The Back River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
located in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
and
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
to the
Powwow River
The Powwow River is a river located in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, part of the Gulf of Maine watershed.
River course
The Powwow River rises in the center of Danville, New Hamps ...
, part of the
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...
watershed. Approximately of the river are in New Hampshire, with the remaining in Massachusetts.
Prior to European settlement in the early 17th century, Native Americans of the
Pennacook
The Pennacook, also known by the names Penacook and Pennacock, were an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. They were not a united tribe but a netwo ...
tribe lived in the area, and used both the Back River and parent Powwow River for transportation and fishing. The native population was essentially destroyed by the 1617-19 epidemic in the area.
In the 1950s, the Clarks Pond Dam was built in
Amesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 202 ...
, creating the pond of that name. Since the pond's creation, it has been degraded by residential building in the area, and was considered "threatened" in a 2013 report, by residential run-off and silt deposits.
The Back River rises in
Kensington, New Hampshire
Kensington is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,095 at the 2020 census.
History
Once a parish of Hampton, Kensington was incorporated in 1737 by New Hampshire governor Jonathan Belcher. Of the 27 town ...
, and flows southeast, almost immediately entering the town of
South Hampton. The river turns south and enters Massachusetts in Amesbury, joining the Powwow River at tidewater just downstream from the city's center at the falls of the Powwow.
See also
*
List of rivers of Massachusetts
List of rivers of Massachusetts (U.S. state).
All Massachusetts rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean. The list is arranged by drainage basin from north to south, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name, arranged travellin ...
*
List of rivers of New Hampshire
This is a list of rivers and significant streams in the U.S. state of New Hampshire.
All watercourses named "River" (freshwater or tidal) are listed here, as well as other streams which are either subject to thNew Hampshire Comprehensive Shorelan ...
References
Tributaries of the Merrimack River
Rivers of Essex County, Massachusetts
Rivers of New Hampshire
Rivers of Massachusetts
Rivers of Rockingham County, New Hampshire
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