canal letter of support
July 12, 2021
To the Northampton City Council and Community Preservation Committee,
The Westfield Historical Commission would like to add our support to the funding of the historic documentation project for the Hampshire and Hampden Canal. We have been involved with
this project for almost two years and are excited to finally see it come to fruition.
The Westfield Community Preservation Committee has already voted in favor of funding the $15,000 requested of them and City Council will vote on it at their next meeting. We are hoping
that all six communities through which the canal passed will vote to support this project so that we may finally succeed in having the Hamden to Hampshire Canal placed on the Register
of Historic Places.
As you may know, the Hampshire and Hampden Canal Company was chartered in Massachusetts in 1823, and the canal was constructed between 1826 to 1834. In 1836, it was reorganized as part
of the New Haven and Northampton Canal Company and operated until its closure in 1845 when it was replaced by the railroad. The Hampshire and Hampden Canal is significant as it relates
to early to mid 19th century engineering, transportation, commerce, agriculture, and industry. There is currently no formal documentation within the Massachusetts Cultural Resource
Information System of the entire path of the Hampshire and Hampden Canal and there is minimal documentation of related resources. Without additional work done to preserve these areas
now, its memory, history, and the physical remains itself, are all in danger of being lost. This project, and the ultimate goal of National Register listing, will preserve the Canal’s
important place in the history of the region, as well as create new opportunities for the communities in which it passed.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Gaylord
Chairperson of the Westfield Historical Commission