USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Holyoke > Report of the history and present condition of the Hadley Falls Company at Holyoke, Massachusetts > Part 2
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It will be observed from the figures which have been mentioned, showing the extent and capacity of the water and gas-works, that they will be sufficient for the supply of the place, without additional expense for enlarging them, after its size shall have much increased.
We have already alluded briefly to the convenient connec- tions of Holyoke with other places, arising from its vicinity to. Springfield, one of the great railroad centres of New England. The distance from Holyoke to Springfield is but eight miles. At this point there is an immediate railroad connection, north, south, east, and west. The northern line is that passing through Holyoke. On the east, to Boston, the distance is ninety-eight miles, travelled in three hours. On the west, to Albany, the distance is a hundred and two miles, travelled in four hours. From Albany to Buffalo is a further distance of three hundred and twenty-five miles, travelled by the fastest trains in ten hours. On the south, to New York, the dis- tance from Springfield is a hundred and thirty-eight miles,
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travelled in five hours. To Philadelphia the distance is about a hundred miles more, generally travelled in from three to four hours.
On the north, lines of railroad connect Holyoke with all parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, and the country beyond. The distance to Burlington, on Lake Champlain, is one hundred and ninety-five miles, travelled in eight hours ; to Rouse's Point, which is on the Canada line, the distance is two hundred and fifty-eight miles, travelled in eleven hours. To Ogdensburg, the distance is three hundred and seventy- six miles, travelled in sixteen hours. To Montreal the distance is three hundred and four miles, travelled in thirteen hours and a half. The number of miles men- tioned in each instance is the distance by railroad, and the number of hours is the actual running time.
It will be observed that the distance from Holyoke to New York is but forty miles more than to Boston. The result of this is, that the freight on goods and cotton transported to and from that port is no more than on the same articles transported to and from Boston. The mills at Holyoke are thus able to avail themselves of the business facilities of New York, with no additional expense, whenever they find them preferable to those of Boston. Thus, freights from all south- ern ports being less to New York than to Boston, the cotton consumed by the mills can be shipped to the former port, and be transported by railroad to Holyoke, for about the same cost that it could be delivered at the wharf in Boston. And, although other mills may be geographically nearer Boston than those of Holyoke, they do not, on that account, receive their supplies of materials more expeditiously or more economically.
It is evident, without a minute calculation, that so great a fall in a river of the size of the Connecticut must afford an immense power. Even a superficial comparison of the power of the Connecticut - at a fall of sixty feet in a river more than a thousand feet wide -with that of smaller rivers which are found capable of moving numerous and extensive
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establishments, is sufficient to show that the facilities of Holy- oke, in this respect, must vastly exceed those of any other place in New England. And this view is amply confirmed by the most careful estimates of the amount of the power.
The exact width of the river between the abutments of the dam is 1,017 feet ; the exact fall from the top of the dam to still water is 591% feet, as has been already stated. This is the average fall. The greatest amount of water flowing over the dam which has been observed, was nine feet ten inches, on the 30th of April, 1850. The amount of water, running in the river at the dryest part of the year, was ascer- tained by numerous measurements, in July, 1847, to be 6,980 cubic feet in a second.
A "mill-power," so called, estimated at sixty or seventy horse power, is considered to be thirty cubic feet of water per second when the head and fall is twenty-five feet, the volume being graduated to a less or greater quantity as the head and fall is greater or less than twenty-five feet. It is on this principle that the charges for the use of water-power are rated at Lowell and Lawrence. The effective head and fall at Holyoke being 591% feet, the volume required for a " mill- power," as above defined, would be a small fraction more than 122 cubic feet in a second; and dividing this into the least amount of water running in the river, 6,980 cubic feet per second, as above stated, it appears that Holyoke affords no less than five hundred and fifty " mill-powers."
A first-class manufacturing establishment, as they are now built, generally requires several of these " mill-powers." The power at Holyoke is doubtless more than sufficient to main- tain a hundred separate establishments of average size. If half this number should be put in operation, - for instance, fifty mills of the size of the two already erected by the com- pany, with an average number of spindles equal to the mean in those two, - the grand total would be more than a million of spindles, employing a population of about two hundred thousand souls.
It is now proper to mention some of the social character-
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istics of the place we have been describing. . The territory thus laid out was formerly a portion of the township of West Springfield, which stretched along the west bank of the Con- necticut River, from the state line of Connecticut on the south, to the limit of the county of Hampden on the north. There was no village, and but few scattered dwellings, in the northern part of the territory of West Springfield, with the exception of a small collection of houses at a place about two miles from the present mills, called, from respect to the native country of the residents, "Ireland." In 1850, however, the legislature of Massachusetts, by an act approved by His Excellency Governor Briggs, March 14, set off all the part of West Springfield north of a line drawn westward from Riley's brook, so called, and incorporated it into a new town by the name of " HOLYOKE," " vested with all the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities, and subject to all the duties and requi- sitions, to which other towns are entitled and subjected by the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth." Any Justice of the Peace of Hampden County was authorized by the same act to issue his warrant, directed to any principal inhabitant of the new town of Holyoke, requiring him to warn the inhabitants qualified to vote in town-affairs, to meet and choose town-officers.
Accordingly, such a warrant was issued by Hervey Chapin, Justice of the Peace, addressed to Chester Crafts, warning a town-meeting to be held on Friday, March 22, 1850. At this time, selectmen and other town-officers were appointed, and the people auspiciously entered upon their existence as a separate and independent municipality, subject only to the constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts.
The population of Holyoke, by the census taken under the authority of the State, May 1, 1850, was 3,713, which entitles it to a representative in the legislature every year. By the valuation of 1851, the number of polls was reported at 1,117, and the amount of property at $1,812,854. By far the
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largest part of this property is, of course, owned by the com- pany.
There are four religious societies in the town regularly maintaining public worship. They all have convenient places of worship. Odd Fellows' and Freemasons' lodges are estab- lished here, social organizations which tend to render the place agreeable as a residence. A large first-class hotel was built last summer, called the " Holyoke House."
The people of the town have been liberal in the support of schools. One brick school-house was built by the company, and presented to the town. As Holyoke was incorporated in 1850, the returns to the Board of Education, of the con- dition of the schools for that year, are included in those for West Springfield. By the returns for the two next years, 1851 and 1852, embraced in the fifteenth and sixteenth reports of the Secretary of the Board of Education, published early in the years 1852 and 1853, it appears that the amount of money appropriated to the use of schools in 1851 was $1,800.00; and in 1852, $1,953.97. The relative rank of Holyoke among the towns of the State, determined by the proportion of its contributions for the support of schools to the number of children in the town, is advanced, in the report of 1853, to No. 103 from No. 128, which it stands in the report of 1852. The average sum appropriated for each child in 1851 was $3.35; and in 1852, $3.72. This is a larger amount than is appropriated by any of the other towns on the same side of the river in Hampden County, with a single exception; and is sixty-six per cent more than is appropriated by West Springfield, to which the territory formerly belonged. This shows that the erection of the mills, so far from diminishing, has largely increased the educational privileges of the place. When a larger popula- lation shall have collected, the town will doubtless take a higher rank in comparison with others in every part of the State.
There is also at Holyoke an incorporated academy, the average number of scholars attending which was reported
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in 1852 as twenty-five; and there are two private schools, with an average number of scholars, reported in 1853 as forty-two.
The natural features of Holyoke are such as to make it a healthy place; and so it has proved, thus far, to be. The towns in the valley of the Connecticut, particularly those on the western side, are celebrated for their salubrity. Holy- oke is so situated as to be as well favored by nature as any of them. The land, rising back from the river, makes the sites of the houses sufficiently elevated to secure them good air; and the slope, lying open towards the south-east, expo- ses them pleasantly to the sun. The disposition of the land is such as to render a perfect system of drainage into the river easy of construction and maintenance, thus securing a great preventative of disease. The streets upon the rising ground are at present drained directly into the upper canal, by means of brick sewers of one and two feet diameter. The plan of the place contemplates the construction of a large- sewer along one of the elevated streets, parallel with the canal, when the growth of the town shall demand it. The streets upon the level ground upon the promontory are drained into the lower canal. The sewers here can easily be flushed by water from the upper canal, and those above by water from the reservoir.
The streets in Holyoke are laid out sixty, seventy, and eighty feet wide. A reference to the plan shows, that the company have exercised liberal wisdom and forethought in reserving spaces of land for public squares, so that there shall be some open spots free from buildings at the time when Holyoke becomes a large and populous city.
The position of a city in the midst of the splendid farms and fruitful meadows of the Connecticut Valley would be highly favorable for obtaining supplies ; and the existence of such a market for their produce would be greatly beneficial to the interests, and stimulating to the industry, of the people of that part of the State engaged in agriculture.
A reference to the plan shows that the Connecticut River
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Railroad, which proceeds from Springfield on the eastern bank of the river, crosses it just below the mills, and thus passes through the town of Holyoke, the station being most conveniently and centrally situated. There is a branch-track, as we have mentioned, to the Foundry, Machine-shop, and Lumber-yard; and it is intended to continue these tracks to the Mills. The railroad crosses the canals and highway by substantial bridges, and is crossed by the aqueduct of the water-works by a neat stone arch.
