Hockanum River Flowing Through Rockville Connecticut

The Hockanum River is a river in

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 (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. Hockanum is derived from the Native American

Podunk people The Podunk were an indigenous people who spoke an Algonquian Quiripi language and lived primarily in what is now known as Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. English colonists adopted use of a Nipmuc dialect word for the territory of ...

Algonquin language Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: or ) is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the ...

word meaning "hook-shaped", so named because of the course of the river. The Hockanum neighborhood in

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 ...

is named after it. It rises at the outlet of Shenipsit Lake in Rockville, then flows through Vernon,

Ellington Ellington may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Ellington, Cambridgeshire *Ellington, Northumberland * Ellington High and Low, a civil parish in North Yorkshire **High Ellington ** Low Ellington United States *Ellington Airport (Texas), Ho ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, and East Hartford. Its mouth on the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England 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, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

is immediately north of the

Charter Oak Bridge The Charter Oak Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The twin steel stringer bridge carries the Wilbur Cross Highway ( Route 15/ U.S. Route 5) over the river, connecting downtown Hartfor ...

and south of and across from the mouth of the Park River. The Hockanum River runs for about U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 until it spills into the Connecticut River. There is a popular paddling route that follows the river for . It begins at the bridge at Pleasant View Drive, one mile west of Vernon Center, and continues to the Connecticut River. This river run is mostly quickwater with one Class II

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

area that eventually fades to flatwater and tidal water at its mouth at the Connecticut River. Historically used for industry, the river has in recent years had hiking trails and linear parks developed along its banks. The banks of the river are slowly being cleaned up after years of pollution and dumping.

References

External links

Connecticut Explorer's Guide
Online paddling map of the Hockanum River {{authority control East Hartford, Connecticut Vernon, Connecticut Connecticut placenames of Native American origin Rivers of Hartford County, Connecticut Tributaries of the Connecticut River Rivers of Connecticut

See also

References

External links