The Canals of Holyoke

Holyoke is special for its unique system of canals used to produce waterpower in Holyoke’s industrial days. Unlike an earlier model found in Lowell, Massachusetts, where factories lined the river and one canal fed all buildings, the plan for Holyoke proposed buildings that would straddle a series of canals positioned at different elevations leading down to the river. Walter Hard, described the system like this, “First the water entered the upper canal. There was a row of mills and raceways between it and a parallel canal, on a lower level, that received the water that had poured through the mill wheels. This water provided the mills on the second level and passed to the third canal.”

Today, these canals flow by new companies. While they no longer provide waterpower, they are a unique feature in downtown Holyoke and are very important in plans to beautify the city.