The Turners Falls Canal, also historically known as the Montague Canal, was a canal along the Connecticut River in Montague, Massachusetts. It was reconstructed in 1869.
Canals, or navigations, are human-made channels, or artificial waterways, for water conveyance, or to service water transport vehicles.
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for 406 miles (653 km) through four states. It rises at the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island Sound. Its watershed encompasses five U.S. states and one Canadian province, 11,260 square miles (29,200 km2) via 148 tributaries, 38 of which are major rivers. It produces 70% of Long Island Sound's fresh water, discharging at 19,600 cubic feet (560 m3) per second.
Montague is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,437 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statistical area.
The canal was first completed in 1798 by the Proprietors of the Upper Locks and Canals on Connecticut River under a charter granted on February 23, 1792, by the Massachusetts legislature and Governor John Hancock. After completing the South Hadley Canal, many of the earlier Proprietors turned their attention to extending navigation to regions above Turners Falls.
John Hancock was an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" has become a synonym in the United States for one's signature.
The South Hadley Canal was a canal along the Connecticut River in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is said to be the earliest navigable canal in the United States, with operation commencing in 1795. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the South Hadley Canal Historic District.
Construction work included a log-crib dam extending across the Connecticut River at a place called "Great Falls" (now Turners Falls), a canal 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) long and 20 feet (6 metres) wide from there to a point downstream near the Deerfield River, and a towpath on its east shore. The canal had ten locks as finally completed. Upstream a dam and single-lock canal near the mouth of the Millers River allowed barges to bypass the French King rapids. The canals were opened for business in 1798 and by 1802 supported regular freight traffic by boat from Long Island Sound to Bellows Falls, Vermont.
Deerfield River is a river that runs for 76 miles (122 km) from southern Vermont through northwestern Massachusetts to the Connecticut River. The Deerfield was historically influential in the settlement of western Franklin County, Massachusetts, and its namesake town. The Deerfield River is the Connecticut River's second longest tributary in Massachusetts, 2.1 miles (3.4 km) shorter than the Metropolitan Springfield's Westfield River.
Long Island Sound is a tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, lying between the eastern shores of The Bronx, New York City, southern Westchester County, and Connecticut to the north, and the North Shore of Long Island, to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches 110 miles (177 km) from the East River in New York City, along the North Shore of Long Island, to Block Island Sound. A mix of freshwater from tributaries and saltwater from the ocean, Long Island Sound is 21 miles (34 km) at its widest point and varies in depth from 65 to 230 feet.
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2000 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the annual Roots on the River Festival; and the No Film Film Festival.
The canal was profitable for 30 years, returning 4% dividend to its investors, and even in 1826 briefly considered as part of a larger system from Boston to the Hudson River, but within a few decades railroads had become the favored means of transport, and it eventually closed to navigation in 1856. However, in 1869 it was reconstructed, along with the Turner Falls Dam, to provide waterpower for both existing and newly planned mills. This reconstructed power canal followed a somewhat different route from its predecessor, and served as the origin of today's village of Turners Falls.
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km2) with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States.
The Hudson River is a 315-mile (507 km) river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York in the United States. The river originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York, flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the Upper New York Bay between New York City and Jersey City. It eventually drains into the Atlantic Ocean at New York Harbor. The river serves as a political boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York at its southern end. Further north, it marks local boundaries between several New York counties. The lower half of the river is a tidal estuary, deeper than the body of water into which it flows, occupying the Hudson Fjord, an inlet which formed during the most recent period of North American glaciation, estimated at 26,000 to 13,300 years ago. Tidal waters influence the Hudson's flow from as far north as the city of Troy.
Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,470 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name is generally used as a metonym for the entire town of Montague.
