Middlesex Canal Museum 71 Faulkner Street North Billerica, MA 01862 he Middlesex Canal Museum-Visitor Center in North Billerica, Massachusetts was created to preserve and illuminate the history of the canal. As a part of its mission, the museum sponsors a number of educational programs, including tours and historical walks and outreach programs throughout the year. Occupying a portion of the old Faulkner Mills on the Concord River Mill Pond that once fed the Canal, the museum is enriched by the historic ambiance of the mill building itself. The museum features interactive exhibits, maps, drawings, and artifacts that document the history of the Middlesex Canal from initial engineering to the day the railroad replaced it. Learn how canal locks operate or marvel at original period deeds when the land for the canal was purchased one parcel at a time. Explore the lives of some of the influential founders of the canal, who were some of the most prominent industrialists of the day. Directions: From Rte. 3 North or South: take exit 28, (Treble Cove Road, North Billerica/Carlisle). At end of ramp, turn onto Treble Cove Road toward North Billerica. About 3/4 mile, bear left at a fork following Treble Cove Road. At intersection lights, cross straight over Rte. 3A. About 1/4 mile is a 3-way fork; take middle road. Go 1/4 mile, bear right, then turn right onto Faulkner Street. Go 1/4 mile. Museum is on the left (brick mill building, blue museum sign). Parking is on right, just beyond dam falls. Entrance is at blue museum sign doorway. From Rte. 495, north or south: take Woburn Street, N. Billerica/Lowell exit. From the north, take a left (from the south, take a right) onto Woburn Street, which becomes Billerica Avenue. Continue until the railroad station parking lot, then take a right. Go 1/4 mile and Faulkner Mills is on the right. Parking lot is on the left. Entrance at blue museum sign doorway. By Train: from Boston's North Station, take Lowell Commuter Line. Get off at the North Billerica station (one stop south of Lowell). From the station side of the tracks, the museum is a three-minute walk up Faulkner Street on the right side. Enter at the blue museum sign doorway. Phone: 978-670-2740 Fax: 978-667-1787 send E-mail visit Website Contact: Shayne Reardon Hours: April through September, Saturday & Sunday, 12-4:00 Admission: Free   he Middlesex Canal built between 1793 and 1803, and operational until 1853, was the ultimate superhighway of its day, the first "Big Dig", the one that came in under budget and on time. Just 27 miles long, it played a major role in the Industrial Revolution, and its success led to the building of the Erie Canal. Funding for this website is provided by Community Crossroads Foundation, The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, and the museums and historic sites of the Greater Boston History Project.