The Connecticut River is the longest river in the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, and discharges at
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
. Its watershed encompasses , covering parts of five U.S. states and one Canadian province, via 148 tributaries, 38 of which are major rivers.
It produces 70% of Long Island Sound's fresh water,
discharging at per second.
The Connecticut River Valley is home to some of the northeastern United States' most productive farmland, as well as the
Hartford–Springfield Knowledge Corridor, a metropolitan region of approximately two million people surrounding
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
, and
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
.
History
The word "Connecticut" is a corruption of the
Mohegan word ''quinetucket'', which means "beside the long, tidal river". The word came into English during the early 1600s to name the river, which was also called simply "The Great River". It was also known as the Fresh River, and the Dutch called it the Verse River.
Early spellings of the name by European explorers included "Cannitticutt" in French or in English.
Pre-1614: American Indian populations
Archaeological digs reveal human habitation of the Connecticut River Valley for 6,000 years before present.
Numerous tribes lived throughout the fertile Connecticut River valley prior to Dutch exploration beginning in 1614. Information concerning how these tribes lived and interacted stems mostly from English accounts written during the 1630s.
The
Pequots dominated a territory in the southern region of the Connecticut River valley, stretching roughly from the river's mouth at
Old Saybrook, Connecticut, north to just below the Big Bend at
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its ...
. They warred with and attempted to subjugate neighboring agricultural tribes such as the
Western Niantics, while maintaining an uneasy stand-off with their rivals the
Mohegans.
The
Mattabesset (Tunxis) tribe takes its name from the place where its
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
s ruled at the Connecticut River's Big Bend at Middletown, in a village sandwiched between the territories of the aggressive Pequots to the south and the more peaceable Mohegans to the north.
The Mohegans dominated the region due north, where Hartford and its suburbs sit, particularly after allying themselves with the Colonists against the Pequots during the
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narraga ...
of 1637.
Their culture was similar to the Pequots, as they had split off from them and become their rivals some time prior to European exploration of the area.
The agricultural
Pocomtuc
The Pocumtuc (also Pocomtuck or Deerfield Indians) were a Native American tribe historically inhabiting western areas of Massachusetts.
Settlements
Their territory was concentrated around the confluence of the Deerfield and Connecticut Rive ...
tribe lived in unfortified villages alongside the Connecticut River north of the
Enfield Falls
Enfield Falls Canal (commonly known as the Windsor Locks Canal) is a canal that was built to circumvent the shallows at Enfield Falls (or Enfield Rapids) on the Connecticut River, between Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. It ...
on the fertile stretch of hills and meadows surrounding
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
. The Pocomtuc village of Agawam eventually became Springfield, situated on the Bay Path where the Connecticut River meets the western
Westfield River and eastern
Chicopee River
The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wat ...
. The Pocomtuc villagers at Agawam helped
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
explorers settle this site and remained friendly with them for decades, unlike tribes farther north and south along the Connecticut River.
The region stretching from Springfield north to the
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, 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 t ...
and
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
state borders fostered many agricultural Pocomtuc and
Nipmuc settlements, with its soil enhanced by sedimentary deposits. Occasionally, these villages endured invasions from more aggressive confederated tribes living in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, such as the
Mohawk,
Mahican
The Mohican ( or , alternate spelling: Mahican) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, w ...
, and
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
tribes.
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 n ...
tribe mediated many early disagreements between colonists and other Indian tribes, with a territory stretching roughly from the
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
border with Vermont and New Hampshire, northward to the rise of the
White Mountains in New Hampshire. The Western
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
(
Sokoki) tribe lived in the
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...
region of Vermont but wintered as far south as the
Northfield, Massachusetts
Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 2,866 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connecticut R ...
, area. The (
Sokoki) tribe migrated to Odanak, Quebec following the epidemics and the wars with the settlers but returned to Vermont.
1614–1636: Dutch and Puritan settlement
In 1614,
Dutch explorer
Adriaen Block
Adriaen (Arjan) Block (c. 1567 – buried April 27, 1627) was a Dutch private trader, privateer, and ship's captain who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four v ...
became the first European to chart the Connecticut River, sailing as far north as
Enfield Rapids. He called it the "Fresh River" and claimed it for the Netherlands as the northeastern border of the
New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...
colony. In 1623, Dutch traders constructed a fortified trading post at the site of
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
, called the ''Fort Huys de Hoop'' ("Fort House of Hope").
Four separate
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
-led groups also settled the fertile Connecticut River Valley, and they founded the two large cities that continue to dominate the Valley: Hartford (est. 1635) and Springfield (est. 1636). The first group of pioneers left the
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...
in 1632 and ultimately founded the village of Matianuck (which became
Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census.
P ...
) several miles north of the Dutch fort. A group left the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...
from
Watertown, seeking a site where they could practice their religion more freely. With this in mind, they founded
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census.
Many records from colonial times spell the nam ...
, in 1633, several miles south of the Dutch fort at Hartford.
In 1635, Reverend
Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...
led settlers from
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, where he had feuded with Reverend
John Cotton, to the site in Connecticut of the Dutch Fort House of Hope, where he founded Newtowne.
