es. The ceaseless
water-power of the great river turns the wheels of numerous industries
which, within the third of a century, have been located here and have
transformed a sparsely settled rural parish into a busy and populous
city.

Holyoke is a New England growth. It does not resemble the smoky cities
of the iron regions, nor the languid towns of the South. The swift,
powerful current of water does its work without confusion, smoke or
waste. Pure breezes sweep along the valley through the mountain rifts,
and the mountains serve as barriers to ward off heavy gales and
destructive tempests. The slope of the land toward the river gives
opportunity for healthful drainage and the vicinity of mountain springs
and reservoirs supplies a great requisite for a thickly settled city.

[Illustration: THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.]

The impression which Holyoke makes upon its visitors is of modern thrift
and growth. Travellers by railway who enter the city from the north,
look with interest at the great dam, crossing the river from the Holyoke
to the South Hadley Falls shore. Rounding the curve, the large brick
buildings, spires and chimneys of the city come suddenly into view, the
tall tower of the granite city hall rising high above the rest. The
buildings are modern in structure and architecture. Little is found here
that bears the moss and rime of age.

Less than forty years ago, when the railroad was still a novelty in the
Connecticut Valley, a party of capitalists came to view the water-power
along the rocky bed of the Connecticut River at the point called the
Great Rapids, or Falls of South Hadley, which extended over a mile and
a half and had a total fall of 60 feet. The volume of water was gauged
and found to aggregate a power equal to 30,000 horse-power. This was in
1847. The next Legislature was petitioned by Thomas H. Perkins, Geo.
W. Lyman, Edmund Dwight and others for an act of incorporation as the
Hadley Falls Company, "for the purpose of constructing and maintaining
a dam across the Connecticut River, and one or more locks and canals
in connection with said dam; and of creating a water power to be used
by the said corporation for manufacturing articles from cotton, wood,
iron, wool and other materials, and to be sold to other persons and
corporations, to be used for manufacturing or mechanical purposes and
also for the purposes of navigation." The capital stock was fixed
at $4,000.000. The Hadley Falls Company purchase