Middlesex Canal, 1793-1853 (High Street)
Posted by: Shorelander
N 42° 35.188 W 071° 16.289
19T E 313614 N 4717395
A marker on the Middlesex Canal, quite similar to WM1EN9.
Waymark Code: WM1KWG
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/28/2007
Views: 50
This marker is off High Street in Billerica, Massachusetts, along the Middlesex Canal. The marker is signed off the road, so you can see it. The marker seems quite similar to WM1EN9, and 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."
"The Mill Pond on the Concord River, 500 yards west of here, was the source of the water, which flowed northwest to Lowell and southeast to Boston."
A drawing of a boat (the "General Sullivan") and a map of the route of the canal through Billerica are also present.
Agency Responsible for Placement: Middlesex Canal Commission
Year Placed: 1987
County: Middlesex
City/Town Name: Billerica
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Not listed
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