Shortly after Hooker's arrival, Newtowne annexed Matianuck based on laws articulated in Connecticut's settlement charter, the Warwick Patent of 1631. The patent, however, had been physically lost, and the annexation was almost certainly illegal.
The fourth English settlement along the Connecticut River came out of a 1635 scouting party commissioned by
William Pynchon
William Pynchon (October 11, 1590 – October 29, 1662) was an English colonist and fur trader in North America best known as the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was also a colonial treasurer, original patentee of the Massach ...
to find the most advantageous site for commerce and agriculture, hoping to found a city there. His scouts located the Pocumtuc village of Agawam, where the Bay Path trade route crossed the Connecticut River at two of its major tributaries—the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west—and just north of Enfield Falls, the river's first unnavigable waterfall. Pynchon surmised that traders using any of these routes would have to dock and change ships at his site, thereby granting the settlement a commercial advantage.
It was initially named Agawam Plantation and was allied with the settlements to the south that became the state of Connecticut, but it switched allegiances in 1641 and was renamed Springfield in honor of Pynchon's native town in England.
Of these settlements, Hartford and Springfield quickly emerged as powers. In 1641, Springfield splintered off from the Hartford-based Connecticut Colony, allying itself with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For decades, Springfield remained the Massachusetts Bay Colony's westernmost settlement, on the northern border of the Connecticut Colony. By 1654, however, the success of these English settlements rendered the Dutch position untenable on the Connecticut River. A treaty moved the boundary westward between the Connecticut Colony and New Netherland Colony to a point near
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and othe ...
. The treaty allowed the Dutch to maintain their trading post at Fort Huys de Hoop, which they did until the 1664 British takeover of New Netherland.
Border disputes
The Connecticut River Valley's central location, fertile soil, and abundant natural resources made it the target of centuries of border disputes, beginning with Springfield's defection from the Connecticut Colony in 1641, which brought the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the river. In 1640, Massachusetts Bay Colony asserted a claim to jurisdiction over lands surrounding the river; however, Springfield remained politically independent until tensions with the Connecticut Colony were exacerbated by a final confrontation later that year.
Hartford kept a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River at
Old Saybrook for protection against the Pequots,
Wampanoags, Mohegans, and the New Netherland Colony. After Springfield broke ties with the Colony, the remaining Connecticut settlements demanded that Springfield's ships pay tolls when passing the mouth of the river. The ships refused to pay this tax without representation at Connecticut's fort, but Hartford refused to grant it. In response, the Massachusetts Bay Colony solidified its friendship with Springfield by levying a toll on Connecticut Colony ships entering
Boston Harbor. Connecticut was largely dependent on sea trade with Boston and therefore permanently dropped its tax on Springfield, but Springfield allied with Boston nonetheless, drawing the first state border across the Connecticut River.
The
Fort at Number 4 in
Charlestown, New Hampshire, was the northernmost British colonial presence on the Connecticut River until the end of the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
in 1763. The
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
had resisted British colonial settlement for decades, but colonists began settling north of
Brattleboro, Vermont, following the war.
Settlement of the Upper Connecticut River Valley increased quickly, with population assessments of 36,000 by 1790.
Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and was settled primarily through the
issuance of land grants by New Hampshire Governor
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770) was an American merchant and colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of New Hampshire, governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. While serving as governor, W ...
beginning in the 1740s. New York protested these grants, and King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
decided in 1764 that the border between the provinces should be the western bank of the Connecticut River. Ethan Allen, the
Green Mountain Boys, and other residents of the disputed area resisted attempts by New York to exercise authority there, which resulted in the establishment of the independent
Vermont Republic
The Vermont Republic (French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont (French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The s ...
in 1777 and its eventual accession to the United States in 1791 as the fourteenth state. Boundary disputes between Vermont and New Hampshire lasted for nearly 150 years and were finally settled in 1933, when the U.S. Supreme Court
reaffirmed King George's boundary as the ordinary low-water mark on the Vermont shore. In some places, the state line is now inundated by the impoundments of dams built after this time.
The Treaty of Paris and the 19th century
The
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...
that ended the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
created a new international border between New Hampshire and the
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
at "northwesternmost headwaters of the Connecticut". Several streams fit this description, and thus a boundary dispute led to the short-lived
Indian Stream Republic, which existed from 1832 to 1835.
The broad, fertile Connecticut River Valley attracted agricultural settlers and colonial traders to Hartford, Springfield, and the surrounding region. The high volume and numerous falls of the river led to the rise of industry along its banks during the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. The cities of Springfield and Hartford in particular became centers of innovation and "intense and concentrated prosperity."
The Enfield Falls Canal was opened in 1829 to circumvent shallows around Enfield Falls, and the locks built for this canal gave their name to the town of
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxi ...
. The Connecticut River Valley functioned as America's hub of technical innovation into the 20th century, particularly the cities of Springfield and Hartford, and thus attracted numerous railroad lines. The proliferation of the railroads in Springfield and Hartford greatly decreased the economic importance of the Connecticut River. From the late 1800s until today, it has functioned largely as a center of wildlife and recreation.
