Home > Massachusetts > Lowell > Pawtucket Canal, Guard Locks, Lowell, Middlesex County, MA
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Item Title
Pawtucket Canal, Guard Locks, Lowell, Middlesex County, MA
LocationGuard Locks,
Lowell, MA
Find maps of Lowell, MA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER MA-2-A
Unprocessed field note material exists for this structure (FN-3).
Building/structure dates:
1792 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1798 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1803 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1822 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1832 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1839 subsequent work
Significance: The Guard Locks were the first set of locks constructed in the Lowell System which are still in existence. They have, however, been altered and added to since first put into use. The Guard Locks complex now includes not only the locks, but also a sluice gatehouse dating from 1870, a navigation lock gatehouse (1881), and the Great (or Francis) Gate, a portcullis-type gate constructed in 1848-50 to keep flood waters from entering the canal system.
Subjects
Brick BuildingsLocks (hydraulic Facilities)Wooden Buildings
Related Names
Merrimack Manufacturing Company
Francis, J. B.
Proprietors Of The Locks & Canals On The Merrimack
Jackson, Jonathan
Tyler, Joseph
Clark, Thomas
Boucher, Jack, Photographer
Scurci, Louis R., Delineator
Ventsch, Leslie, Delineator
Conner, Michael F., Delineator
Malone, Dr. Patrick M., Historian
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 341) PLAN AND ELEVATION OF PIPEING (sic) TO RAISE AND LOWER GUARD LOCKS HYDRAULIC GATES, FEBRUARY, 1947
2. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 160, Drawing 4) PLAN OF SLUICES AT OLD GUARD LOCKS, FEBRUARY, 1902
3. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf PH-20, Drawing 6) GUARD SLUICES OF PAWTUCKET CANAL AS RECONSTRUCTED IN 1870, 1870 (bottom half)
4. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf PH-20, Drawing 6) GUARD SLUICES OF PAWTUCKET CANAL AS RECONSTRUCTED IN 1870, 1870 (top half)
5. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf PH-20, Drawing 2) CYLINDER FOR HYDRAULIC LIFTS AT THE GUARD GATES OF PAWTUCKET CANAL, APRIL 19, 1870
6. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf PH-20, Drawing 76-A) PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS AT THE GUARD LOCKS OF THE PAWTUCKET CANAL, APRIL 19, 1870
7. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 286) SKETCH SHOWING THE PROPOSED NEW GUARD GATES ON THE PAWTUCKET CANAL, FEBRUARY 1856--PLAN. (Pencil note: 'Laid before meeting of Directors of Locks and Canals, March 13, 1856, no vote but it [was] not considered expedient to go [on with] the rebuilding at present.')
8. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 290) SHEERS FOR HOLDING UP PAWTUCKET GUARD GATES, JULY 24, 1850
9. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 282) GUARD LOCKS, PAWTUCKET CANAL OCTOBER 20, 1846 (Site section and plan)
10. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 291) GATE FOR PAWTUCKET GUARD LOCKS, JULY 16, 1850
11. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 117, Drawing 283) GUARD LOCKS, PAWTUCKET CANAL OCTOBER 15, 1846 (Site section and plan)
12. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 115, Drawing 83)--ca. 1832-1848--SITE SECTION OF THE GUARD LOCKS SHOWING ORIGINAL GATE HOUSE & LOCK KEEPER' S HOUSE
13. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 106, Drawing 599, now held at the Lowell Technological Institute, Lowell, MA) A PLAN OF THE LAND ON SOUTH SIDE OF THE PAWTUCKET CANAL BELONGING TO THE MERRIMACK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, JANUARY 1824
14. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 106, Drawing 600, now held at the Lowell Technological Institute, Lowell, MA) A PLAN OF THE LAND ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE PAWTUCKET CANAL BELONGING TO THE MERRIMACK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, JANUARY, 1824
