![Farmington Canal Trail and MiKro Depot, October 2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Farmington_Canal_Trail_and_MiKro_Depot%2C_October_2020.jpg)
The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is an multi-use
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
located in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
and
.
The trail was built on former
New Haven and Northampton Company
The New Haven and Northampton Railroad (founded as the New Haven and Northampton Company, also known as the Canal Line) was a railroad originally built alongside a canal between 1847 and 1850 in Connecticut. Leased by the New York and New Haven ...
(NH&N) (later
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
H railbed, which was constructed along the route of the
Farmington Canal
The Farmington Canal, also known as the New Haven and Northampton Canal, was a major private canal built in the early 19th century to provide water transportation from New Haven into the interior of Connecticut, Massachusetts and beyond. Its Mass ...
in Connecticut and the
Hampshire and Hampden Canal
The Hampshire and Hampden Canal was the Massachusetts segment of an canal that once connected New Haven, Connecticut, to the Connecticut River north of Northampton, Massachusetts. Its Connecticut segment was called the Farmington Canal.
The c ...
in Massachusetts, respectively.
The sections from
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
to
Tariffville
Tariffville is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Simsbury in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,324 at the 2010 census. It is a popular location for whitewater paddlers who use the Farmin ...
totaling are part of the
East Coast Greenway
The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits.
The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...
, a 32 percent completed trail intended to link Maine with Florida.
Railroad history
In 1821, a group of New Haven businessmen convened to construct a canal in Connecticut much like the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
was under construction in New York. It took ten years to complete and was open for use in 1835. Twelve years later, rail became the more cost efficient transportation option and facilitator of trade. A rail bed was put down to follow the same route that the canal had.
The line changed hands throughout its lifetime, from the NH&N, NH,
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
,
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
, and finally
Guilford
Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford.
Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to:
Places
Australia
* Guildfor ...
, who abandoned the line in segments throughout the 1980s. The
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...
purchased most of the line from Guilford for
railbanking
Railbanking is the act of preserving railroad rights-of-way for possible future use. Railbanking leaves the rail corridor, railbed, bridges or bridge right-of-way, and other infrastructure intact. This relieves the railroad's operator from the res ...
purposes. In 1991, the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...
(ISTEA) provided states the ability to utilize federal funds to finance the conversion of derelict railroad corridors into
rail trails
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
.
The trail runs from downtown
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, to
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an acade ...
, closely following the path of the original Canal and
Route 10.
Portions of the original canal still exist, such as an historic "lock house" dating from the time of the original canal, as well as retaining walls,
canal locks
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
(elevators for boats), old sections of canal, and other features. In
Cheshire, Connecticut
Cheshire ( ), formerly known as New Cheshire Parish, is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The center of population of Connecti ...
, the only restored lock along the original Canal line has been incorporated into the Lock 12 Historical Park.
Trail status
The route of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is not yet completed (85% in Connecticut, 63% in Massachusetts). The trail is divided into three sections:
* southern: New Haven-Plainville, Connecticut
* middle: Farmington-Suffield, Connecticut
* northern: Southwick, Massachusetts-Northampton, Massachusetts (In Southwick, the trail is known as the Southwick Rail Trail; in Westfield, it is known as the Columbia Heritage Rail Trail.)
Southern section
As of October 2018, one continuous section runs from Yale University to Lazy Lane in Southington, a distance of 25 miles.
The northern part of Southington is being designed for construction up to Town Line Road in 2019. The last gap is the northern section of 5.3 miles through
Plainville.
Middle section
As of October 2018, the trail extends uninterrupted from Northwest Drive in Northern Plainville to the Massachusetts border in Suffield, 24.6 miles.
Northern section
As of October 2018, the Southwick rail trail in Massachusetts in complete, while the trail in Westfield is complete to Main Street, totaling 8.5 miles. There is a gap extending from north of Westfield Center through Southampton of 8.4 miles. The rest of the trail is complete through Easthampton into Northampton 7.3 miles. State funding for design of a section in Southampton was awarded in 2022.
Farmington Canal State Park Trail
Farmington Canal State Park Trail forms a portion of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in the towns of
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and
Hamden. The site of the greenway was originally used by the native Quinnipiac tribes as a path prior to its expansion as a road by the colonists.
A canal construction project began on July 4, 1825, with the first sections opening in 1828. On June 22, 1836, the Farmington and Hampshire companies were in debt and transferred their ownership to New Haven-Northampton Company, resulting in a loss of more than $1 million in investor capital. In 1847, investors in the company petitioned the state for the right to build a railroad. The approved railroad was constructed in one year on the banks of the canal for a total cost of $186,000.33.
Rail service lasted until the 1980s, when Guilford discontinued service. The Farmington Valley Trails Council was founded in 1992 to preserve the canal by converting it into a park.
Part of the Farmington Canal State Park trail was dedicated May 22, 1994.
Located on North Brooksvale road is Lock 12 Historical Park, a restored canal lock and museum dubbed the "best-preserved relic of Connecticut's canal era."
The developed section within state park boundaries runs south from Hart Street in Southington to Todd Street in Hamden and includes the
Farmington Canal
The Farmington Canal, also known as the New Haven and Northampton Canal, was a major private canal built in the early 19th century to provide water transportation from New Haven into the interior of Connecticut, Massachusetts and beyond. Its Mass ...
's restored Lock 12, located south of Brooksvale Road in Cheshire.
References
External links
Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and Farmington River Trail, Farmington Valley Trails Council
Farmington Canal Rail to Trail Association(southern portion of the trail)
{{Authority control
Rail trails in Connecticut
Rail trails in Massachusetts
East Coast Greenway
Farmington, Connecticut
Tourist attractions in Hartford County, Connecticut
Protected areas of New Haven County, Connecticut
Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut
Heritage trails