Canal Heritage Days 2004

Saturday, October 9
10:00am	Arrival; Coffee & light snack available at Gazebo Cafe
10:30am	Welcoming Remarks
	Nolan Jones, President Middlesex Canal Association Gray Fitzsimons, Historian, Lowell National Historical Park Location: Stevens Court, American Textile History Museum
11:00-11:45am	Keynote Address: “A Future for Yesterday’s Canals”
	American Canal Society President Dave Barber will talk about the 19-century canal systems in the United States and the United Kingdom, what is happening in the UK and Canada today, and the progress and possibilities in the U.S. Dave Barber, President, American Canal Society Stevens Court, American Textile History Museum
11:45am	Lunch on your own at Gazebo Café
1:00pm	Three Months and One Week on the Erie Canal
	Join Park Ranger Phil Lupsiewicz for a presentation highlighting his experiences working on the Erie Canal as well as his adventures with his family on a canal boat vacation. Phil Lupsiewicz, Lowell National Historical Park Boott Events Center, 2nd Floor, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
2:15pm	James B. Francis; the Engineer as Hero
	Learn about the man who built the Great Gate that “saved the city of Lowell.” Join historian Jane Sciacca as she discusses the Chief Engineer of the Proprietors of Locks and Canals, his work, and his role in the 1852 flood. Jane Sciacca, Historian Boott Events Center, 2nd Floor, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
3:30pm	New Jersey Canals
	Bob Barth, Canal Society of New Jersey Boott Events Center, 2nd Floor, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
3:30pm	The Lawrence Canals
	Pat Jaysane, Lawrence History Center Conference Room A, 5th Floor, Boott Cotton Mills Museum

Sunday, October 10
10:00am	Overview of the Middlesex Canal
	Dave Dettinger Reardon Room, Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center
10:45am	Canal as it is Today
	Nolan Jones, President, Middlesex Canal Association Reardon Room, Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center
12:00noon	Box lunch available (approx. $5.00) Home Cookin’ Café
12:30-1:00pm	Paul Wiggin, Canal Troubadour Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center
1:00-2:00pm	Mill Village Narrated Walking Tour
	Join a walking tour of historical North Billerica Mill Village area. The tour includes sites important to the history of the Middlesex Canal as well as the Talbot and Faulkner Mills and the restored North Billerica Railroad Depot. Approximately 1-1/2 miles (1 hour). This tour is not suggested for visitors requiring wheelchair access. Alec Ingraham, Historian Meet at the Middlesex Canal Museum
2:00-3:00pm	The Concord and Merrimack Rivers
	Kevin Gilligan, Concord River Environmental Stream Steam Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center
3:00-3:30pm	Artifacts Uncovered in Tay Tavern, Woburn
	John Ciriello Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center
3:30-4:00pm	Patch’s Pond, Wilmington, MA
	Betty Bigwood Reardon Room, Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center

Saturday, October 9
9:00am - 3:00pm	Historic Bicycle Tour of Southern Portion of the Middlesex Canal The Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and the Middlesex Canal Association will celebrate Canal Days with an historic bicycle tour of the southern portion of the Middlesex Canal. The ride will meet at the Canal marker on the Sullivan Square MBTA station at 9:00am. From there we will ride about 27 miles to the Canal Museum on the Millpond in North Billerica. The route is pretty flat and level and we will average 5 miles per hour, so the ride will be an easy one for almost any cyclist. Along the way we will stop at a number of remnants and restored sections of the Canal, as well as the Mansion of Loammi Baldwin, the chief engineer of the Canal (who discovered the Baldwin apple while building the Canal), the two remaining aqueducts (which carried the Canal over rivers and brooks), and the northern end of the floating towpath that carried horses over the Millpond. We will make a lunch stop in Woburn. We recommend that you bring a lunch, but it will be possible to buy a sandwich there. We should get to North Billerica in time to catch the 3:07pm train back to Boston. Those who want to stay longer can visit the Middlesex Canal Museum and catch the 5:07pm train. The ride will be led by Dick Bauer of the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and Robert Winters of the Middlesex Canal Association, and will go ahead rain or shine. For more information, contact Dick at dick.bauer@alum.mit.edu (617-628-6320) or Robert at robert@middlesexcanal.org (617-661-9230). Meet at the Canal marker on the Sullivan Square MBTA station at 9:00am. Cue Sheet for the ride
11:00am 12:00noon 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm	Pawtucket to the River Tour This 90-minute tour travels by foot, trolley and boat along the Pawtucket Canal to Francis Gate, through Guard Locks and onto the Merrimack River. Discover how the demand for waterpower forever changed the river. Reservations required. Regular fees apply. Lowell National Historical Park Rangers Visitor Center, Lowell National Historical Park

