Category:Bellows Falls Canal

The Bellows Falls Canal was the first canal built in the United States. It was dug from 1791-1802, was 22 feet wide and four feet deep, and had 9 locks, each 75 feet long and 20 feet side, which allowed shipping to so around the Great Falls in the Connecticut River by being lifted 52 feet. River traffic declined after railroads were built to the Connecticut Valley in 1849, and by 1858 the canal became used almost exclusively for water power to run the paper mills which became established there. In 1874 the canal was enlarged to 75 feet wide and 17 feet deep. By 1908 it was delivering 15,000 horsepower to the mills. When the mills turned to electrical power, the canal was widened again in 1927-28 to 100 feet, and the water used to power turbines to generate electricity. The canal's bottom was lined with concrete, and the sides secured with rip-rap set in concrete. A fish ladder allows salmon to continue upstream at times when the bulk of the river's flow is diverted to the canal. The canal is part of the Bellows Falls Downtown Historic District. {Sources: [1], Historic marker at Bridge Street])