July 28, 1835
A major milestone for the Boston and Providence Railroad (BPRR) took place with the completion of Canton Viaduct on that line. This viaduct in the town of Canton, which is approximately 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston.
Canton Viaduct was designed by William Gibbs McNeill (1800-1853), a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The civil engineers assisting him in this effort were his brother-in-law George Washington Whistler (1800-1849), who was the father of renowned artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and the husband of Anna Matilda McNeill Whistler (1804-1881) of Whistler’s Mother fame; Isaac R. Trimble (1802-1888); and William Raymond Lee (1807-1891). Construction on the Canton Viaduct began on April 20, 1834. The firm building this structure was Dodd & Baldwin, which had been established in Pennsylvania by cousins Ira Dodd (1786-1869) and Caleb Dodd Baldwin (1795-1868).
BPRR was incorporated on June 21, 1831, to provide a new means of transportation for transporting passengers and freight between the capitals of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. BPRR’s first board of directors included Thomas Beale Wales Jr. (1808-1887); Patrick Tracy Jackson (1780-1847); Joseph Warren Revere (1777-1868), who was a son of American Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere (1735-1818); and John F. Loring (1800-1864).
Work on the section of BPRR between Boston and Canton — with a branch line to the town of Dedham — was undertaken by scientist Daniel Carmichael (1796-1849) and manufacturer Reuben G. Fairbanks (1805-1882) and initiated in late 1832. BPRR was among the earliest railroads to operate in the United States and it has been credited with helping to facilitate the development of one of the country’s first commuter suburbs, namely the present-day Boston suburb of Jamaica Plain. BPRR ultimately covered a total of 41 miles (66 kilometers). This enterprise remained in existence until 1888, when it was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad.
Measuring 70 feet (21 meters) in height, Canton Viaduct was the world’s tallest railroad viaduct at the time of its debut. This structure is now the last surviving viaduct of its type. (The accompanying photo of Canton Viaduct was taken in 1977 by Jack Boucher [1931-2012]).
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the Boston and Providence Railroad, please check out https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/repositories/3/resources/1474
Additional information on Canton Viaduct is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Viaduct
Transportation History 