The former Farmington Canal is now the Farmington Canal
Linear Park in Cheshire. The original canal was used for transporting cargo barges from Mass.
to New Haven from 1828 to 1848 and ran for about 60 miles. After 1848, the
canal line was used for rail transport.
Today, the former canal line is part of the East Coast Rails
to Trails Initiative. The park is approximately 3 miles long in Cheshire and
connects to an additional 3 miles in Hamden. Expansion continues north to
Southington.
Lock 12
is a historic reconstruction of the actual lock used on the Farmington Canal. It
is located on the Linear Park in Cheshire. There is also a small museum about
the Canal on the
Lock 12 site.
Plaque at Lock 12:
In the early 1800's The Farmington Canal was built between
Northampton and New Haven. Irish immigrants dug the canal by hand.
The canal locks controlled the flow of the water to
compensate for the slope of the land. Farmers living nearby would answer the
barge captain's horn, coming to maneuver the locks. Flat bottom boats were
pulled by mules walking alongside the canal.
The barges carried goods and passengers between ports; a trip
from New Haven to Cheshire cost sixty two cents and took nearly five hours.
Local children enjoyed swimming and skating on the canal.
It has been reported that in 1839, the
Amistad slaves were
transported on the canal from the New Haven Prison to Farmington. Horse
carts then took them to the Courthouse in Hartford for trial. The canal
operated from 1828 to 1848; trains then became the preferred form of
transportation. Lock 12 is the only restored Lock remaining today.
Composed by the Doolittle Elementary School Volunteers