Log drives and the early 20th century
Starting about 1865,
[ the river was used for massive logging drives from Third Connecticut Lake to initially ]water power
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a ...
ed sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
s near Enfield Falls. Trees cut adjacent to tributary streams including Perry Stream and Indian Stream
Indian Stream is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in New Hampshire in the United States. It rises in the mountains of extreme northern New Hampshire, in Coos County near the Canada–United States border, where the East ...
in Pittsburg, New Hampshire
Pittsburg is a New England town, town in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 800 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the northernmost town in New Hampshire and the largest t ...
, Halls Stream
Halls Stream or Rivière Hall is a tributary of the Connecticut River in eastern North America. For most of its length, it forms the Canada–United States border, with the province of Quebec (Canada) to its west and the state of New Hampshire (U ...
on the Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
–New Hampshire border, Simms Stream
Simms Stream is a river in northern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows south to Long Island Sound, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
Simms Stream is located entirely in the town of Columbia, ...
, the Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk ...
, and the Nulhegan River
The Nulhegan River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data accessed April 7, 2016 tributary of the Connecticut River in Essex County, Vermont.
Course
The main stem of the river rises at the outle ...
basin in Essex County, Vermont
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,920, making it the least-populous county in both Vermont and New England. Its shire town ( county seat) i ...
, would be flushed into the main river by the release of water impounded behind splash dams. Several log drivers died trying to move logs through Perry Falls in Pittsburg. Teams of men would wait at Canaan, Vermont
Canaan is a town in Essex County, Vermont, United States. The population was 896 at the 2020 census. Canaan contains the village of Beecher Falls, located at the confluence of the Connecticut River and Halls Stream. It is part of the Berlin ...
, to protect the bridges from log jams. Men guided logs through a drop along the length of Fifteen-Mile Falls (now submerged under Moore
Moore may refer to:
People
* Moore (surname)
** List of people with surname Moore
* Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador
* Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army
* Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...
and Comerford
Comerford, Commerford, Comberford or Quemerford is an Irish surname, of English origin. Notable people with the surname include:
People
;Comerford
* Andy Comerford (born 1972), Irish hurling manager and player
* Ann Comerford, Irish camogie play ...
reservoirs), and through Logan's Rips at Fitzdale, Mulligan's Lower Pitch, and Seven Islands. The White River from Vermont and Ammonoosuc River
The Ammonoosuc River is a river in northwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. ''Ammonoosuc'' is Abnaki for "small, narrow fishing place".
The Ammonoosuc rises ...
from New Hampshire brought more logs into the Connecticut. A log boom was built between Wells River, Vermont
Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 431 at the 2020 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 5 and 302.
The village center (the portion near ...
, and Woodsville, New Hampshire, to hold the logs briefly and release them gradually to avoid jams in the Ox Bow. Men detailed to this work utilized Woodsville's saloons and red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...
. Some of the logs were destined for mills in Wilder and Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; th ...
, while others were sluiced over the Bellows Falls dam. North Walpole, New Hampshire
North Walpole is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Walpole in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. It had a population of 785 at the 2020 census, making it the largest village in the town of Walpole.
It is located along Ne ...
, contained twelve to eighteen saloons, patronized by the log drivers. Mount Tom was the landmark the log drivers used to gauge the distance to the final mills near Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfiel ...
. These spring drives were stopped after 1915, when pleasure boat owners complained about the hazards to navigation. The final drive included 500 workers controlling 65 million feet of logs.[ A final pulp drive consisted of 100,000 cords of four-foot logs in 1918. This was to take advantage of the wartime demand.][
]
The flood of 1936
In March 1936, due to a winter with heavy snowfall, an early spring thaw and torrential rains, the Connecticut River flooded, overflowing its banks, destroying numerous bridges and isolating hundreds of people who had to be rescued by boat.
The dam at Vernon, Vermont, was topped by . Sandbagging by the National Guard and local volunteers helped prevent the dam's powerhouse from being overwhelmed, despite blocks of ice breaking through the upstream walls.
In Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an a ...
, looting during the flood became a problem, causing the mayor of the city to deputize citizen patrols to protect flooded areas. Over 3,000 refugees from the area were housed in Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...
and the Massachusetts State Agricultural College (now UMass Amherst).
Unprecedented accumulated ice jams compounded the problems created by the flood, diverting water into unusual channels and damming the river, raising water levels even further. When the jam at Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around the Hampshire and Mountain Farms Ma ...
, gave way, the water crest overflowed the dam at Holyoke
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfiel ...
, overwhelming the sandbagging there. The village of South Hadley Falls was essentially destroyed, and the southern parts of Holyoke were severely damaged, with 500 refugees.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, , and of streets, were flooded, and 20,000 people lost their homes. The city lost power, and nighttime looting caused the police to issue a "shoot on sight" edict; 800 National Guard troops were brought in to help maintain order. Rescue efforts using a flotilla of boats saved people trapped in upper stories of buildings, bringing them to local fraternal lodges, schools, churches and monasteries for lodging, medical care, and food. The American Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...
and local, state and federal agencies, including the WPA and the CCC, contributed aid and manpower to the effort. Flooding of roads isolated the city for a time. When the water receded, it left behind silt-caused mud which in places was thick; the recovery effort in Springfield, at the height of the American Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, took approximately a decade.
Overall, the flood caused 171 deaths and US$500 million (US$ with inflation) in damages. Across the northeast, over 430,000 people were made homeless or destitute by flooding that year.
The Connecticut River Flood Control Compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in Britis ...
between the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont was established in 1953 to help prevent serious flooding.
1936–present: Water supply
The creation of the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930s diverted the Swift River, which feeds the Chicopee River, a tributary of the Connecticut. This resulted in an unsuccessful lawsuit by the state of Connecticut against the diversion of its riparian waters.
Demand for drinking water in eastern Massachusetts passed the sustainable supply from the existing system in 1969. Diverting water from the Connecticut River was considered several times, but in 1986 the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in th ...
instead undertook a campaign of water conservation. Demand was reduced to sustainable levels by 1989, reaching approximately a 25% margin of safety by 2009.
Course
The Connecticut River is the largest river ecosystem in New England. Its watershed spans Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, small portions of Maine, and the Canadian province of Quebec.
The Upper Connecticut River: New Hampshire and Vermont
150px, left, alt=the Connecticut Lakes, The , the source of the Connecticut River, near the border of New Hampshire and Quebec">Connecticut Lakes, the source of the Connecticut River, near the border of New Hampshire and Quebec
The Connecticut River rises from Fourth Connecticut Lake
The Connecticut Lakes are a group of lakes in Coos County, northern New Hampshire, United States, situated along the headwaters of the Connecticut River. They are accessed via the northernmost segment of U.S. Route 3, between the village of Pit ...
, a small pond south of the Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: ...
in the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire
Pittsburg is a New England town, town in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 800 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the northernmost town in New Hampshire and the largest t ...
, at an elevation of above sea level. It flows through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis for , all within the town of Pittsburg, and then widens as it delineates of the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. The river drops more than in elevation as it winds south to the border of Massachusetts where it sits above sea level.
The region along the river upstream and downstream from Lebanon, New Hampshire
Lebanon is a city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshire, south of Hanover, New Hampshire, H ...
, and White River Junction, Vermont
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest c ...
, is known as the "Upper Valley". The exact definition of the region varies, but it generally is considered to extend south to Windsor, Vermont, and Cornish, New Hampshire
Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair.
History
The town was granted in 1763 and contained ...
, and north to Bradford, Vermont
Bradford is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2020 census. Bradford is located on the county's eastern border, bordering both the Connecticut River and New Hampshire, and is a commercial center fo ...
, and Piermont, New Hampshire. In 2001, the Trust for Public Land purchased of land in New Hampshire from International Paper, allowing the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Partnership Task Force to plan the future protection of the land. The property spans the towns of Pittsburg, Clarksville, and Stewartstown, New Hampshire
Stewartstown is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 813 at the 2020 census, down from 1,004 at the 2010 census. It includes the village of West Stewartstown and is part of the Berlin, NH– VT Micropol ...
, nearly 3 percent of the land in the state of New Hampshire. The Trust for Public Land worked in partnership with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
of New Hampshire, and others to raise around $42 million. A conservation easement over of the property prohibits development of the land while allowing public access. The forest is managed by the Lyme Timber Company, and the conservation easement over the land ensures sustainable forest management of the property.
The Middle Connecticut River: Massachusetts through central Connecticut
Following the most recent ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
, the Middle Connecticut River Valley sat at the bottom of Lake Hitchcock. Its lush greenery and rich, almost rockless soil comes from the ancient lake's sedimentary deposits. In the Middle Connecticut region, the river reaches its maximum depth – – at Gill, Massachusetts, around the French King Bridge, and its maximum width – – at Longmeadow, directly across from the Six Flags New England
Six Flags New England, formerly known as Gallup's Grove (1870–1886), Riverside Grove (1887–1911), Riverside Park (1912–1995) and Riverside: The Great Escape (1996–2000), is an amusement park located in Agawam, Massachusetts, a western s ...
amusement park. The Connecticut's largest falls – South Hadley Falls – features a vertical drop of . Lush green forests and agricultural hamlets dot this middle portion of the Connecticut River; however, the region is best known for its numerous college town
A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...
s, such as Northampton, South Hadley, and Amherst Amherst may refer to:
People
* Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst''
* Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...
, as well as the river's most populous city, Springfield. The city sits atop bluffs beside the Connecticut's confluence with two major tributaries, the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west. The region around the Connecticut River is known locally as the Pioneer Valley, and the name adorns many local civic organizations and local businesses. While the southern part of the valley in Massachusetts is heavily urbanized, the northern section is largely rural and the local agriculture is well known for Connecticut shade tobacco
Connecticut shade tobacco is a tobacco grown under shade in the Connecticut River valley of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and southern Vermont. It is used primarily for binder and wrapper for premium cigars.
