Reimagining an Industrial City

The city of Holyoke was designed and built to be an industrial city. Holyoke sits on a hill in the elbow of a curve of the Connecticut River, where water falls sixty feet in a short distance. This slope and the river's bend were the necessary ingredients for providing waterpower to textile mills, paper mills, and many other manufacturers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Water was drawn off from behind a dam and ushered into four-and-a-half miles of hand-dug canals that paralleled the slope. Mills situated between a high canal and a canal lower in elevation were able to utilize the power of falling water as it turned a turbine. These canals still do their job providing power to the citizens of Holyoke. Our Nice and Easy Canal Walks and Holyoke Revitalization Tours are geared for seniors but open to all ages. Learn how innovative businesses and developers are putting life back into the old mills. View upcoming outings on our hiking committee's webpage.