The Bellows Falls Canal in Vermont is the 4th of the six navigational canals of the Connecticut River that you meet as you go from south to north on the river. It is the 3rd one of the six built. It was completed in August 1802 and lasted until 1858. It is a half mile in length and had nine locks to lift it 52 feet. Its cross section was 22 feet by 4 feet but is now 75 feet by 17 feet. That is since in 1866 it was turned into a power canal that was wider and deeper.
The Atkinson Brothers of London England came with money and will power to build this canal. The canal was commissioned in 1791 and was the first commissioned canal in the USA.
During the construction of the canal one mill was already in place to use the canal as a power canal also. At least one mill of the many that came later still exists – the Frank Adams Grist Mill.
EXTERNAL LINK to a fine video about the falls.
History of the Town of Rockingham Vermont
Sanborn map analysis: