In 1614, six years before pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Dutch lawyer and sea captain Adrian Block, for whom Block Island is named, discovered and explored the Connecticut River as far north as Enfield Falls, where rapids forced him to turn back. He called it "Die Versche Riverier," or the "Fresh Water River," but later English arrivals discarded that name in favor of the Indian "Connitecock" or "Qunnitukat," meaning "Long Tidal River." In 1783, James Chamberlain received a charter from the legislature to operate a ferry there. On New Year's Day 1824, prominent Hartford businessmen and merchants met at City Hall to devise a plan to improve navigation on the river and enhance trade between Boston, New York, Springfield, and Hartford, with the most ambitious proposal calling for a lateral canal to bypass Enfield Falls. In 1827, the Connecticut River Company began work on the canal at Enfield Falls, using a construction crew of 400 men, predominantly Irishmen recruited specifically for the task. The canal opened in 1829 and began its decade of greatest activity. Soon after construction was complete, an application was filed for a post office at Charles H. Dexter's store near the grist mill, and the village that grew up around the canal ultimately took the name of its post office, Windsor Locks. In 1842, British author Charles Dickens and his wife toured America from January through June and arrived there on February 7, passing through the canal; his observations were later published in "American Notes." In 1886, the Suspension Bridge crossed the Connecticut River between Windsor Locks and Warehouse Point, replacing the state's first ferry franchise. Industries along the canal bank included J.R. Montgomery Company cotton warps, mercerized yarns, and novelty yarns; Steel Mill cutlery; Windsor Silk Company spun silk and spool silk; The George P. Clark Company trucks, casters, ventilating and exhaust fans, and dyeing machinery; Northern Connecticut Light and Power Company electricity and gas for light, heat, and power; C.H. Dexter and Sons, originally opened in 1767 as a grist and saw mill, destroyed by fire in 1875 and rebuilt in 1876 to manufacture the Star Brand of specialty papers including the teabag patent; Medicett Company worsted and woolen underwear; Anchor Mills Paper Co. newsprint and various specialty papers; E. Horton and Son Co. lathe chucks; Windsor Paper Company high grade rope papers, specialties, and boards for box makers; and others including Farist Iron Works, AG West Sewing Machine, Denslow K. Chase rifles for the Union Army, Converse Iron Foundry, and Prauty Wire Works.