The French River is a river in south-central
and northeastern
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, USA.
The river rises near
Leicester, Massachusetts
Leicester ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The population was 11,087 at the 2020 United States Census.
History
What is now Leicester was originally settled by the Nipmuc people and was known by them as ''Towtaid''. On January 2 ...
, and flows generally southwards through
Auburn,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
, and along the town line between
Webster and
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
; it then enters
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
where it joins the
Quinebaug River at
Thompson, just northeast of
Putnam Putnam may refer to:
People
* Putnam (surname)
Places Canada
* Putnam, Ontario, community in Thames Centre
United States
* Putnam, Alabama
* Putnam, Connecticut, a New England town
** Putnam (CDP), Connecticut, the main village in the town
...
. The Quinebaug in turn flows into the
Shetucket River
The Shetucket River is a tributary of the Thames River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in eastern Connecticut in the United States.
It is formed at ...
and ultimately the
Thames River
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
to empty into the
Long Island Sound.
The river's total length is , of which are in
.
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 It drains a watershed area of about , containing 67 lakes and ponds, 38 of which cover at least . Only one lake in its basin is larger than , namely
Lake Chaubunagungamaug (Webster Lake) in
Webster, Massachusetts
Webster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,776 at the 2020 census.
Named after statesman Daniel Webster, the town was founded by industrialist Samuel Slater, and was home to several early Ameri ...
at .
French River was so named from a settlement of French Protestants in Oxford.
See also
*
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
References
Further reading
USGS French River Basin
Rivers of Worcester County, Massachusetts
Rivers of Windham County, Connecticut
Rivers of Massachusetts
Rivers of Connecticut
Tributaries of the Thames River (Connecticut)
Huguenot history in the United States
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