Hampshire and Hampden Canal

Benjamin Wright, the Erie Canal's chief engineer, was hired to conduct a preliminary survey from New Haven to Southwick, Massachusetts.

In 1822 he gave a positive report: "The terrain is favorably formed for a great work of this kind and a canal may be formed for considerable less expense per mile, than the cost of canals now in the making in the state of New York."

That same year, the Connecticut legislature granted a charter to the Farmington Canal Company, and on February 4, 1823, Massachusetts granted its corresponding charter to the Hampshire & Hampden Canal Company.

However, when Connecticut Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. employed the ceremonial shovel, it broke in his hands, and this was perhaps emblematic of the canal companies' subsequent fate, as both were substantially under-capitalized and severe financial difficulties plagued their project throughout its existence.

Twenty-eight locks were constructed to navigate the 292-foot (89 m) rise in elevation between New Haven and Granby.