Holyoke Dam

Holyoke, Italy

The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, Million Dollar 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 created by the dam p

roduced 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.

Listen to the audio guide for Holyoke Dam Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off