
Middlesex Canal, 1793–1853 (Butters Row)
Posted by:
Shorelander
N 42° 32.181 W 071° 10.079
19T E 321964 N 4711607
Quick Description: A general marker describing the Middlesex Canal.
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 4/21/2007 8:19:20 PM
Waymark Code: WM1EN9
Views: 55
Long Description:This marker stands alongside the old Middlesex Canal at Butters Row
west of the MBTA tracks and Route 38. It reads:
"At this location canal boats pulled by horses carried freight
and passengers between Boston and the Merrimack River at Lowell
before the days of railroads.
"The canal ran from Charlestown through what are now Somerville,
Medford, Winchester, Woburn, Wilmington, Billerica, and Chelmsford
to Lowell.
"The canal was just over 27 miles long. It was 20 ft. wide at the
bottom, 30½ ft. wide at the surface, and 3½ ft. deep. There were 20
locks, 8 aqueducts, and 50 bridges."
A drawing of a boat (the "General Sullivan") and a map of the
route of the canal through Wilmington are also present.