194 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



with narrow and irregular streets. The shipping amounts to 30,000 tons. The whole island 

 constitutes a single county, and a single town. Population, 9,000. JVeio Bedford^ on Buz- 

 zard's Bay, is largely engaged in the whale-fishery, employing in this business 65,000 tons of 

 shipping, besides 20,000 tons occupied in other fisheries, and of coasting craft. Here 

 are several large manufactories of spermaceti candles. More than half a million bushels of 

 salt are yearly made in this place and the neighborhood. Population, 12,000. 



In the interior of Massachusetts are several towns worthy of note. Worcester^ near the 

 centre of the State, is a beautiful and thriving town, and is surrounded by rich and variegated 

 scenery. The Library of the Antiquarian Society, containing 12,000 volumes, is kept here, 

 in a handsome hall. The Blackstone canal, leading from Worcester to Providence, assists 

 the trade of the place, and its manufactures are extensive and various. A State Insane Asylum 

 has been established here. Population, 7,500. Pittsjield, near the western limit of the State, 

 is a pleasant town, with manufactures of cotton and woolen, muskets, drums, &c. Here are 

 extensive barracks, a hospital belonging to the United States, and a medical college. Popu- 

 lation, 3,600. Lenox, near Pittsfield, is a small town of uncommon beauty. It stands upon a 

 high hill, and is environed with beautiful mountain scenery. The houses are very neatly built, 

 and painted white. The town has manufactures of woolen and cast-iron ware. Population, 

 1,300. 



Springfield, on the Connecticut, stands partly on an alluvial spot at the foot of a hill, and 

 consists chiefly of a single street, upwards of 2 miles long, but numerous handsome houses are 

 scattered round the slopes of the adjacent hill. The town is very pleasantly and conveniently 

 situated, and its business and population have rapidly increased of late years. The township 

 comprises the flourishing manufacturing villages of Chickopee and Cabotsville, and contains 

 several large cotton mills, and paper mills, iron founderies, cannon foundery, sword and cut- 

 lery factory, &c. Population, 9,500, On the top of the hill, is the United States Armory, 

 comprising an arsenal, barracks, forges, and workshops for the manufacture of muskets. About 

 260 workmen are here employed, and the number of muskets annually manufactured is 15,000. 

 The whole number made since the commencement of the business, in 1795, is above 450,000. 

 During the insurrection of Shays, this armory was attacked by the rebels, and successfully 

 defended by General Shepard. 



J^ortliampton, on the Connecticut, above Springfield, is one of the most beautiful of the 

 New England towns, and is much visited by travelers. Mount Holyoke overlooks the town, 

 and the surrounding country affords the finest scenery. Northampton has several woolen, silk, 

 and other manufactories. The Farmington canal extends from this place to New Haven, in 

 Connecticut. Population, 3,600. 



Haverhill, on the Merrimack, at the head of sloop navigation, is a beautiful town, built upon 

 a surface which rises gently from the water's edge. The houses are neat, and the elevated 

 part of the town commands a fine prospect. Here are a bridge and viaduct across the Merri- 

 mack. Haverhill has a flourishing trade, and considerable ship-building and manufactures. 

 Population, 4,800. 



The city of Lowell, one of the principal manufacturing towns in the United States, standj 

 between the Merrimack and Concord Rivers, at their confluence, and derives its great water 

 power from a descent of 32 feet in the former ; the river is dammed back above the falls, and 

 the water is conducted off by a canal a mile and a half long, 60 feet wide, and 8 feet deep ; 

 lateral cuts from the main trunk carry the water to the different mills, and dischiwge the waste 

 water into the Merrimack and the Concord. In 1820, the site of the city formed a corner of 

 the township of Chelmsford, and contained about 100 inhabitants ; in 1S22 the first cotton 

 mill was erected, in 1838 the city had a population of 18,000 souls, and there were in opera- 

 tion 28 cotton mills with 155,000 spindles, and 5,000 looms, 2 woolen mills, a machine-shop, 

 in which are made all the machines used in the factories, locomotive engines, and railroad cars, 

 calico print-works, dye houses, several saw and grist mills, flannel mills, powder mills, glass 

 works, bleacheries, &c. The annual value of the manufactures is 10,000,000 dollars. There 

 are about 6,500 females, and 2,200 males employed in these various works, and there are 

 annually produced upwards of 50,000,000 yards of cotton cloth, of which 12,000,000 yards 

 are printed ; 400,000 yards of cassimeres and broadcloths ; with flannels, Brussels and Kidder- 

 minster carpeting, hearth-rugs, &c. Annual consumption of cotton, 16,500,000 pounds ; of 

 wool, 650,000 pounds ; capital invested, 8,500,000 dollars. The Middlesex canal leaves the 