History
Tobacco farming in the Connect ...
.
The Connecticut River is influenced by the tides as far north as Enfield Rapids in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,613. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region and occupies approxi ...
, approximately north of the river's mouth. Two million residents live in the densely populated Hartford-Springfield region, which stretches roughly between the college towns of Amherst, Massachusetts, and Middletown, Connecticut. Hartford, the second-largest city and the only state capital on the river, is at the southern end of this region on an ancient floodplain that stretches to Middletown.
The Lower Connecticut River: Southern Connecticut to Long Island Sound
south of Hartford, at Middletown, the Lower Connecticut River section begins with a narrowing of the river, and then a sharp turn southeast. Throughout southern Connecticut, the Connecticut passes through a thinly populated, hilly, wooded region before again widening and discharging into Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. Due to the presence of large, shifting sandbars at its mouth, the Connecticut is the only major river in the Northeastern United States without a port at its mouth.
Mouth and tidelands
The Connecticut River carries a heavy amount of silt from as far north as Quebec, especially during the spring snow melt. This results in a large sandbar near the river's mouth which is a formidable obstacle to navigation. The Connecticut is one of the few major rivers in the United States without a major city at its mouth because of this obstacle. Major cities on the Connecticut River are Hartford and Springfield, which lie upriver respectively.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
named the Connecticut River's tidelands one of the Western Hemisphere's "40 Last Great Places", while the Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It ...
on Wetlands listed its estuary and tidal wetlands as one of 1,759 wetlands of international importance. In 1997, the Connecticut River was designated one of only 14 American Heritage Rivers
American Heritage Rivers were designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s to receive special attention (coordinating efforts of multiple governmental entities) to further three objectives: natural resource and envir ...
, which recognized its "distinctive natural, economic, agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural, and recreational qualities." In May 2012, the Connecticut River was designated America's first National Blueway in recognition of the restoration and preservation efforts on the river.
Dams
The Connecticut River's flow is slowed by main stem dams, which create a series of slow-flowing basins from Lake Francis Dam in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, to the Holyoke Dam
The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, or Hadley Falls Station is a granite dam built in tandem with the Holyoke Canal System at Hadley Falls on the Connecticut River, between Holyoke and South Hadley, Massachusetts. The wate ...
at South Hadley Falls in Massachusetts. Among the most extensively dammed rivers in the United States, the Connecticut may soon flow at a more natural pace, according to scientists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who have devised a computer that – "in an effort to balance human and natural needs" – coordinates the holding and releasing of water between the river's 54 largest dams. The Cabot and Turners Falls hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
stations generate up to 68 MW. The Holyoke Canal System and Hadley Falls Station at Holyoke Dam are rated a combined 48 MW.
Tributaries
The Connecticut River watershed encompasses , connecting 148 tributaries, including 38 major rivers and numerous lakes and ponds. Major tributaries include (from north to south) the Passumpsic, Ammonoosuc, White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
, West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, Ashuelot, Millers, Deerfield, Chicopee, Westfield, and Farmington rivers. The Swift River, a tributary of the Chicopee, has been dammed and largely replaced by the Quabbin Reservoir which provides water to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in th ...
district in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston and its metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...
.
Ecology
Along its southern reaches, the Connecticut River has carved a wide, fertile floodplain valley (known in Massachusetts as the Pioneer Valley), depositing rich silt and loam soils known internationally for their agricultural merit. Abundant riparian hardwood species include sycamores, cottonwood, basswood, willows, sassafras, box elder, black elder, osier dogwood and more. The river itself and its many tributaries are home to many typical New England freshwater species. These include dace, crawfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...
, hellgramites, freshwater mussel
Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves.
The majority of species of bivalve molluscs ...
s, typical frog species, snapping turtle
The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, ''Chelydra'' and ''Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are ''Acheronte ...
s, brook trout
The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
, freshwater sturgeon, catfish, walleye, chain pickerel and carp. Introduced species include stocked rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...
. The river is an important conduit of many anadromous
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
fish, such as American shad
The American shad (''Alosa sapidissima'') is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. Th ...
, lamprey, and Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...
. American eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The Amer ...
s are also present, as are predators of these migratory fish including striped bass
The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...
. Shad run as far north as Holyoke, Massachusetts where they are lifted over the Holyoke Dam by a fish elevator. This station publishes annual statistics of the run, and has recorded an occasional salmon. They pass an additional elevator in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, and make it at least as far as Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; th ...
. Harbor seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...
s have been recorded traveling upriver as far north as Holyoke in pursuit of migratory fish; it is possible that they ranged farther upstream before the dam was built.
There are 12 species of freshwater mussels. Eleven of them occur in the mainstem of the Connecticut; the brook floater is found only in small streams and rivers. Species diversity is higher in the southern part of the watershed (Connecticut and Massachusetts) than in the northern part (Vermont and New Hampshire), largely due to differences in stream gradient and substrate. Eight of the 12 species in the watershed are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern in one or more of the states in the watershed.
