Holyoke High School - Annual Yearbook (Holyoke, MA)

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firm in New England. It is interesting to note that a fishway built in the dam had been quite successful. The falls had been a favorite fishing spot of the Indians and shad and salmon were being caught there at that time, however, by the time the dam was completed, the salmon had become somewhat scarce. By this time there were several mills in- cluding three paper mills and two woolen mills using the power from the river, but all of these were on the east side of the river in Canal Village CSouth Hadley Fallsb. During these years a swing ferry was the sole means of transportation between Canal Village and 'flrelandf' The ferry, invented by a Mr. Robinson, was located a short distance below the old South Hadley bridge where the river suddenly narrows to form a neck of water. Because of this natural formation, the current is considerably stronger there and has equal force from one bank to the other. Therefore, the river at this crossing could not be navigated by any ferry-boat which used as its propelling power any thing other than the current of the stream itself. A wooden pole of some sixty or seventy feet in height was sunk in the mid- dle of the stream, and a pier of stone was placed on the upper side of it to form a break- water against ice. A connecting wire stretched from the pole to the ferry. The boat was placed diagonally against the current and the force of the water sent it to the opposite side in a circular or swinging passageg hence the name given, swing ferry. In 1872, the ferry was swept away by a roaring flood. In 1831 the original Hadley Falls Company was formed and the following year Ireland Parish had a cotton mill which was an in- corporated concern with a capital of 350,000, but not financed by local capital. The stock- holders were largely from Enfield. The mill contained 11-,000 spindles and was powered by the wing dam, guiding the water into a canal above the mill. This mill was an extremely prosperous con- cern, and the manager, Edward Smith, saw his original investment increase five-fold. The Connecticut River Railroad Company was chartered in March, 1845, and was com- pleted in December of that year, running from Springfield to Northampton, crossing the river at Willimansett and passing through Ireland Parish. The road was extended to Vermont in 1848 and connected in Springfield with roads to Boston and New Haven. The South Hadley Canal then became useless and the river boating declined in importance since there I3

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Industry The Connecticut River, passing through the city of Holyoke, drops downward over a dis- tance of sixty-five feet in less than two miles of its length in this area. The visions and work of many men created the great dam and in- dustries and made Holyoke what it is today. The river had borne considerable traffic between Hartford and the foot of South Had- ley Falls, but towns above the falls were forced to transport their merchandise partly by land. In 1792 a group of twenty men secured an act of corporation from the General Court. The corporation was called the Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on the Connecticut Riverf' Benjamin Prescott was the engineer in charge of a canal to be built from a point just below the falls and extending two and one-half miles northward and parallel to the river. A wing dam was to be extended ob- liquely out into the river at the head of the canal and a strong guard lock to control the water. Another lock would secure the outlet of the canal. In 1795 the first navigable canal in the United States had been cut along the shore of the Connecticut River. Part of the works was a two hundred and thirty foot long in- clined plane device that pulled river vessels I2 from the waters below the rapids to the upper level-or lowered them on the downstream run. This device compensated for the fifty foot difference in the levels of the upper and lower sections of the canal. The dam, made of timber, slanted up and across the river for about one thousand six hundred and fifty feet, then went straight in- to the West shore a distance of nine hundred and ninety feet. The canal itself paralleled the river for nearly two and one-half miles down the east side. The upper portions became picturesque as wild vines and flowers grew along its banks and tall trees formed archways. It is certain that Prescott had no precedent to follow when he devised the inclined plane, and his engineering skill in the project was widely acclaimed. The twenty-by-thirty-foot car that traveled the thirty-foot-wide slope had three sizes of wheels so that the carrying surface of the car was always level while the car was being pulled up or lowered. This plane device is now pic- tured on the seal of our city. Water power was used in the pulling and lowering of the car and was perhaps the first time that water power was used by a utility

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was ample means of transportation and the river no longer the easiest route of travel. A man familiar with the dams and mills in the New England area, George C. Ewing, is given credit for the vision that created Hol- yoke. He was a salesman and traveling repre- sentative of the Fairbanks Scales Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and realized that here was potential power the world had never seen. Ewingenvisioned the construction of a dam to harness the river and compel it to give up its power to the service of man. He obtained the support of a small group of Boston merchants and financiers. Outstand- ing among these men were George Lyman, Edmund Dwight, William Appleton, Samuel Cabot, and Ignatius Sargent. Ewing made arrangements for the purchase of more than eleven hundred acres of land adjacent to the falls. He was forced to pay exorbitant prices for the land because word of the project had been circulated. The stock- holders at the first meeting voted to take the name of the Hadley Falls Company and to authorize a subscribed capital of two and one- half million dollars. In the summer of 1847, the land was sur- veyed. The minimum flowage of the river was approximately 7,000 cubic feet, A thirty foot I4 dam could be a reality and such a dam would impound enough water to give industrial power for a city of 200,000 people. Construction was begun late in 1847. A 'cfearful riot was the climax of a ten-day strike that occurred early in January of 1848 among the construction workers. Mr. Ander- son, and Mr. Farnham, the constable, were wounded in the brawl. The riot took place when several of the strikers, protesting a wage cut, returned to work and were mobbed by their fellow workers. It was found necessary to call upon the militia, and twenty-five re- doubtable artillerymen from Northampton promptly answered the summons, and came down at midnight with arms and ammunition, but there was no further disturbance. Completed on November 19, 1848, by the Hadley Falls Company, the wooden dam gave way several hours after the gates had been closed. A series of three telegrams sent from Holyoke to the company office in Boston de-- scribed the entire affair very graphically. The first, sent about ten in the morning, said, HGates closed and dam begins to fill, the sec- ond, Dam leaking badlyf' and the third sent at three thirty that afternoon, Dam gone to hell by way of Willimansettf' Immediate steps were taken for the erection