In Holyoke, everything old is new again.
Old mills are being repurposed for new industries. The Connecticut River, power source for dozens of 19th century manufacturers, is being harnessed anew by high-tech companies that like their energy clean, green, and inexpensive.
History lesson: Early industrialists took note when they learned of a steep drop in the Connecticut River that indicated an astonishing level of waterpower — 6,000 cubic feet per second. The location was present-day Holyoke. In the mid-1800s, a group of Boston investors oversaw the creation of a system of dams and hand-dug canals to power a variety of mills: paper, textile, wool, and silk, among others.
