The Seven Mile River or Sevenmile River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 stream in central

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. It heads at Browning Pond, at the

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

and Spencer border, and travels south through Spencer, following a short distance from State Route 31 (North Spencer Road). It crosses under Route 31 the highway becomes Pleasant Street, then continues south along Old Meadow Road and under State Route 9 near the junction of State Route 49. It then parallels Route 9 to its south until it joins the East Brookfield River between

Lake Lashaway Lake Lashaway is a pond located near the East Brookfield and North Brookfield, Massachusetts town line. The Lake Lashaway Community Association’s website iwww.LakeLashaway.org The town line cuts the lake approximately in half. The lake lies ...

and

Quaboag Pond Quaboag Pond is a pond located near the East Brookfield and Brookfield, Massachusetts. The pond lies about two miles (3 km) south of state Route 9 as it passes through East Brookfield. Quaboag Pond was once named Podunk Pond. Description ...

Information

The Seven Mile River drains Spencer and surrounding communities. Modern mapping shows it to be nearly ten miles long. Its mouth is at an elevation of about above sea level, and its head is at about . This fall was once used to provide

waterpower 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 w ...

for industry. There exists the remnants of several dams, two of which were taken out during a flood in the 1950s and never repaired. They remain as evidence of a forgone era when Spencer was a major manufacturing center. In addition to small local brooks and streams, the Seven Mile River is fed from Turkey Hill Brook north of town and Cranberry River to the south. This river is part of the Chicopee River Watershed. The seven mile name starts from the length of the river, the bridge is not really 7 miles.

History

In the 1800s, the Seven Mile River furnished

to industry in Spencer. There were many factories along this river. Now a sewage treatment plant stands alone. At the head of Turkey Hill Brook, a major tributary to the Seven Mile River is

Sugden Reservoir The Sugden Reservoir is a Massachusetts reservoir located in Spencer, Massachusetts. It forms the headwaters of Shaw Brook, which is a tributary to Turkey Hill Creek, a major tributary to the Seven Mile River. This water body is part of the Chic ...

. The reservoir was part of Spencer's wire drawing industry and fed the Lower Wire Village Mill, which made card wire. This mill originally belonged to the Prouty Brothers. When sold to Richard Sugden, he improved it by building the Sugden Reservoir on the top of Turkey Hill. The new company's name became Wickwire-Spencer. It remained until after World War II.

References

* *Fiske, Jeffrey H. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, 1875-1975. Spencer Historical Commission, Spencer, MA. 1990.
Seven Mile River head, factoriesStream flow data
{{authority control Rivers of Worcester County, Massachusetts Tributaries of the Connecticut River Rivers of Massachusetts

Information

History

See also

References