A GLANCE BACKWARD. 59 



A GLANCE BACKWARD. 



CANAL FROM BOSTON TO THE HUDSON. 



The schemes and undertakings of one generation are often 

 interesting and suggestive to another, even when they are not 

 carried out or completed. Many years ago Loammi Baldwin, 

 a noted engineer of that period, made a survey for a canal 

 from Boston to the Connecticut River, and proposed, further- 

 more, an extension from its western terminus to the Hudson 

 River, with a tunnel under the Hoosac Mountain. An en- 

 graved plan of the survey was made by Annin & Smith, of 

 Boston, which showed the exact route of the undertaking. 

 It is found at the end of a " Report of the Commissioners of 

 the State of Massachusetts, on the routes of canals from 

 Boston Harbour to Connecticut and Hudson Rivers " (Boston, 

 1826), and is entitled " Plan of a Survey for a Canal from 

 Boston to Connecticut River, with a sketch of a proposed 

 Route to the Hudson. Made under the direction of the 

 Commissioners by L. Baldwin, Engineer." 



It is interesting to note the fact that the canal followed 

 substantially, as might be expected, the present line of the 

 Fitchburg Railroad. Beginning with Charles River it passed 

 through Cambridge, Watertown, Waltham, Lincoln, Concord, 

 Acton, Littleton, Groton, Shirley, Lunenburg, and Fitchburg, 

 and from this place it went through Ashburnham and Win- 

 chendon and then followed down Miller's River to the Con- 

 necticut. Thence it was to pass up the Deerfield River 

 through a tunnel under the Hoosac Mountain, by North 

 Adams, and so down the Hoosac River to the Hudson. 



Loammi Baldwin was a native of Woburn, and a graduate 

 of Harvard College in the Class of 1800. After leaving Cam- 

 bridge he studied law with the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, 

 of Groton, and practised his profession for a few years, when 

 he gave it up to become an engineer. In his new calling he 

 soon attained distinction, and his services were in constant 

 demand throughout the country, particularly in the construc- 

 tion of canals. While studying law at Groton, Mr. Baldwin 



