The Holyoke Canal System is a system of

power canal A Power canal refers to a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport of watercraft. The power canal was a major factor in the Industrial revolution in New England in the 19th century. Most early power canals were mill ...

s in

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

. It is split into three canals based on elevation and distance from the inlet at the

Holyoke Dam The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, or Hadley Falls Station is a granite dam built in tandem with the Holyoke Canal System at Hadley Falls on the Connecticut River, between Holyoke and South Hadley, Massachusetts. The wate ...

- the First Level Canal, Second Level Canal, and Third Level Canal. Constructed over a period between 1847 and 1892, the Canal System, along with the Dam, is recognized as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

for its use in the development of the

Venturi meter The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe. The Venturi effect is named after its discoverer, the 18th century Italian physicist, Giovanni Battista V ...

Clemens Herschel Clemens Herschel (March 23, 1842 – March 1, 1930) was an American hydraulic engineer. His career extended from about 1860 to 1930, and he is best known for inventing the Venturi meter, which was the first large-scale, accurate device for measur ...

, the first means of measuring large-scale flows, and the McCormick-Holyoke Turbine by

John B. McCormick John Buchanan McCormick (November 4, 1834 – August 21, 1924) was an American mechanical engineer who invented the first modern mixed flow water turbine, the "Hercules", as well variants including the Holyoke-McCormick, and Achilles turbines. Mc ...

, which doubled the efficiency of turbines to more than 80% in its time.

History

Initial digging of the Holyoke Canal System

The earliest predecessor to Holyoke's canals dates to 1827, when the Hadley Falls Company was established to manufacture cotton cloth. Its water-powered

loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...

s were fed from a

wing dam A wing dam or wing dike is a man made barrier that, unlike a conventional dam, only extends partway into a river. These structures force water into a fast-moving center channel which reduces the rate of sediment accumulation, while slowing water f ...

along the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

's Great Rapids. Today's canals began in 1848, after river measurements indicated an available water power of , the equivalent of , or enough to power 450 mills. That year the company was reconstituted, with a capital stock of $4,000,000, to create a new manufacturing center based on local river power. Over the next 10 years it would build the area's dam and canal system, lay out industrial, commercial, and residential areas on its of land, and construct and operate two cotton mills and a factory making textile machinery. In 1848 the first timber crib dam, about in length, was constructed across the

to divert water into the canals. It failed within hours, and was replaced by a second timber dam, which in turn was replaced in 1900 by a granite-faced dam about downstream from its predecessor. The early canals were dug by men with picks and shovels, together with horse-drawn teams. Canal construction continued on and off until 1892. In 1859, after the company had failed and had passed into receivership, Alfred Smith purchased at auction its hydraulic system, consisting of the dam, its gate houses, and of power canals with a boat lock; some of land in Holyoke containing mills and other buildings; and the public water supply reservoir and gas plant, each with a distribution system. He formed the Holyoke Water Power Company and sold stock to investors. Over the next 30 years the company flourished, as a number of large mills were built in the area. Energy was transmitted from the waterwheels to mills via a distribution system of gears, shafts, pulleys, and belts. The canals first produced municipal electricity on October 14, 1884, from an electric generator connected to a water wheel–driven shafting in an industrial building. In 1888 this was replaced by a combination hydro and steam electric power plant on the First Level Canal. Today the canal system is owned by the City of Holyoke and operated by its municipal Gas and Electric Department which bought out the assets of Holyoke Water Power in December 2001. As early as 1995, plans were proposed to create a "canal walk" as part of a "necklace park plan." Styled after the

Emerald Necklace The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...

, this proposal called for linking Olmsted-designed parks to the Canal District, parks already along the canal, and the historical downtown. By 2015, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation completed a new phase of sidewalk construction alongside the canals, opening the Canal Walk that linked the downtown to the then-new

Holyoke station Holyoke station is an Amtrak intercity train station near the corner of Main and Dwight streets in Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States. The station opened on August 27, 2015, eight months after Amtrak's '' Vermonter'' service was re-routed to ...

. The canals are drained twice every year, in the spring and fall, to allow for maintenance.Annual draining of Holyoke's canals reveals rarely seen part of Paper City (Photos)
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Description

View of Downtown Holyoke, with Canal System highlighted

Today's canal system is in length on three levels. The canals are now used for electrical power generation as the water descends level by level to the river. The First Level Canal contains 12 large gates regulating water coming into the system, each long by wide, and weighing more than four tons, and two smaller gates at by , all powered by a water wheel. At its origin the canal is wide with of water depth. It extends eastward about a thousand feet and then sweeps south for more than one mile (1.6 km) to supply the upper tier of mills. The Second Level Canal runs parallel to the First but about east. It begins at its south end, and runs north for over a mile. For its first , it is wide, then gradually narrows to . Its average water depth is . The Third Level Canal begins at the south end of the Second Level, but some lower, and extends . It is about wide and deep, with an average height above the river varying between .

Bridges

Mills on Middle Canal, Holyoke, Mass (c 1929)

Throughout the three canals there are 28 bridges carrying cars, pedestrians, and parts of the former Holyoke & Westfield Railroad, today operated by the

Pioneer Valley Railroad The Pioneer Valley Railroad, founded in 1982, is a Class III short line freight railroad operating the former Conrail (née- New York, New Haven & Hartford) trackage in the western part of Massachusetts in towns of Westfield, Holyoke, and ...

. Of these, in total 21 remain operable. Five single lane bridges, all on the Third Canal, are closed, with one similar remaining in operation at Gatehouse Road. The oldest bridge in the system is the stone

deck arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ( ...

, built in 1894, at the intersections of Cabot and Canal Street. Five rail bridges remain operable, including three

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

, along with one defunct deck bridge and another converted into a pedestrian bridge for the Canal Walk. At least two pedestrian bridges, one by Hadley Thread Mill and another by Holyoke Die Cut Card remain closed; another one pedestrian bridge at the corner of Oliver St was demolished in the latter half of the 20th century.

Gallery

File:Holyoke Testing Flume seen from exterior c. 1895.jpg, The

Holyoke Testing Flume The Holyoke Testing Flume was a hydraulic testing laboratory and apparatus in Holyoke, Massachusetts, operated by the Holyoke Water Power Company from 1870 to 1932, and used to test the performance of water turbine designs, completing 3,176 tests ...

as it appeared in 1895; designed by

, this facility would lead to the development of the McCormick-Holyoke Turbine File:Holyoke is a city of canals which supply water to the paper mills that line their banks. Massachusetts.jpg, Paper mills line the canals, as they appeared looking south from Lyman Street, 1941 File:Dedication_of_Holyoke_Water_Power_Park,_1960.jpg, Roger E. Barrett Jr. (ctr), William Skinner II (2nd right), and Mayor Samuel Resnic (right) dedicate Holyoke Water Power Park with employees of the Holyoke Water Power Company, 1960 File:HolyokeMass Third Level Canal Drained March2018.JPG, The Third Level Canal, drained for routine dredging and maintenance, March 2018 File:Holyoke Canal Walk, The Flats, Holyoke, Massachusetts.JPG, The Holyoke Canal Walk, May 2018

References

External links

Friends of the Canalwalk

Holyoke Water Power Company
Northeast Utilities (archived)
The city of Holyoke, its water power and its industries
1879, published by

Clark W. Bryan Clark W. Bryan was a publisher, writer, poet, and journalist who is best known today for creating the home economics magazine ''Good Housekeeping'' that he would manage from 1885 until his death in 1899, during which time he published more than ...