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Holyoke Dam

Bodies of water of Hampden County, MassachusettsBodies of water of Hampshire County, MassachusettsCanals in MassachusettsDams in MassachusettsHistoric Mechanical Engineering Landmarks
Holyoke, MassachusettsSouth Hadley, MassachusettsTransportation buildings and structures in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Holyoke Dam during thaw, 2018
Holyoke Dam during thaw, 2018

The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, or Hadley Falls Station is a granite dam built in tandem with the Holyoke Canal System at Hadley Falls on the Connecticut River, between Holyoke and South Hadley, Massachusetts. The water differential crated by the dam produced mechanical hydropower for industrial uses in Holyoke, and later hydroelectric power. The current dam is the third structure to be built across the Great Falls at South Hadley. The dam, along with the Canal System and its Testing Flume, is recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark for its use by Clemens Herschel in the development of the Venturi meter, the first means of measuring large-scale flows, and the McCormick-Holyoke Turbine by John B. McCormick, also known as the Hercules Turbine, which doubled the efficiency of turbines to more than 80% in its time.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Holyoke Dam (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Holyoke Dam
Canal Street,

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Wikipedia: Holyoke DamContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.213611111111 ° E -72.601666666667 °
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Address

South Hadley Public Library

Canal Street
01040
Massachusetts, United States
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Holyoke Dam during thaw, 2018
Holyoke Dam during thaw, 2018
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Nearby Places

North High Street Historic District (Holyoke, Massachusetts)
North High Street Historic District (Holyoke, Massachusetts)

The North High Street Historic District is a historic district encompassing part of the downtown area of Holyoke, Massachusetts. When first added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, the district encompassed North High Street, between Dwight and Lyman Streets. This part of High Street was built between 1850 and 1885, and is lined with masonry buildings in Italianate and Second Empire styles. In 1992 the district was extended southward, adding three blocks of High Street between Dwight and Essex Streets. This expansions encompasses the growth of Holyoke during the height of its commercial success, between 1880 and 1930; it also includes the separately-listed Holyoke City Hall. The district was extended a third time, in 2008, adding a complex of three buildings at Dwight and Maple Streets that now houses the Holyoke Health Center.Prior to 1847, the area that is now Holyoke was a sleepy agricultural area of West Springfield. In that year, investors from Boston purchased a mill privilege on the Connecticut River, on which they proceeded to develop the industrial sites that fueled the growth of the city. By 1880, Holyoke was one of the nation's major producers of paper products, and had a population of more than 10,000. Many buildings on High Street in the 1986 district boundaries date to this period of rapid growth, which was completely built out by 1880. Between 1880 and 1930 the area northeast of the early cluster of commercial buildings was developed, spurred by the construction of City Hall in the 1870s, and by the extension of streetcars line for the Holyoke Street Railway in the latter half of the 19th century.