A number of colonial animal species make their home in the waters of the Connecticut. Deeper areas are habitat for a diversity of colonial organisms including bryozoa
Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...
. Freshwater sponge
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...
s the size of dinner plates have been found by scuba divers at depths of more than , thought to be the deepest location of the river, around the French King Bridge in Orange, Massachusetts. Mussels, eels, and northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...
were also observed there.
Fish
There are several species of anadromous
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
and catadromous fish, including brook trout
The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
, winter flounder, blueback herring, alewife, rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...
, large brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
, American shad
The American shad (''Alosa sapidissima'') is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. Th ...
(''Alosa sapidissima''), hickory shad, smallmouth bass, Atlantic sturgeon
The Atlantic sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus'') is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of '' A. oxyrinchus'', ...
, striped bass
The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...
(''Morone saxatilis''), American eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The Amer ...
, sea lamprey
The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish".
Description
The sea lamprey has an eel-like body without paired fins. Its mouth is jawless, ...
, and endangered shortnose sturgeon and dwarf wedgemussels. Additionally, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
has repopulated the river with another species of migratory fish, the Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...
, which for more than 200 years had been extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
from the river due to damming. Several fish ladders and fish elevators have been built to allow fish to resume their natural migration upriver each spring.
Fresh and brackish water residents of the main branch and tributaries include common carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
, white catfish, brown bullhead
The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (' ...
, fallfish, yellow perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...
, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, ...
, northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...
, chain pickerel
The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike.
Taxonomy
Fren ...
, bluegill
The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds an ...
, pumpkinseed sunfish
The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus '' Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarch ...
, golden shiner, and rock bass
The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish ...
.
Much of the beginning of the river's course in the town of Pittsburg is occupied by the Connecticut Lakes, which contain lake trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...
and landlocked salmon. Landlocked salmon make their way into the river during spring spawning runs of bait fish
300px, Feeder Goldfish are common baitfish.
Bait fish (or baitfish) are small-sized fish caught and used by anglers as bait to attract larger predatory fish, particularly game fish. Baitfish species are typically those that are common and bre ...
and during their fall spawn. The river has fly-fishing-only regulations on of river. Most of the river from Lake Francis south is open to lure and bait as well. Two tail-water dams provide cold river water for miles downstream, making for bountiful summer fishing on the Connecticut.
After the first major dam was built near Turners Falls, Massachusetts, thirteen additional dams have ended the Connecticut River's great anadromous fish runs. Salmon restoration efforts began in 1967, and fish ladders at a fish elevator at Hadley Falls have since enabled migrating fish to return to some of their former spawning grounds. In addition to dams, warm water discharges between 1978 and 1992 from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee was an electricity generating nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in the northeastern United States. It generated 620 megawatts (MWe) of electricity at full power. The plant was a boiling water reacto ...
in Vernon, Vermont released water up to degrees, with the thermal plume reaching downstream as far as Holyoke. This thermal pollution appears to be associated with an 80% decline in American shad fish numbers from 1992 to 2005 at Holyoke Dam. This decline may have been exacerbated by over-fishing in the mid-Atlantic and predation from resurging striped bass populations. The nuclear plant was closed at the end of 2014, after which the shad population has increased.
Economy
Boating
The mouth of the river up to Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
is thought to be one of the busiest stretches of waterway in Connecticut. Some local police departments and the state Environmental Conservation Police patrol the area a few times a week. Some towns keep boats available if needed. In Massachusetts, the most active stretch of the Connecticut River is centered on the Oxbow, north of Springfield in the college town of Northampton.
Camping is available along much of the river, for non-motorized boats, via the Connecticut River Paddlers' Trail. The Paddlers' Trail currently includes campsites on over of the river.
Pollution and cleanup
The Water Quality Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
of 1965 had a major impact on controlling water pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...
in the Connecticut River and its tributaries.
Since then, the river has been restored from Class D to Class B (fishable and swimmable). Many towns along the Lower Connecticut River have enacted a cap on further development along the banks, so that no buildings may be constructed except on existing foundations. Currently, a website provides water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
reports twice a week, indicating whether various portions of the river are safe for swimming, boating and fishing.
Lists
Populated places
Tributaries
Listed from south to north by location of mouth:
*Black Hall River Black Hall River is a river in the state of Connecticut, United States of America. It joins the Back River at Great Island in Old Lyme, where they enter Long Island Sound. The river is situated near the mouth of the Connecticut River. It has been ...
( Old Lyme, CT)
* Falls River ( Essex, CT)
* Eightmile River ( Hamburg, CT)
* Deep River ( Deep River, CT)
* Salmon River ( Moodus, CT)
*Mattabesset River
The Mattabesset River as delineated on present-day maps flows out of Harts Ponds in the town of Berlin and travels east to the Connecticut River, passing Kensington and later forming the boundary between Middletown and Cromwell.U.S. Geological Su ...
(Middletown, CT
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its ...
)
* Hockanum River (East Hartford
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospa ...
and Hartford, CT
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
)
* Park River (Hartford, CT
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
)
* Farmington River (Windsor, CT
Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census.
