Farmington Canal Trail | park, rail-trail, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, historic district

 park, rail-trail, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, historic district

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Small linear park and one of the many entry points to the Farmington Canal Trail.

Formerly the Farmington Canal, a water transportation canal originally dug in the early 19th century to aid transportation of goods to the interior of Connecticut and Massachusetts. The canal ran from New Haven in the south to Northampton, Massachusetts in the north. In the mid 1800s the canal was converted into a railway. In the 1990s, a portion of the canal/railway was made into a recreational trail, as a "rails to trails" project. The entire portion of the former canal within Connecticut is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as a historic district for its significance in the areas of commerce, engineering, transportation and archeology. Various features of the former canal are still visible along the trail's length, including bridges, aqueducts and canal locks. As yet incomplete (as of 2020), the plan is for the entire length of the original railway to be a recreational trail. As it exists now, there are some gaps in the trail system.

NRHP #85002664