Canal Towns: Plainville

Originally part of Farmington, Connecticut until its incorporation as a separate town in 1869, Plainville's development was profoundly shaped by the Farmington Canal's construction and operation between 1828 and 1847.

The first canal boat reached what was then known as Bristol Basin, later the center of Plainville, in 1828. The canal's construction through this section involved considerable engineering challenges, as the waterway curved broadly around the southern end of Redstone Hill. Construction along the eastern side of the hill necessitated moving the tow path to the downhill side of the canal as far north as the center of Plainville. This area formed part of the remarkable 27-mile "long level" between Lock 6 in Granby and Lock 7 in Southington, where engineers successfully maintained the canal bed at a constant elevation of 182.5 feet above sea level.

Plainville developed two major canal basins that served as vital commercial hubs. The first and larger basin was strategically located near the intersection of two major roads, converting what appeared to be a naturally occurring low spot into a bustling commercial center. A store and warehouse complex stood at the south end of this basin, adjacent to Blossom's Tavern, serving the needs of local merchants and canal travelers. The basin itself was not completed until 1831, though boats had been navigating through the area since 1828.

The second significant commercial development occurred when Ebenezer Hawley Whiting and his brother Adna established themselves as prominent merchants in the area. In 1829, they completed a hotel on the corner near what became known as Whiting's Basin. When the Whitings later moved west about half a mile and enlarged the canal to create a new basin, they built the establishment that became known as Whiting's Store. Their business acumen was evident in their operation of several canal boats between Bristol Basin and New Haven, purchasing wheat flour directly from vessels in New Haven harbor to avoid port charges. Most of the shipping business followed them to their new location, and clocks from the manufacturers of Bristol, Terryville, and Plymouth were shipped from their wharf, with one firm alone shipping 500 clocks weekly.

Plainville possessed the canal's only dry dock, a remarkable engineering feature that demonstrated the town's importance to canal operations. This rectangular excavation, located off the west side of the canal between Bristol and Whiting's Basins, measured approximately 80 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide. Built of stone and timber shortly after the canal's completion, it stood just back of what later became the creamery building, with access provided by a channel entering the canal. The facility featured gates similar to those used in canal locks, allowing it to be isolated from the main waterway. A waste weir at the opposite end enabled workers to drain water into the adjacent low-lying marshes near the Pequabuck River, providing convenient facilities for building new canal boats and repairing damaged vessels.

Several individuals played crucial roles in Plainville's canal history. Harmanus M. Welch operated a warehouse at Bristol Basin and owned his own boats, including the canal boat Ceres, which unloaded directly at his dock. His prominence in canal commerce eventually led to a distinguished political career, including service as Mayor of New Haven from 1860 to 1863 and as President of the First National Bank for over twenty years.

Lemuel Lewis and John Hamlin demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit by establishing an early passenger service. They purchased a ship's long boat, eighteen feet long with a six-foot beam, which they fitted with seats to carry approximately thirty passengers. Operating this vessel to transport worshippers from Plainville to church in Farmington, they charged three cents per passenger while paying twenty-five cents daily for a horse and twelve and a half cents for a boy to ride it. The boat operated until 1835 when it was condemned as unseaworthy.

The canal profoundly influenced the religious and social life of Plainville's inhabitants. Before a church was erected in Plainville, worshippers traveled by boat to the old meeting-house at the center of Farmington. Julius Gay's 1899 address to the Village Library Company described how passengers "beguiled the way with psalm singing and other pious recreations," while small boys fished for shiners from the stern of the boat with their elders' tacit approval. This practice generated some controversy among the devout, with some viewing Sunday canal boat operation as a violation of the Sabbath, though practical necessity generally prevailed.

The canal witnessed its share of tragedies, most notably the death of Julius M. Welch on September 28, 1843. The sixteen-year-old clerk from Bristol Basin was crushed between a canal boat and a bridge in New Haven while attempting to pass under the structure. The accident occurred when the canal level was unusually high and the lightly loaded boat rode higher in the water than expected. Despite warnings from boatmen, young Welch was caught between the boat's deck and the bridge timber, suffering fatal injuries. His gravestone in Old North Cemetery in Bristol bears the inscription: "Junius M. Welch son of Dea. George & Zelinda Welch was killed on the Canall Sept. 28, 1843, aged 16 years."

Plainville witnessed one of the canal's few experiments with steam power when a stern-wheel steamboat attempted to navigate the waterway in August 1835. The vessel, likely built by the Burden Iron Works at Troy, New York, successfully reached the Basin after lowering its smokestack to pass under bridges. However, the wake created by the paddle wheel significantly lowered the canal's water level, and the Superintendent prohibited the vessel's return journey. The steamboat was subsequently transported overland to Hartford for use on the Springfield line of steamers.

The canal's commercial viability declined throughout the 1840s as railroad competition intensified. In 1845, engineers surveyed the canal route in preparation for railroad construction between New Haven and Northampton. The survey revealed that the route along the canal line to Bristol Basin, a distance of 28 miles, proved more feasible and less expensive than anticipated, with an average grade not exceeding eight feet per mile. By 1846, discussions intensified regarding the conversion of the canal to railroad use, with Plainville identified as a crucial junction point where the proposed railroad would intersect with a potential branch line from Hartford.

The Farmington Canal ceased operations in 1847, but its impact on Plainville's development proved lasting. The canal had transformed what had been agricultural land into a thriving commercial center, established transportation patterns that persisted into the railroad era, and created the physical and economic infrastructure that supported the town's eventual incorporation as an independent municipality. The canal's route through Plainville, parts of which remained visible well into the twentieth century, served as a tangible reminder of this transformative period in the town's history.