P ...
)
* Scantic River (South Windsor, CT
South Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 26,918 at the 2020 census.
History
In 1659, Thomas Burnham (1617–1688) purchased the tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East H ...
)
* Westfield River ( West Springfield and Springfield, MA
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
)
* Mill River (Springfield, MA
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
)
*Chicopee River
The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wat ...
( Chicopee and Springfield, MA
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
)
*Manhan River
The Manhan River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in western Massachusetts. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River.
The river begins near the ...
( The Oxbow of Northampton, MA
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an a ...
)
* Mill River (Northampton, MA
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an a ...
)
* Fort River (Hadley, MA
Hadley (, ) is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropolitan area, Ma ...
)
* Mill River ( Hatfield, MA)
* Mill River (Amherst, MA
Amherst () is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (although the county seat ...
)
* Sawmill River ( Montague, MA)
* Deerfield River ( Deerfield and Greenfield, MA)
*Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census, making it the List of municipaliti ...
(Greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Engineering and Business
* Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation
* Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist
* Greenf ...
and Gill, MA)
* Millers River ( Millers Falls, MA)
*Ashuelot River
The Ashuelot River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in southwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of , including much of the area known as the Monadnock Region. It is the longest ...
( Hinsdale, NH)
* Whetstone Brook (Brattleboro, VT
Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about nor ...
)
* West River (Brattleboro, VT
Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about nor ...
)
* Partridge Brook ( Westmoreland, NH)
* Cold River (Walpole, NH
Walpole is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census.
The town's central village, where 573 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Walpole census-designated place (CDP) and ...
)
* Saxtons River ( Westminster, VT)
* Williams River ( Rockingham, VT)
* Black River (Springfield, VT
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,062.
History
The land currently recognized as Springfield is the traditional land of the Pennacook and Abenaki people.
One of the ...
)
* Little Sugar River ( Charlestown, NH)
* Sugar River (Claremont, NH
Claremont is the only city in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 12,949 at the 2020 census.
History Pre-colonial native populations
Before colonial settlement, the Upper Connecticut River Valley was home to the Pe ...
)
*Blow-me-down Brook
Blow-me-down Brook is a long stream located in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.
Blow-me-down Brook begins near the northeast border of the town of Cornish, ...
(Cornish, NH
Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair.
History
The town was granted in 1763 and contained a ...
)
* Ottauquechee River ( Hartland, VT)
* Mascoma River (West Lebanon, NH
West Lebanon is a section (pop. approx 4,100) of the city of Lebanon, New Hampshire, on the Connecticut River. The area contains a major shopping plaza strip along New Hampshire Route 12A, serving the Upper Valley communities along Interstates ...
)
* White River (White River Junction, VT
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest com ...
)
* Mink Brook (Hanover, NH
Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of E ...
)
*Ompompanoosuc River
The Ompompanoosuc River is a river, about 25 mi (40 km) long, in eastern Vermont in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. According to the Geographic Names Information System, th ...
( Norwich, VT)
*Waits River
The Waits River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in eastern Vermont in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flow ...
( Bradford, VT)
*Oliverian Brook
Oliverian Brook is a river in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.
Oliverian Brook rises in the town of Benton, New Hampshire, on the western slopes of Mount Mo ...
(Haverhill, NH
Haverhill is a New England town, town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,585 at the 2020 census. Haverhill includes the villages of Woodsville, New Hampshire, Woodsville, Pike, New H ...
)
* Wells River ( Wells River, VT)
*Ammonoosuc River
The Ammonoosuc River is a river in northwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. ''Ammonoosuc'' is Abnaki for "small, narrow fishing place".
The Ammonoosuc rises ...
( Woodsville, NH)
* Stevens River (Barnet, VT
Barnet is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,663 at the 2020 census. Barnet contains the locations of Barnet Center, East Barnet, McIndoe Falls, Mosquitoville, Passumpsic and West Barnet. The main settlemen ...
)
*Passumpsic River
The Passumpsic River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River, in Vermont. Though primarily a Caledonia County river, it ...
(Barnet, VT
Barnet is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,663 at the 2020 census. Barnet contains the locations of Barnet Center, East Barnet, McIndoe Falls, Mosquitoville, Passumpsic and West Barnet. The main settlemen ...
)
* Johns River ( Dalton, NH)
* Israel River ( Lancaster, NH)
*Upper Ammonoosuc River
The Upper Ammonoosuc River is a tributary of the Connecticut River that flows through Coös County in the northern part of the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire. Despite its name, the river is not an upstream portion of the Ammonoosuc Riv ...
( Northumberland, NH)
* Paul Stream ( Brunswick, VT)
*Nulhegan River
The Nulhegan River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data accessed April 7, 2016 tributary of the Connecticut River in Essex County, Vermont.
Course
The main stem of the river rises at the outle ...
( Bloomfield, VT)
*Simms Stream
Simms Stream is a river in northern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows south to Long Island Sound, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
Simms Stream is located entirely in the town of Columbia, ...
( Columbia, NH)
*Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk ...
