On the Middlesex canal between Lowell and Cambridge, United States of America

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U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. Historic district



Remnants of the aqueduct that carried the canal over the Shawsheen River on the Billerica-Wilmington town line

Location: Lowell-Woburn, Massachusetts (surviving fragments)

Area: 245 acres (99 ha)

Built: 1803

Architect: Loammi Baldwin; James Sullivan

Governing body: Various

NRHP Reference#: 72000117[1]

Added to NRHP: August 21, 1972



The Middlesex Canal was a 27-mile (44-kilometre) barge canal connecting the Merrimack River with the port of Boston. When operational it was 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and 3 feet (0.9 m) deep, with 20 locks, each 80 feet (24 m) long and between 10 and 11 feet (3.0 and 3.4 m) wide. It also had 8 aqueducts.



The canal was one of the first civil engineering projects of its type in the United States, and was studied by engineers working on other major canal projects such as the Erie Canal. A number of innovations made the canal possible, including hydraulic cement, which was used to mortar its locks, and an ingenious floating towpath to span the Concord River.

Location : Latitude: 42.59138425519913, Longitude: -71.28376007080078