Until the early 1800s, traveling around central Massachusetts was fraught with trouble. The woods were thick. There were wolves and other dangers. Either you were trudging through deep snow in the winter or dealing with swarms of bugs in the summer.
It was nearly impossible for any trading to get done.
Finally in 1823 the Blackstone Canal Company was formed. Its mission was to create an easy-to-navigate canal connecting Providence to Worcester. This would then open trade up to the entire world via the
Narragansett Bay.
Construction went fairly quickly – they began in 1825 and were completely done with the first travel on October 7, 1828. It took two days for one of the slender canal boats to make its way from one end of the course to another.
They expected the canal system to last hundreds of years.
Unfortunately for them, the railroads saw the opportunity and quickly moved in. By 1848 the canal was shut down. The railroad had taken over that quickly.
Come on out with us to get a solid look at this amazing part of our history! The Millville Canal Lock is the most complete remaining lock on the canal. You can imagine what it would have been like to live in a time where sailing up and down the canal was the easiest way to travel.
You’ll be led by talented photographer Bob Evans, whose photographic travels span the globe. We’ll meet at 10am in the Millville bike path parking lot. This is on the Southern New England Trunkline Trail at the intersection of Central and Hope streets. Look for the St. John’s Episcopal Parish Church at 49 Central Street, Millville to find it on a GPS.
Then we head east on the bike path for about 1500 feet. Then north toward the river for maybe 250 feet. And we’re there! There’s also a railroad bridge and other things to take photos of.
Please let us know via our contact form if you’re planning on coming, so we know to wait for you. It’ll be a great morning of learning about photography and exploring our Blackstone River history!
From Bob:
Please be prompt as we will leave at 10:00 🙂
I will post on FB no later than 9:00 if the weather is bad and we have to cancel but at the moment it looks OK.
What to bring:
Camera, fully charged battery and spare, extra memory card, tripod/monopod, wide angle lens or zoom, DEET
Let me know if anyone want’s to be a ‘model’ and we can try that as well. I played a mugging victim when we were in Worcester! Also, any props that might be interesting to shoot in this location e.g. toys, dolls etc. Weird things that you would not normally see when in juxtaposition with this location, maybe, food items, flags, Bob Ross, Groot, clock, let your imagination run wild!
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Be sure to learn more about Bob Evans and his many talents here:
Bob Evans Photographer and Renaissance Man
National Park Service Info on the Millville Lock
This is just one part of our month-long Celebrating the Blackstone artistic celebration. Be sure to check out all of our events!
This month-long celebration is sponsored by Constellation, an Exelon company.