15. GUARD LOCKS VIEWED FROM THE NORTHWEST BANK: SHOWS UPSTREAM SIDE. GATEHOUSE ON THE LEFT, ISLAND IN THE CENTER, AND LOCK HOUSE ON THE RIGHT Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
16. GENERAL VIEW OF LOCK GATES WITH GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) IN BACKGROUND Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
17. LOCK GATES VIEWED FROM DOWNSTREAM SIDE WITH GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) IN BACKGROUND Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
18. GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) WITH COVERING HOUSE AND BRACES ABOVE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
19. HOUSE COVERING GREAT GATE AT THE GUARD DOCKS SHOWING DIAGONAL BRACES FOR TIMBER FRAME SUPPORTING THE GATE Jack Boucher, photographer 1976
20. GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) WITH COVERING HOUSE AND BRACES ABOVE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
21. GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) WITH COVERING HOUSE AND BRACES ABOVE, SHOWING SLOT FORMED IN THE LOCK CHAMBER FOR THE GATE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
22. GREAT GATE VIEWED FROM UPSTREAM (NORTH) SIDE SHOWING THE SLOT FORMED IN THE LOCK CHAMBER FOR THE GATE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
23. GREAT GATE FROM UPSTREAM SIDE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
24. GREAT GATE (FRANCIS GATE) Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
25. GUARD LOCKS VIEWED FROM THE SOUTH SHOWING DOWNSTREAM SIDE: GREAT GATE ON LEFT, GATEHOUSE ON RIGHT Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
26. GUARD LOCKS VIEWED FROM THE SOUTH, WITH GREAT GATE AND LOCK GATES ON THE LEFT, GATE HOUSE ON THE RIGHT Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
27. ONE OF THE LOWER LOCK GATES AT THE GUARD LOCKS VIEWED FROM THE WEST BANK LOOKING EAST Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
28. GUARD LOCKS GATE HOUSE AND OUTLET SERVICES VIEWED FROM THE DOWNSTREAM (SOUTH) SIDE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
29. SERVICE OUTLETS OF GUARD LOCK GATE HOUSE, CURRENT RUNS TO RIGHT FORMING THE MAIN FLOW OF THE PAWTUCKET CANAL Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
30. INSCRIPTION ON THE GUARD LOCKS GATE HOUSE, EAST GABLE END Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
31. GUARD LOCKS VIEWED FROM THE NORTHWEST BANK SHOWING UPSTREAM SIDE: GATE HOUSE AT LEFT CENTER, POINT OF ISLAND IN CENTER, AND LOCK HOUSE ON RIGHT Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
32. GENERAL VIEW FROM THE SOUTH SHOWING DOWNSTREAM SIDE; GREAT GATE AND DOWNSTREAM LOCK GATES AT LEFT Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
33. GUARD LOCKS LOCK HOUSE VIEWED FROM THE SOUTH Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
34. GUARD LOCKS LOCK HOUSE VIEWED FROM THE EAST Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
35. INTERIOR VIEW OF THE GUARD LOCKS LOCK HOUSE: CLOSED LOCK GATES AND TWO SETS OF MACHINERY TO ASSIST IN OPERATING THEM. VIEW FROM THE FAST END OF THE BUILDING LOOKING WEST Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
36. WINDLASS ON THE EASTERN OF THE TWO DOWNSTREAM LOCK GATES AT THE GUARD LOCKS, USED TO OPEN OR CLOSE A VALVE Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
37. DETAIL OF MA-2A-36 Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
38. CHAIN AND WINDLASS IN GUARD LOCKS LOCK HOUSE. EASTERN OF TWO SETS OF MACHINERY USED TO HELP OPEN UPSTREAM LOCK GATES Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
39. DETAIL OF MA-2A-38 Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
40. DATE OF THE GREAT FLOOD AND HIGH WATER MARK CUT INTO THE GRANITE WALL TO THE WEST OF THE GREAT GATE ON THE ORDER OF J.B. FRANCIS, CHIEF ENGINEER Jack Boucher, Photographer 1976
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