Sunday, October 10
11:00am 12:00noon 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm	Pawtucket to the River Tour (See description above)
1:00pm	Mill Village Narrated Walking Tour
	Join a walking tour of historical North Billerica Mill Village area. The tour includes sites important to the history of the Middlesex Canal as well as the Talbot and Faulkner Mills and the restored North Billerica Railroad Depot. Approximately 1-1/2 miles (1 hour). This tour is not suggested for visitors requiring wheelchair access. Alec Ingraham, Historian Meet at the Middlesex Canal Museum
1:30pm	Bicycle Ride to Historic Mill Village
	Ten-mile bicycle ride follows the Riverwalk to Pawtucket Falls, and continues upriver to the northern end of the Middlesex Canal. The ride will trace remnants of the canal to the Historic Mill Village of North Billerica. The ride officially ends in North Billerica at the Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center which will be open. There are a number of interesting sites in the Mill Village. Riders can return to Lowell by train from the historic North Billerica depot at 4:36. The train allows bicycles, costs $2.25, and takes 7 minutes. This ride is for all abilities and there will be frequent stops for viewing sites. Helmets are mandatory, and be sure to pump up your tires. Bicycles can be rented at Atlas Sporting Goods, 25 Bridge Street in Lowell (978-446-1240). Bill Kuttner, Transportation Planner and Volunteer Tour Guide at several historic sites in Boston Meet at Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center
1:30pm	Short Bicycle Ride within Lowell
	Six-mile bicycle ride travels with the ten-mile riders as far as the Francis Gate on the Pawtucket Canal. Riders may have an opportunity to help operate the locks for a canal boat tour. Riders then return to Visitor Center, probably around 3 PM. Most of the route is on recreational paths, though a short span of street riding is necessary. This ride is for all abilities and there will be frequent stops to view sites. Helmets are mandatory, and be sure to pump up your tires. Bicycles can be rented at Atlas Sporting Goods, 25 Bridge Street in Lowell (978-446-1240). Bill Kuttner, Transportation Planner and Volunteer Tour Guide at several historic sites in Boston Meet at Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center
3:00pm	Lowell’s Canalway and Riverwalk
	Learn about the development of Lowell’s Canalway and Riverwalk as you explore the Inner Loop and sections of the Riverwalk. Chuck Parrott, Architect, Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, Lowell National Historical Park

Monday, October 11
11:00am 12:00noon 2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm	Pawtucket to the River Tour (See description above)

