Tracing Canaan’s canals that never came to be

FALLS VILLAGE — Saturday afternoon, Oct. 4, was a good day for a walk from the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society at 44 Railroad Street in Falls Village down to the Amesville Bridge.

The walk, led by Judy Jacobs, president of the historical society, and Bill Beebe, society curator, stopped at six points along the way to discuss the history of Falls Village.

The walk focused on an unfinished canal meant to bring water from the Housatonic to local mills.

The first stop was the orange caboose from the New Haven Railroad which Jacobs said was restored by her husband Denny and Beebe.

Continuing down the hill on Railroad Street in the direction of the river, the twenty or so people on the tour next stopped at the intersection of Railroad and Water Street. Beebe said that this was where a hotel, The Arch, once stood.

It was named for the arched stone underpass beneath the railroad tracks, which was replaced by the current, plainer one. The hotel and stone arch were torn down in 1944.

He commented that the town had been known as Canaan Falls but gained the nickname of “Little Village by the Falls,” which became Falls Village.

At the next stop, through the underpass and further down the hill to the right, a yellow gate now bars a pathway. This is where, said Beebe, a section of the canal was to be built.

The original idea, proposed in 1822, was to build a canal to transport iron and other items more quickly to the tidewater. This plan fizzled out.

Another canal was proposed in 1845 when Lee Canfield and Samuel Robbins, iron manufacturers, formed “The Water Company” and began a three-level canal which would give power to mills and factories.

Beebe said, “They built the wall with stone. There was a big fanfare. They opened the gates. Water rushed in and …it leaked.” This was because they’d decided to “use no cement or binder.”

Beebe commented, “It never worked. It is still here, unfinished.1,900 feet is used by the power company.”The walk continued to where water rushes down the hill from the part of the canal that is in use.

Opposite the nearby Amesville Bridge, Beebe continued, there was a store and, on the Amesville side, a tavern. Jacobs contributed, “This area was really, really busy. Only the power plant has survived.”

On the Amesville side of the river there were iron works, including a blast furnace, and mills: a sawmill, a textile mill, a paper mill, and grist mills.

Beebe said, “The canal was to make the town, but that didn’t work out.”

The last stop was the old fairground on the way back up the hill past the power plant. A portion of the Appalachian trail led to a field. “All the towns had fairgrounds which included a track for horse racing,” said Jacobs.

The walk concluded with a trek back to the interesting showcases in the historical society.

For more information visit www.fallsvillage-canaanhistoricalsociety.org