Historic District of the North Canal in Lawrence, Massachusetts, covers the heart of the city's historic industry. Focused on North Canal and Great Stone Dam, which provides the power of water for many of its factory complexes. The canal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, while the district was first registered in 1984, and then slightly expanded in 2009.
The city of Lawrence was founded by industrialist Abbott Lawrence and colleagues from the Essex Company as a model industrial city. In 1845 they acquired land from the town of Methuen and Andover and began construction on the Northern Canal and the Great Stone Dam. This work includes dredging and construction of "new land", and effectively creating a small island between the Merrimack River and the canal, whose outlet is at the mouth of the Spicket River. Work on these two main features was completed in 1848, and the construction of the city, which was formally entered in 1853, started from there. Historic districts include, alongside canals and dams, buildings associated with the factory on the island and on the north side of the canal, as well as several buildings in Methuen and Union Streets, or connecting roads. District expansion 2009, including single building, Morehouse Bakery building at 5-9 Mill Street.
Video North Canal Historic District
Great Stone Channels and Dam
The Great Stone Dam is built across the Merrimack River at a place called Bodwell's Falls, where there is a drop of five feet. The dam was built to raise the height as high as 30 feet (9.1 m). It is made of granite blocks placed on a cement hydraulic bed. Basically it is 35 feet (11 m) thick, shrink to 13 feet (4.0 m) above it. It has three parts: the center range is 900 feet (270 m), the 324-foot (99 m) southern wing directs the flow to the South Canal, and 405 feet (123 m) wings direct the water to the Northern Canal. It has a gate, from which 24 gates in its waterway are controlled before the control is powered. Nearby on the island is also the home of the surviving goalkeeper, the wooden frame structure of the Greek Revival 1845, and c. 1860 warehouse.
The Northern Canal stretches parallel to the Merrimack River, and a length of 5,330 feet (1,620 m). The extent starts from 100 feet (30 m) at the top end up to 30 feet (9.1 m) where the trash joins the Spicket River. The canal is a trapezoid in its cross section, with walls lined with granite, and the bottom is made of granite that has been covered with clay. It is capable of producing 4,000 cubic feet of water per second; hydropower is still used in some factories that line the edges. Channels used have operable keys for navigation; the top has been removed and the lower one is filled.
Maps North Canal Historic District
Factory Complex
The Pacific Mills complex is a composition of building area in the west (upper) and central part of the district. The oldest standing building, the warehouse, dates up to 1860, and there are remains of the previous 1852 structure. One of the more impressive structures is the Weave Shed built in 1890; it is a two-story brick building along 300 feet (91 m). The main cotton complex consists of five buildings on the north side of the canal. In the central part of the district, Pacific Mills includes buildings where cotton products and woolen wool are produced.
The Atlantic Mill Company stands next to Pacific Mills factories at the top of the island. Only two famous buildings survived, c. 1906 spinning mills, and boarding houses (one of two such buildings to survive in the district) dating from 1847 and is the only remaining remnant of a much larger housing area.
The central part of the district includes mills from a number of producers, including Bay State Woolens Company (which is now the home of the Lawrence Heritage State Park), Washington Mills, and the American buildings of the Woolen Company and the Pemberton Mill. Other notable buildings here include the Essex and Page Company Offices (separately listed on the National Register). The lower part of the district is largely occupied by the Everett Mills and Kuhnhardt Woolen Mills factory complex.
See also
- List of Historic Historic Places of Interest in Lawrence, Massachusetts
- List of Historic Historic Places of Interest in Essex County, Massachusetts
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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