By the Canal: Canal District Walking Tour

Preservation Worcester's By the Canal Tour is a self-guided tour of the streets and buildings of Worcester's Canal District.  This tour highlights eleven buildings that reflect the history of both the city and the neighborhood.  Nine were built before the Blackstone Canal, which first opened in 1828, was covered over in the late 1800s.  All retain much of their original architectural character.  With the By the Canal Tour you will uncover surprising bits of history and hear stories about the people, events and economy that made Worcester the city it is today.

You can pick up our By the Canal: Canal District Walking Tour brochure at Preservation Worcester's office at 10 Cedar Street. Or you can download a copy from below and print it from your computer.

To take this self-guided walking tour you have several different options:

  • Take the tour using the downloadable print version as your guide.
  • Use your iPod to listen to an audio version of the tour.
  • Use your smartphone to access an audio version of the tour.

Click here to download a printable version of the tour (PDF file).

Click here to download a printable version of the Tour Map (JPG file).

For iPods:
Click here to download to your computer the zip file that contains the mp3 files for the audio portion of the tour. 

(Please note this zip file is 45MB in size.  Depending on your internet connection may take up to ten minutes to download.  Once you have downloaded the files to your computer, you can extract the mp3 files from the zip file and then upload them to your iTunes application to transfer them to your iPod.)

For smartphones:  Begin by downloading the free Tag Reader App at http://gettag.mobi   To activate the audio tour, use your phone to scan the tag displayed on signs at tour sites, on the downloadable Tour Map, or on the By the Canal:  Canal District Walking Tour brochure.

Click here to access a pdf file of the inside cover of the By the Canal Tour Brochure. (Note this file is 16.2 MB in size.)

Click here to access a pdf file of the outside cover of the By the Canal Tour Brochure. (Note this file is 23.7 MB in size.)

To take a virtual tour please follow the directions below.

Click here to see a tour map from which you may visit the tour sites and listen to the audio version of the tour from your computer.  The Union Station page will open up.  Here you will see buttons for the Union Station and Extended Version tour segments.  Select one of the buttons to begin the tour.  When you have finished listening to a tour segment, click the back arrow at the left hand top corner of your screen to go back to the previous page, where you may select the next tour segment.  When you have finished listening to the Union Station segments, scroll to the tour map at the bottom of the page. 

The tour map at the bottom of the Union Station page shows all of the sites on the tour.  To take the tour in the suggested order, begin at Union Station and follow the sites numerically.  Alternatively, you may choose the sites in whatever order you please by clicking on the appropriate QR tag.   When you have finished listening to a tour segment, click the back arrow in the left hand top corner of the screen to go back to the previous page, where you may select the next tour segment.