Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on Merrimack River

The Locks and Canals company was chartered in 1792 by a group of merchants and shipowners from Newburyport, Mass. interested in improving the navigability of the Merrimack River and thereby boosting commerce at Newburyport. They constructed the Pawtucket Canal around the rapids at East Chelmsford. By 1803, however, construction of the Middlesex Canal linking the Merrimack with Boston had diverted shipping to Boston rather than to Newburyport. The Locks and Canals company was revived with the establishment of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company at East Chelmsford in 1821. Many of the persons involved in the new textile enterprise also had interest in the older Locks and Canals company. In 1825 the charter of the company was amended to allow it to own real estate, water rights, and mill privileges. Consequently the Locks and Canals company became the prime instrument in the development of Lowell, as the new community was named in 1826. It built new mills, canals, and machinery, and owned the land and water rights which made Lowell a premier textile manufacturing center.

Chartered 1792 by a group of Newburyport, Mass., businessmen interested in using the Merrimack River to promote commerce to Newburyport; by 1803, however, construction of the Middlesex Canal linking the Merrimack with Boston had diverted shipping to Boston rather than Newburyport. The Locks and Canals company was revived with the establishment of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company at East Chelmsford in 1821; in 1825 its charter was amended to allow it to own real estate, water rights, and mill privileges. Consequently the company became the prime instrument in the development of Lowell, as the new community was named in 1826. It built new mills, canals, and machinery, and owned the land and water rights which made Lowell a premier textile manufacturing center. PLC continued to improve individual canals and maintain its water rights well into the 20th century and as a result, participated in the growing development of hydroelectric power generation in Lowell and eastern Massachusetts; in the early 1960s it underwent a change of ownership when a group of Lowell investors acquired the corporation and consolidated it with other assets (including Boott Hydropower). Until 1994, provided water from its reservoir to the fire suppression systems in the remaining mill structures, and, through its ownership of the Pawtucket Canal, continues to sell industrial process water to various customers today; also known as PLC or Proprietors of the Locks & Canals.