The old Middlesex Canal developed out a need among those in the cotton and wool industries to move raw cotton and wool from one factory to the next. Inland waterways or canals soon became an important and inexpensive means of transporting wool and cotton from beginning to finished wool and cotton cloth.
Initially, capital for dredging the waterways and constructing specialized canal boats for this purpose was contributed by the mill owner. One of the more important families in the production of cotton cloth wax the family of William Amory.
Florida’s Big Dig 