Farmington Canal State Park Trail is a Connecticut state park forming a portion of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in the towns of Cheshire and Hamden. The developed section of the trail within state park boundaries runs over from Lazy Lane in Southginton to Todd Street in Hamden and includes the historic Farmington Canal's restored Lock 12, located south of Brooksvale Road in Cheshire. The paved, multiple-use trail is used for hiking, biking, jogging, in-line skating and cross-country skiing.
History
The site of the greenway was originally used by the native Quinnipiac tribes as a path prior to its expansion as a road by the colonists. In 1822, it was proposed that a canal be dug for water transportation as a route to bypass the Connecticut River traffic through Hartford. The project began on July 4, 1825, and represented Connecticut's entry into the "national canal craze" and a new transportation era in Connecticut. The ground-breaking ceremony was modest and included Connecticut GovernorOliver Wolcott Jr. having the honor of turning the first spadeful of earth, but the spade broke and would later be recognized as a bad omen. Leary wrote that the canal began at Long Wharf in New Haven, Connecticut and exited the state of by the Congamnond Ponds, some to the north. The canal had a total of 28 lift locks which measured long by wide. These lift locks were required due to the significant elevation changes from New Haven to Massachusetts. Beginning in New Haven, the first had masonry walls, but the rest of the canal was "simply a ditch" about deep that was only suitable for a flat bottomed canal boat. Leary describes the canal was "unquestionably Connecticut's foremost engineering feat before the advent of the railroads." The first sections of the canal were operational in 1828, and the canal boats were pulled by mules up the canal, but it wasn't complete until the late 1830s. The operation of the canal was affected by the precipitation, with drought-like conditions resulting in closed sections, but it had a great impact on the local businesses and industries adjoining the canal. The Farmington and Hampshire companies were in severe debt by 1836 and established the New Haven-Northampton Company to take ownership of the canal on June 22, 1836. The stocks of the companies were relinquished and "the debts were partially paid and subscribers bought stock in the amount of $120,184.92". The reorganization in 1836 resulted in the loss of $1 million for the original investors. A rival appeared with the opening of the New Haven Railroad, running between New Haven and Meriden, Connecticut. Stockholders petitioned the Connecticut General Assembly for authority to construct a railroad on the canal bed, a charter was granted and work on the railroad began in January 1847. Gugino wrote that the "t
Farmington Canal State Park Trail is divided into two parts. The one is a multi-use trail extending south from Cornwall Street in Cheshire to Todd Street in Hamden. At the end of Todd Street is the beginning of Sleeping Giant State Park. The second is a trail that runs from Connecticut Route 68 in Cheshire to Lazy Lane in Southington. The trail is complete, with the final section having opened in fall of 2017. The trail is able to be used by "walkers, joggers, bicyclists and skaters." Leary states that the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is part of a larger greenway that consists of three sections in Avon, Farmington, and Simbury that will combine into one long trail.
