Massachusetts & Rhode Island

Canal History

The 27-mile-long Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts was the second major canal to be constructed in the United States. Although there were previous river improvements around the country, the Middlesex is notable as it was to be a hand-dug canal along its entire length and not a river navigation. The canal was incorporated in 1793 and opened for through traffic in 1808, although sections were in use prior to this. The canal connected Boston to Lowell and served as a model for the 1817 Erie Canal. The canal was abandoned in 1851.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts are home to the 1828 45-mile-long Blackstone Canal which ran between Providence RI and Worcester, Mass. The Blackstone was a mix of hand-dug canals and slack-water navigations. The canal was abandoned in 1848.

The New Haven and Northampton Canal was two canals, the 1822 Farmington Canal in Connecticut and the 1829 Hampshire and Hampden Canal in Massachusetts. These canals formed a water route between New Haven and Northampton and was abandoned in 1845.

The 7-mile-long Cape Cod canal is a sea-level canal that cuts through the neck of land that connects the Cape to the rest of the state. It shortened the sea travel between Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay by 135 miles. This canal is operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

A 1905 map showing the canals of Massachusetts. Number 8 is the Middlesx, 8A is the Cape Cod, 9 is the Blackstone, and 10/11 is the New Haven and Northampton.

Canal Groups and Organizations

There is no statewide group that focuses on the history of the canals. The following groups work on there own canals.

The Middlesex Canal Association is located in North Billerica. The group operates a museum and offers tours along the canal throughout the year.

The Blackstone Canal is in the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. They oversee the use and maintenance of the canal.

The Cape Cod Canal is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. They operate a visitor center in Sandwich, Mass.

Major Repositories and Archives 

This is a listing of the larger archive holdings. Many of the small volunteer-run historical societies along the routes of the canals will likely have hidden collections and thus, they should not be over-looked.

The Library of Congress has some holdings on the canals of the state.

In addition to their museum, the Middlesex Canal Association maintains a archive. Their newsletter, Towpath Topics, is available on line.

The nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places provides useful background.

The Rhode Island State Archives offers digital records. As the Blackstone Canal was part of the historic Blackstone River, a wider search on the river might aid in your research.

Canal Index Pages

The “canal index” project is an on-going project of the ACS to document canal sites. Most of the information is from the 1970-1990 time period, however new pages are being added. Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting a form.

Note: Canals listed in green below do not yet have index sheets.  They are listed here to make the list more complete.  It is intended to add index sheets for them in the future.   Canals in blue and underlined have index sheets which are accessible by double clicking on the hyperlink.

  • Other Rhode Island Canals
  • Never completed canals connecting to the Connecticut River  (see VT)

Please note that these are the actual pages done in the early 1970s.  Changes have occurred since and there are some inaccuracies in the information on the pages.

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Revised 08/24/2019