canal Day on Lawrence (NJ) Canal Day. Boating on the canal followed by ice cream, music and tours at the historic Port Mercer Canal House. Call 609-844-7067 to reserve a canoe through the township and join other paddlers between 1-4.

June 27, 2009 – Waterloo Canal Day, Waterloo Village on the Morris Canal, Byram, NJ; Canal Society of New Jersey, 11-4. Free admission and boat ride. Food, sales items. Museum open. 908-722-9556. www.canalsocietynj.org.

June 27-28, 2009 – Heritage Tour Days, Monocacy Aqueduct, C&O Canal.

June 28-29, 2009 – Two-day Mississippi River cruise -- a fundraiser for the Canal Society of Indiana. Interested? Contact Bob and Carolyn Schmidt, 260-432-0279; indcanal@aol.com.

June 28-27, 2009 – Schuylkill Canal Day; 9-4 at Lock 60. A day of family fun with much excitement. 610-917-0021; info@schuylkillcanal.com.

August 22, 2009 – Wharton (NJ) Canal Day. Boat rides on the Morris Canal. Boat rides, canal lecture, vendors, food. 908-722-9556; www.canalsocietynj.org.

August 30, 2009 – D&R Canal's 175th anniversary picnic at Prallsville Mills, near Stockton, New Jersey; 609-397-3586.

September 12-13, 2009 – South Bound Brook (NJ) Canal Days on the D&R Canal. Boat rides, lectures, Abe Lincoln, and much more. www.staatshouse.org; 732-469-5836; info@staatshouse.org.

September 23-25, 2009 – World Canals Conference, Belgrade, Serbia. Preconference trip, Sept 21-22; post-conference trip, Sept. 26-27. Contact: www.worldcanalsconference.org.

Sun, Oct 18, 2009 - MCA-AMC Fall Walk. Middlesex Canal, N. Billerica. Level 5-mi. walk along historic canal N to Chelmsford, 1:30-4pm. From Rte. 95/128, take Rte. 3 N to exit 28, Treble Cove Rd., L towards N. Billerica 1.7 mi., L on Rte. 3A/129 0.7 mi., R on Lowell St. 0.7 mi. becomes Faulkner St., cross river at Faulkner Mills, R into pkg. lot opp. Middlesex Canal Museum (opens at noon). No reg. Joint w/Middlesex Canal Assoc. Info: www.middlesexcanal.org or Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868). L Robert Winters (617-661-9230; robert@middlesexcanal.org).

Oct 18, 2009 update - In spite of poor weather, MCA Board member and videomeister Roger Hagopian (right) led eight intrepid souls along the canal route in the rain and snow. Speaking of intrepid souls, check out the footwear of the fellow next to Roger!

Sun, Nov 8, 2009 - MCA FALL MEETING to be held on Sunday, November 8 at 2:00pm at the Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center at 71 Faulkner Rd in North Billerica. David Dettinger, a Director of the MCA and author of the definitive study of the Canal in Boston will introduce the primary speaker, Duane Lucia. Mr. Lucia, President of the West End Civic Association is an aficionado of Charles Bulfinch, Boston's most famous architect and designer of the Bulfinch Triangle. Together they will give a lively presentation titled "When Boston was Cut in Two". Please join us.