Excerpt from Historical Memoir of the Western Railroad The attention of the early friends of Internal Improvement in Massachusetts, was directed exclusively to the subject of Canals. Railroads were not introduced generally, even in England, as means of public travel and transportation, until a comparatively recent date. The first movement for a communication from Boston westward, was by Gen. Henry Knox, in 1791, for a Canal. He caused extensive surveys to be made in that year by John Hills, Esq., both upon a southern route through Worcester, and upon a more northern one. He and his associates were incorporated March 10 th, 1792, by the name of "The Proprietors of the Massachusetts Canal," with authority to make a Canal from Boston to the Connecticut River. It does not appear that active measures were taken under that charter. Their maps and estimates were preserved, and placed in the hands of the State Commissioners for Canal Surveys in 1825. Though charters were granted for local Canals, no general movement was attempted from Boston to the interior of the State, until 1825. At the opening of the January session of the Legislature of that year, Gov. Eustis called attention to the subject, as follows: -" A water communication from Boston, to, and through the western parts of the State, would tend greatly to advance the interests of Agriculture, and of the numerous Manufactures established in the interior. The present state of the Treasury will not, I am sensible, admit the application of funds, to any considerable amount, to objects of this nature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.