Lowell: Visions of Industrial America
	Learn about the people and technologies that transformed Lowell into an early industrial city. Follow the stories of the city’s workers—from the early years of the textile industry to the mills’ closings and the reinvention of the city of Lowell. Regular museum fees apply. Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 400 Foot of John Street, Lowell. Open 9:30am – 5:00pm daily.
Mill Girls & Immigrants Exhibit
	Visit a restored boardinghouse from the 1830s and get a glimpse into the home life of a Yankee “mill girl.” This exhibit tells the human story of the Industrial Revolution by concentrating on the working people of Lowell. Free. Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center, French Street, Lowell Open 1:00pm – 5:00pm daily.
Textiles in America
	Visitors are encouraged to take self-guided tours of “Textiles in America” to see water power in action in the 1820s fulling mill and the 1870s woolen mill. Families will have fun building miniature canal boats in the ATHM lobby throughout the day, and visiting the Textile Learning Center (TLC) for more hands-on activities. The Gazebo Café will be open for coffee and muffins at 10am and for lunch at 11:30am. Regular ATHM hours and admission fees apply. No reservations required. American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton Street, Lowell Open 9:00am – 5:00pm. Tuesday-Friday Open 10:00am – 5:00pm Saturday, Sunday Closed Mondays.
Ye Olde Middlesex Canal
	Learn about the history of the Middlesex Canal, its role in America’s Industrial Revolution, and its impact on the early commercial viability of New England. Explore the lives of some of the influential founders of the canal and prominent industrialists of the 19th century. The exhibit is filled with maps, drawings, artifacts, and other fascinating reminders of an era and a technology that helped to shape the world we live in today. Middlesex Canal Museum – Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica. Open 12:00 – 4:00pm. Saturday; 10:00am – 4:00pm. Sunday. Closed Monday-Friday. Free.

Saturday, October 9
Waterpower Workshop	Design, build and operate a canal system just as the Proprietors of Locks and Canals did in Lowell over 200 years ago. All participants will get hands-on canal building experience (no previous experience required). Be ready to have a great time and maybe get a little wet! Free. Tsongas Industrial History Center, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Weaving Cloth	Learn about the different steps used to make cloth by hand as it was done on the farms throughout New England before the Industrial Revolution. Get a hand-on weaving experience and weave a sampler of different patterns on a four-harness loom. Free. Tsongas Industrial History Center, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Boott Discovery Trail	Children of all ages can pick up their work aprons and time cards at the museum entrance and through hands-on activities explore how cotton cloth was made from raw fiber to finished cloth. Experience the roar of a 1920s weave room and learn what working in a textile mill was like. Free with museum admission. 9:30am – 5:00pm Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Textile Learning Center	Families will have fun building miniature canal boats in the American Textile History Museum lobby throughout the day, and visiting the Textile Learning Center (TLC) for more hands-on activities. American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton Street, Lowell Open 10:00am – 5:00pm Regular museum fees apply.

Sunday, October 10
On-going	Scavenger Hunt Drawing area “What is a canal to you?” mural Tabletop weaving area Make a canal boat Middlesex Canal Museum – Visitor Center, 71 Faulkner Street, North Billerica. Open 12:00-4:00pm Saturday; 10:00am – 4:00pm. Sunday. Free.
Boott Discovery Trail	Children of all ages can pick up their work aprons and time cards at the museum entrance and through hands-on activities explore how cotton cloth was made from raw fiber to finished cloth. Experience the roar of a 1920s weave room and learn what working in a textile mill was like. Free with museum admission. 9:30am – 5:00pm Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Textile Learning Center	Families will have fun building miniature canal boats in the American Textile History Museum lobby throughout the day, and visiting the Textile Learning Center (TLC) for more hands-on activities. American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton Street, Lowell Open 10:00am – 5:00pm Regular museum fees apply.
Celebrate Canal Heritage Days with a tour of the Spalding House, the second oldest colonial home, c. 1760, in Lowell!	Formerly known as the Davis Inn, the Spalding House, welcomed barge workers navigating around the Pawtucket Falls on their journey to Boston before the canals were constructed. After the canals were dug and the need for an Inn ceased, the house was owned by three generations of the Spalding Family. The Molly Varnum Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution used the house for its meetings for over 90 years. The Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust assumed ownership in 1996 and is currently undertaking its restoration. The Trust received a 2000 Preservation Award from the Massachusetts Historical Commission for the exterior restoration of the Spalding House. Saturday, October 9, 10:00am – 12:00pm. Free. 383 Pawtucket Street, Lowell.