Dodd & Baldwin

The Canton Viaduct was erected in 1835 by the Boston and Providence Railroad shortly after its founding in 1831. It was designed by William Gibbs McNeill, a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and West Point graduate. He was assisted by engineers George Washington Whistler (McNeill's brother-in-law), Isaac Ridgeway Trimble and William Raymond Lee McNeill and Whistler were the uncle and father of the artist James McNeill Whistler. The viaduct was built by Dodd & Baldwin from Pennsylvania; the firm was established by cousins Ira Dodd and Caleb Dodd Baldwin.

Around this time, Russia was interested in building railroads. Tsar Nicholas I sent workmen to draw extensive diagrams of the Canton Viaduct. He later summoned Whistler to Russia as a consulting engineer to design the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway, on which two viaducts were modeled after the Canton Viaduct. A scale model viaduct of similar design is on display at the Oktyabrsky Railroad Museum in St. Petersburg.

The majority of the viaduct (71%) is over land, while 29% is over water. In addition to the six river portals, one roadway portal was originally provided. The distance between the transverse walls at this section is wider than all the other sections of the viaduct. The overall length is 615 feet (187 m) with a one degree horizontal curve that creates two concentric arcs. This makes the west wall slightly shorter than the east wall, producing a slight keystone shape in the cavities.

Originally unnamed, it was referred to as "the great stone bridge" and "the viaduct at Canton" before it was eventually named after the town.

The foundation stone was laid on Sunday, April 20, 1834 in the northeast corner with a Masonic builders' rites ceremony.