A Video Journey Along The Middlesex Canal
The American canals of the early 19th-century linked the coastal river cities to the resources of the interior. The first of these, the Middlesex Canal, is explored through video, using scenes and maps of the period, with a historical narrative guiding the viewer along the route of the canal, past and present, from Boston to Lowell.
10:00 a.m., Visitor Center Theater
Roger Hagopian, Narrator and Board Member, Middlesex Canal Association"Rivers of Inspiration"
Meet Lowell factory owner Nathan Appleton and his daughter Fanny Appleton Longfellow as they return to the city of spindles. Learn how New England rivers inspired both industrialists and poets during the 19th century.
11:30 a.m., Visitor Center Theater
2:00 p.m., Boott Events Center
Kelly Fellner, Supervisory Park Ranger, Nancy Jones, National Park Guide, Paul Blandford, National Park Guide, Longfellow National Historical Site, Cambridge, MAThe Middlesex Canal Today
The Middlesex Canal was one of the first successful efforts at inter-regional transportation. Today much of the canal that linked the Merrimack River and the Charles River remains hidden. Take a tour of the remnants of the Middlesex Canal through slides and aerial photography.
1:00 p.m., Visitor Center Theater
Nolan Jones, President, Middlesex Canal AssociationThe Blackstone River Valley and Its Canal
Finding evidence of the Blackstone Canal between Worcester and Providence can be a challenge, but it's there! Discover the history of this transportation route that established Worcester, Massachusetts as an inland port. Today, the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor works in partnership with many state and local organizations to preserve the resources and tell the story of the Blackstone Valley and the canal's role in it.
2:30 p.m., Visitor Center Theater
Sue Andrews, Chief of Interpretation, John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage CorridorSongs of Freedom in the Brotherhood of Man: Music of the Hutchinson Family Singers
Probably the most popular American singing group of the 1840s & '50s, the Hutchinson Family Singers, performed many times in Lowell. Unlike many other performers of their day, the Hutchinson Family Singers wrote their own songs reflecting the major social, intellectual, and political movements of the times.
4:00 p.m., Visitor Center Theater
David Farewell, Guitar, Paul Harty, Guitar and Violin, and Lisa Huth, HarmoniumFrederick Law Olmsted & The Massachusetts Legacy
The firm Frederick Law Olmsted, founded over a century ago, was involved in over 1,200 landscape architecture projects throughout Massachusetts, ranging from expansive 500-acre public parks to intimate private gardens. One of its greatest achievements is a six-mile "emerald necklace" of ponds, parks, and parkways that winds its way through Boston. This one-hour slide lecture will sample this rich landscape legacy and explore the ideas that shaped some of the most treasured lands in Massachusetts.
12:30 p.m., Boott Events Center
Alan Banks, Supervisory Park Ranger, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Park, Brookline, MA"Lowell Underground"
A look at the interesting features that survive from Lowell's great age of hydropower. This slide presentation explores Lowell's 5.6 miles of power canals, including penstocks, raceways and turbine pits.
3:30 p.m., Boott Events Center, 2nd floor, Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Dave Redding, Supervisory Park Ranger, Lowell National Historical ParkThe Future of the Old Middlesex Canal
The Middlesex Canal was America's first regional canal. Other waterways, including the Erie Canal in New York, were modeled on the Middlesex Canal. After the Middlesex Canal closed in 1850, parts of it were abandoned, filled in, and paved over. Today, the Middlesex Canal Commission has plans to preserve the remnants of the canal for future generations to see. Join this talk to find out about the future of the Middlesex Canal.
2:00 p.m.; Visitor Center
Tom Raphael, President, Middlesex Canal CommissionBlacksmithing Demonstration
Before machinists, blacksmiths who used techniques passed down from one generation to another made most tools. Blacksmiths employed by the mills and the Proprietors of Locks and Canals used the same techniques as the company blacksmith at the Saugus Iron Works.
10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. & 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.; Boott Mills
Curtis White, Professional Blacksmith and National Park Ranger, Saugus Iron Works National Historic SIteMill and Canal Tour
Explore Lowell's mills, canals, and labor history on this 2¼-hour journey by foot, trolley and canal boat. Costumed Interpreters will guide you along the way stopping at Guard Locks with its famous "Great Gate," the city's biggest gatehouse, the Pawtucket, and the Suffolk Mill Water Turbine Exhibit.
11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:00 p.m., & 2:30 p.m.
Lowell National Historical Park Rangers, Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center,
Reservations are required.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. See where Lowell's methods of providing transportation, controlling water, and holding back floods are all used at this site.
10:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m., & 3:15 p.m.
Lowell National Historical Park Rangers, Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center.
Reservations are required.Canals of the Merrimack Tour
The construction of transportation canals along the Merrimack River extended settlement, facilitated trade and laid the infrastructure for America's Industrial Revolution. Tour portions of the Pawtucket Canal, the Wicasee Canal, and the Merrimack River to learn how the construction of canals changed the course of history, as well as the course of New England's largest river.
5:30 p.m.; Lowell National Historicla Park Visitor Center, Reservations Required.
Bill Gerber, Middlesex Canal Association, Ned Martin, National Park Guide, Lowell National Historical Park.Children's Activities
Twisted Times Making Rope
Enjoy this hands-on activity exploring the mysteries of rope manufacture. Each participant will have an opportunity to use an early 19th-century rope-making machine and walk away with rope that they made.
9:30-12:00 p.m., Visitor Center
1:30-4:00 p.m., Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Dan Gagnon, National Park Ranger, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston National Historical ParkWeaving Cloth
Learn about the different steps used to make cloth by hand as was done on farms throughout New England before the Industrial Revolution. Get a hands-on weaving experience and weave a sampler of different patterns on a four-harness loom.
12:00-2:00 p.m., Tsongas Industrial History Center, 3rd Floor, Boott Cotton Mills MuseumBecome a Canal Engineer
Design, build, and operate a canal system just as the Proprietors of Locks and Canals did in Lowell in the early 1800s. All participants will get hands-on canal building experience (no experience required). Be ready to have a great time and maybe get a little wet!
12:00-2:00 p.m., Tsongas Industrial History Center, 3rd Floor, Boott Cotton Mills MuseumBoat and Trolley Tour
Join a Ranger on the Pawtucket to the River Tour, a 90-minute guided trolley and boat program. Costumed interpreters will lock you through the Guard Locks complex on the Pawtucket Canal to the Merrimack River and the Pawtucket Dam.
10:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m. & 3:15 p.m.
Lowell National Historical, and Lowell Heritage State Park Rangers, Lowell National Historical Park Visitor CenterCanal Heritage Day is sponsored by Boston National Historical Park, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Lawrence Heritage State Park, Longfellow National Historical Site, Lowell Heritage State Park, Lowell National Historical Park, Middlesex Canal Association, Middlesex Canal Commission, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, Springfield Armory National Historic Site, and Tsongas Industrial History Center
Please call 978-970-5000 for further information.