Windsor Locks Canal Workers - Windsor Locks, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 56.004 W 072° 37.598
18T E 696767 N 4645105
A monument honoring the Irish workers and their families who built the Windsor Locks Canal is located at the southern end of the Windsor Locks Canal Trail in Windsor Locks, CT.
Waymark Code: WM164EX
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 05/03/2022
Views: 1
In March 2022 the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Hartford, Division 2, erected a monument honoring he Irish workers who built the Windsor Locks Canal. The polished black granite monument contains three panels. The two outside panels have laser etched images of the Irish canal workers using 19th century techniques to dig the canal. The center portion contains the dedication along with a brief history of the Irish who built the canal.
The monument is located at the southern end of the Windsor Locks Canal State park Trail in Windsor Locks, CT. It is inscribed:
MORE THAN 400 IRISH IMMIGRANTS CAME
THIS AREA BETWEEN 1827 AND 1829 T0
BUILD THE CANAL NEXT TO WHERE THIS
- PARK NOW STANDS. THESE BRAVE PEOPLE
LIVED IN MAKESHIFT CAMPS AND WORKED
DAWN UNTIL DUSK IN HARD AND DANGEROUS
CONDITIONS TO BUILD A SAFE BYPASS OF
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER RAPIDS AND MAKE
A HOME FOR THEMSELVES IN A NEW LAND.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE REMAINS OF MANY
LABORERS AND THEIR FAMILIES LIE IN A
FORGOTTEN IRISH CATHOLIC BURIAL GROUND
NOW LOCATED UNDER THE RAILROAD TRACKS
100 YARDS NORTH OF THIS SPOT ON THE
OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE CANAL
THIS MEMORIAL IS PLACED IN HONOR
OF ALL THE IRISH CANAL WORKERS AND
THEIR FAMILIES. ESPECIALLY THOSE SOULS
BURIED IN THE CEMETERY.
The back of the monument is insrcibed:
DEDICATED BY
THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS
HARTFORD DIVISION 2
MARCH 2022