Editing Southwick, Massachusetts (section)

===Early 1800s===

In the early 19th century, the [[Farmington Canal]] and the [[Hampshire and Hampden Canal]] were built to link [[New Haven, Connecticut]] to [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]] through Southwick. [[Irish immigrants]] came to the area to labor on this project. Developers spoke of Southwick's potential, calling it the "Port of the World". Traces of the canal can still be found in the Great Brook and Congamond Lakes area. Due to winter freezing, summer drought, and wildlife impact (beaver dams, etc.), the canal was phased out in favor of a railroad. 

[[Laflin-Phelps Homestead]] was built soon after the area was settled and remains the oldest standing structure in Southwick.

Completed in the late 1840s, the [[New Haven and Northampton Company]]'s railroad was built alongside the canal. With the railroad came the ice industry and tourist resorts around the Congamond Lakes (which were named ''Wenekeiamaug'' by the previous native peoples). Along with the construction of a small amusement park, numerous elaborate hotels and dance halls were constructed. During the Industrial Era, summer vacationers and day-trippers would escape to Southwick from cities connected by the Northeast Railroad Corridor including [[New York City]], [[Albany, New York|Albany]], [[Boston]], [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], and especially [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]]. There was a special stop near the lakes where visitors would disembark to swim and/or pile into canopied pleasure boats.

During [[World War I|WWI]] and [[World War II|WWII]], trains loaded with soldiers would pass through town. It has been noted that local girls would gather letters thrown by the soldiers from the train and forward them to the intended recipients at the post office. The last train to pass along these tracks was ''circa'' 1976. As of 2022, the old railway was converted into a rail trail leading to [[Granby, Connecticut]], known as the Farmington Canal Rail Trail.

All of Southwick's grand hotels and ornate train stations have since been torn down. Babb's Roller Skating Rink on the [[Suffield, Connecticut|Suffield]] side of Congamond Lakes is all that remains of the amusement park.