(Colebrook, NH
Colebrook is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,084 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 2,301 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauAmerican FactFinder 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, ...
)
*Halls Stream
Halls Stream or Rivière Hall is a tributary of the Connecticut River in eastern North America. For most of its length, it forms the Canada–United States border, with the province of Quebec (Canada) to its west and the state of New Hampshire (U ...
( Beecher Falls, VT)
*Indian Stream
Indian Stream is a tributary of the Connecticut River, approximately long, in New Hampshire in the United States. It rises in the mountains of extreme northern New Hampshire, in Coos County near the Canada–United States border, where the East ...
( Pittsburg, NH)
* Perry Stream ( Pittsburg, NH)
Image:TrophyStretchConnecticuttRiver.jpg, Near First Connecticut Lake
Image:ConnecticuttRiverNearColebrook.jpg, Near Colebrook, New Hampshire
Image:IMG_3758_view_north_from_French_King_Bridge.jpg, Looking north from the French King Bridge at the Erving Erving may refer to:
People
* Cameron Erving (born 1992), American college football player
* George W. Erving (1769–1850), American diplomat
* Julius Erving (born 1950), American basketball player, also known as "Dr. J"
* Erving Goffman (1922� ...
-Gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...
town line in western Massachusetts
Image:Morning mist on the Connecticut River from the Bissell Bridge by Elias Friedman (elipongo).JPG, Mist upstream of the Bissell Bridge between Windsor and South Windsor, CT
South Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 26,918 at the 2020 census.
History
In 1659, Thomas Burnham (1617–1688) purchased the tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East H ...
Image:Connecticut River bridge.jpg, Founders Bridge
The Founders Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The steel stringer bridge carries the Route 2 expressway, and also crosses over Interstate 91 (which runs parallel to the river). the b ...
in Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
, with a view of the Bulkeley Bridge upstream
Image:Connecticut River near its mouth.JPG, The river near its mouth
Crossings
The Connecticut River is a barrier to travel between western and eastern New England. Several major transportation corridors cross the river including Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
's Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...
, Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
( Connecticut Turnpike), Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
( Massachusetts Turnpike), Interstate 89, Interstate 93
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
, and Interstate 84. In addition, Interstate 91
Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connec ...
, whose route largely follows the river, crosses it twice – once in Connecticut and once in Massachusetts.
In literature
Lydia Sigourney
Lydia Huntley Sigourney (September 1, 1791 – June 10, 1865), ''née'' Lydia Howard Huntley, was an American poet, author, and publisher during the early and mid 19th century. She was commonly known as the "Sweet Singer of Hartford." She had a ...
's poem "Connecticut River" was published in her 1834 poetry collection.
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...
, one of America's most important 20th century poets, lived in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was vice-president of the Hartford Insurance Co. He composed many of his poems, including "The River of Rivers in Connecticut" on his 2.4 mile daily walk to and from his office.[''The Palm at the End of the Mind, Selected Poems and a Play''; Wallace Stevens; Ed. by Holly Stevens]
See also
* Equivalent Lands
* The Great Attack, the burning of American ships on the Connecticut River at Essex in 1814
* History of Connecticut
The U.S. state of Connecticut began as three distinct settlements of Puritans from Massachusetts and England; they combined under a single royal charter in 1663. Known as the "land of steady habits" for its political, social and religious conse ...
* Lake Connecticut, post-glacial predecessor to Lake Hitchcock
* Lake Hitchcock, post-glacial predecessor to the Connecticut River
* List of rivers of Connecticut
Most of Connecticut's rivers flow into Long Island Sound and from there the waters mix into the Atlantic Ocean. A few extremely eastern rivers flow into Block Island Sound. The list is arranged by drainage basin from east to west, with respective ...
* 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 travel ...
* 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 ...
* List of rivers of Vermont
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Vermont, sorted by drainage basin, and ordered from lower to higher, with the towns at their mouths:
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River flows south towards Long Island Sound in Connecticut. ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Connecticut River Watershed Council
Connecticut River Valley Flood Control Commission
Connecticut River Museum
Connecticut Riverfest
Upper Valley Trails Alliance
Connecticut River Joint Commissions
Tri-state Connecticut River Watershed Initiative
*
{{authority control
American Heritage Rivers
Borders of New Hampshire
Borders of Vermont
Connecticut placenames of Native American origin
Estuaries of Connecticut
Geography of New England
Long Island Sound
Massachusetts placenames of Native American origin
New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
Ramsar sites in the United States
Rivers of Connecticut
Rivers of Coös County, New Hampshire
Rivers of Franklin County, Massachusetts
Rivers of Grafton County, New Hampshire
Rivers of Hampden County, Massachusetts
Rivers of Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Rivers of Hartford County, Connecticut
Rivers of Massachusetts
Rivers of Middlesex County, Connecticut
Rivers of New Hampshire
Rivers of New London County, Connecticut
Rivers of Orange County, Vermont
Rivers of Vermont
Rivers of Windsor County, Vermont
Rivers with fish ladders
Vermont placenames of Native American origin
Water law in the United States