River of Dreams

Metacomet Ridge, The "Great Wall"

Metacomet Ridge, which shapes the flow of the Connecticut River, has been called The Great Wall. It neatly separated the commerce and transportation of Hartford and New Haven with a wall of igneous "traprock" running from Branford, CT to Northhampton, MA.

In order for New Haven to partipate in the profitable river traffic between Northhampton and the seaports on Long Island Sound, the Farmington Canal was funded and built between New Haven and Northampton during 1825 to 1835. It was plauged with problems from the start, and never proved a financial success. Hartford improved the natural waterway to Northampton with the Enfield Canal built around the shallow water at Windsor in 1829. But the development of the railroads was the final downfall of the Farmington Canal, of which a few ruins still survive along a Heritage Greenway Park.