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The Nemasket or Namasket River is a small river in southeastern
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. It flows north U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011
from
Assawompset Pond Assawompset Pond is a reservoir/pond within the towns of Lakeville and Middleboro, in southeastern Massachusetts. It shares its waters with Long Pond and is openly connected with Pocksha Pond.USGS Quadrangle Map These lakes provide a source of ...
in Lakeville and through
Middleborough Middleborough (frequently written as Middleboro) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,245 at the 2020 census. History The town was first settled by Europeans in 1661 as Nemasket, later changed to M ...
where it empties into the Taunton River. The Nemasket's sole tributary is Fall Brook, which drains out from Tispaquin Pond. In
Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
Nemasket means ''Place where the fish are'', because it is the largest alewife run on the Eastern Seaboard.River Herring Viewing guide
/ref> The water is clear and there are several good places for launching unmotorized boats, with popular spots including Old Bridge Street, Wareham Street, and Oliver Mill Park on U.S. Route 44.


History

The Native American
Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. 1 ...
Indians would leave their winter encampments inland and navigate the Taunton River to the Nemasket River in the early spring to take advantage of the alewife run and relocate to their summer encampment on Betty's Neck on Assawompsett Pond. When Oliver Mills built the factory that spanned the river, it created contention with the Wampanoags by forcing them to portage around the facility. The remnants of
Camp Joe Hooker Camp Joe Hooker was an American Civil War training camp located in Lakeville, Massachusetts, used by the 3rd and 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia Regiments for training in Sept–Dec 1862.regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
s during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
located on the left side of Staples Shore Road. During the late 19th century, several steamboats were operated along the Nemasket, offering cruises of the river and into Assawompsett Pond. Once a popular tourist destination, the cruise business ultimately ended upon construction of the dam where the river drains out of Assawompsett, which both restricted the ability for vessels to travel and also lowered the water level of the river. The tie-up for one side-paddle wheeler, the ''Assawompset'', can still be seen off the canal that cuts across the right hand side of the marsh between Bridge Street and Vaughn Street.


Ecology

The Nemasket boasts one of the largest herring runs on the eastern seaboard, with millions of alewife and
blueback herring The blueback herring, blueback shad, or summer shad (''Alosa aestivalis'') is an anadromous species of herring from the east coast of North America, with a range from Nova Scotia to Florida. Blueback herring form schools and are believed to mi ...
migrating from the Atlantic Ocean, up the Taunton River, up the Nemasket, and into the Assawompsett Pond complex, which contains the largest herring spawning area in the state, at over 5,000 acres. In addition to the herring, the Nemasket serves as habitat for numerous other diadromous species, including
rainbow smelt The rainbow smelt (''Osmerus mordax'') is a North American species of fish of the family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile ciscoes, zooplankton such as calanoid copepods ('' L ...
, American eel, American shad, and striped bass. Due to the Nemasket's connection to the Atlantic via the Taunton River, some marine mammal species have been known to make their way up the river.
Harbor seals 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 ...
are seen on occasion, often in the spring when the herring migrate, and in 2005, a young
harp seal The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as Saddleback Seal or Greenland Seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus ''Phoca'' with a numbe ...
was found in the Nemasket. Other common wildlife in the area include deer, foxes, coyotes, river otters, raccoons, skunks, and opossums.


References

Rivers of Plymouth County, Massachusetts Taunton River watershed Lakeville, Massachusetts Middleborough, Massachusetts Rivers of Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-river-stub