There is not likely to be any lack of building materials at Holyoke. Lumber is brought greater or less distances down the Connecticut River from the forests on its banks, both upon railroad cars and in rafts upon the river. Clay suitable for bricks is found in the immediate vicinity. A quarry of excellent stone for foundations, &c., belongs to the company, about two miles distant from the mills, upon the line of the railroad ; and a side-track, of about five hundred feet, has been laid down at the spot, to facilitate obtaining it.
Besides the establishments already mentioned, the water- power of the company is hired for the use of the factory of Messrs. Wood, Brothers, & Co., for the manufacture of iron wire and card clothing, and for a flour-mill, the situation of which will be observed on the plan. Near these is the site of a small cotton-mill, which was formerly in operation, but which has been abandoned since the establishment of the new and more extensive mills.
The canal upon the eastern bank of the river is still main- tained for the passage of boats and rafts around the falls. The money which accrues from tolls upon it, about suffices to keep it in repair, and to reimburse to the company the interest of the money paid for its purchase. At any future time, when it should be thought best to discontinue it, which may not improbably happen, since the boats and rafts are gradually yielding more and more to the railroad trains, there will be a passage for such as may remain, through the locks in the company's new canal leading to the mills on the western side of the river.
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There are two manufacturing establishments upon the eastern side of the river, which obtain water-power from the old canal, and pay the Hadley Falls Company for its use. These are the "Glasgow Company," for the manufacture of ginghams, and the " Carew Paper Mill." They are situated in the town of South Hadley. The latter is somewhat cele- brated for the manufacture of the so-called "Congress " paper. The Messrs. Carew have bored an Artesian well on their premises, to a depth of about a hundred feet, from which they derive a supply of remarkably clear, pure water for their use in manufacturing. The facility with which this is obtained so near the margin of the river indicates, that, should it be desired, the same means could be resorted to in Holyoke to attain the same end.
We have thus taken a survey of the town of Holyoke, and of the operations of the Hadley Falls Company. We have seen that what was, a few years ago, a piece of waste land, has now become an independent municipality, with a popu- lation of four thousand souls, provided with buildings carrying on various branches of manufacture, and capable of almost indefinite increase and extension. The waters of the river, instead of passing idly by, are detained in their course by the dam, till they have paid the required tribute of ser- vice in behalf of the useful arts. But we have seen that the power which is capable of moving a hundred mills is confined to but half a dozen; and convenient sites for long rows of factory buildings are mostly unoccupied. There is room for a population vastly exceeding that at present collected. Why, then, should not more mills be erected ? Let us glance in review at the chief advantages offered by Holyoke as a location for new establishments.
I. Its immense water-power, vastly exceeding that of any other place in New England. The dam is built ; the canals are laid out ; nothing further remains to be done to render the power available for use.
II. Its central location, in the midst of an agricultural
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neighborhood, well adapted for the support of a large popula- tion, easy of access from all points, and particularly affording facilities for the speedy and economical transportation of goods and materials to and from Boston and New York.
III. The position of the land; a spacious promontory, nearly level, half encircled by the river, for the erection of mills ; with higher lands behind, adapted to convenient and healthy residences.
IV. The works already built ; including a machine-shop, capable of furnishing on the spot all the machinery required for a first-class mill, from cellar to attic, of the most approved workmanship ; water-works, capable of carrying a stream to the top of the highest buildings, in case of fire; and gas- works, affording a clear and economical light for all the establishments ; with abundant facilities for obtaining building materials.
V. The social advantages of the place, as indicated by the churches, societies, and schools ; the attention to the morals and health of the inhabitants; the reservation of public grounds, and other incidental details.
We might, perhaps, dwell more at length upon these topics, or mention others also deserving of notice. But we think that we have said enough to indicate, at least, that Holyoke offers advantages, as a location for manufacturing establishments requiring water-power, worthy the attention of manufacturers. This has been our object. To accomplish it, we have essayed simply to state the facts of the case. There was no necessity, nor had we any desire, to attempt to better the aspect of things by exaggeration, or by employing any nice artifices of description. The broad, deep volume of the majestic Connecticut needs not to be swelled by our feeble words.
SAMUEL A. ELIOT, President. J. INGERSOLL BOWDITCH, WM. APPLETON, ALFRED SMITH, IGNATIUS SARGENT,
Directors.
REFERENCES
Congregational Church Public Squares Reservoir Hampdon Mill Hadley Falls Cos Mills Boarding Houses Flour Mill
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