History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

1792.] MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS—CANALS—SCHOOLS. 577
Considerable stock was disposed of in that country, and
sufficient capital to complete tlie construction was obtained
there. Unexpected difficulties were encountered in its
prosecution, and the Legislature of 1793 modified the char-
ter by reducing the capacity of the canal, so that boats or
rafts only sixteen feet wide and forty feet in length could
pass through. In the following year the corporation was
divided by the Legislature, and two companies formed.
The old company, the original proprietors, had jurisdiction
of the -lower locks and canal, and the new one was constituted
to carry forward the work at Turners Falls. The
latter was known as the '
and Canal on the Connecticut River."
The Lower Canal.
' Proprietors of the Upper Locks
The work of constructiug the canal in South
Hadley was commenced early in the sum-
mer of 1793. About two hundred fifty workmen were employed
the first year, and nearly two hundred more were
added the following season. It was two and one half miles
long, and for nearly all of that distance was excavated
through a bed of sandstone rock, ''too hard to be easily
dug, and too loose to be blown." ^ In depth it varied from
sixteen to thirty feet, and its width was twenty-five feet.
In connection with the canal and in order to deflect the
current of the river into it, a dam was thrown across the
river. Its construction was part of the original design.
The first advertisement of the proprietors invited proposals
for building this dam so as to raise the water seven feet.
This structure was built obliquely across the river from the
mouth of the canal to within one hundred or one hundred
fifty feet of the west bank, and for the rest of the distance
it went straight. Its entire length was 1130 feet, its height
about eleven feet and it raised the water four feet above
the common level. ^ This dam was the cause of considera-
ble trouble to people living in Northampton, and was the
occasion of not a little litigation.
Method of Passing. In moviug through this caual the boats,
during the years immediately following its
construction, were raised and lowered to the proper level
1 Dwighfs Travels, vol. 1, p. 323.
2 Dwight's Travels, vol. 1, p. 322.