Canal Towns: Granby

The groundbreaking ceremony for the entire canal project was held in Granby on July 4, 1825. The celebration began at the Granby church, attended by dignitaries including Governor Oliver Wolcott Jr. and Canal President James Hillhouse, along with two to three thousand citizens from Connecticut and Massachusetts. A procession, famously led by a canal boat drawn by six horses on wheels, moved north to the "Great Ponds" (Congamond Ponds) at the Massachusetts state line, which served as the head of the Farmington Canal. There, Governor Wolcott turned the first spadeful of earth, and Mr. Lyman of Northampton poured water from the ocean into the excavation, symbolizing the waterway's connection to the sea. The festivities concluded with a large dinner at Salmon Brook village in Granby.

Construction in Granby focused on the canal's "summit level". In August 1825, contracts were awarded for the first five miles of the canal, running from the Massachusetts line south to Salmon Brook, a section that included thirty-eight feet of lockage. Contracts were signed for the timber and stone to build the six locks located in Granby, with proposals also sought for two lock houses in the town. The most significant and troublesome engineering feat in Granby was the crossing of Salmon Brook. A contract for an embankment and the first culvert was made in August 1825, but it was completely destroyed by a freshet in September 1826. A second, larger culvert (forty-foot span) was commissioned, only to be washed out by another severe flood in September 1828. This failure caused major delays, and the canal north of Granby could not open until a third stone arch culvert was finally completed in October 1829.

Granby was also vital for the canal's water supply. The summit level relied on the Congamond Ponds, and navigation between Granby and Southwick, Massachusetts, was halted for three months during a severe drought in the summer of 1830. To remedy this, a new feeder canal was completed in October 1830 to channel water from Salmon Brook in Granby into the ponds. Despite these challenges, Granby was an active port. In October 1829, the Sachem, a boat owned by Capt. Owen of Granby, became the first vessel to travel the entire route from the Massachusetts line to New Haven harbor, carrying passengers from Granby, Southwick, and Simsbury. The Sachem also hosted a "Winter Canal Navigation" excursion on January 1, 1830, taking a large party from the Granby locks to the Southwick Ponds. Cargo boats like the Pioneer plied Granby, "Granby Apples" were sold in New Haven, and the Granby-built boat Connecticut was praised in 1836 as an "excellent sample of the craft". The canal in Granby was not immune to damage, however, suffering severe breaches again in the major flood of October 1843.