Wednesday, September 2, 2015

THE QUINEBAUG RIVER, Connecticut

Speranza

Quinebaug River Thompson CT.jpg


The Quinebaug River is a river in eastern Connecticut.

The name "Quinebaug" comes from the southern New England Native American term, spelled variously QunnubbâggeQuinibauge, etc., meaning "long pond", from qunni-, "long", and -paug, "pond".

The river is one of the namesake rivers in the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor.

The river is about 111 km. in length.

It originates from East Brimfield Lake and ponds northwest of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, flows generally southeast and south through Connecticut (PutnamDanielsonPlainfieldCanterbury and Jewett City), the river joins Aspinook pond which begins in Canterbury and ends in Jewett City.

The river then continues to the Shetucket River northeast of Norwich, "the rose of New England".


That river flows from there into the Thames River and drains into the Long Island Sound.

It is dammed in its upper reaches at East Brimfield Dam, Westville Dam, and West Thompson Dam all for flood control, as well as numerous mill dams which powered mills along the river's course.

Some of these still provide hydroelectric power today.


The Quinebaug River watershed covers 850 square miles (2,200 km2), and extends into western Rhode Island. It is heavily forested with 29 named streams including six major tributaries (the FrenchMoosup and Five Mile Rivers, and the Wales, Mill and Cady brooks). The watershed also contains 54 lakes and ponds, 31 of which with an area of 10 acres (40,000 m2) or more, for a total of about 3,000 acres (12 km²); the largest is East Brimfield Reservoir in Brimfield and Sturbridge (420 acres (1.7 km2)). The watershed is home to fish species including troutsmallmouth bass,largemouth bassnorthern pike, and panfish. Elevations range from 1,264 feet (385 m) above sea level on Mount Pisgah in Wales, Massachusetts, to about 25 ft (7.6 m) in Norwich, Connecticut.

Crossings[edit]

CarriesLocationBuilt
I-395.svg I-395 (Connecticut Turnpike)Lisbon and Griswold1956
Providence and Worcester Railroad
Connecticut Highway 12.svgConnecticut Highway 138.svg Route 12/Route 138
Silvandale Road crossing (abandoned, bridge removed)
Providence and Worcester RailroadCanterbury
Butts Bridge Road
Connecticut Highway 14.svg Route 14Canterbury and Plainfield
Connecticut Highway 205.svg Route 205Brooklyn and Plainfield
US 6.svg US 6Brooklyn and Killingly
Connecticut Highway 101.svg Route 101Pomfret and Killingly
Cotton Bridge Road
Landfill access bridge (private)Putnam
Airline Rail Trail
US 44.svg US 44
Bridge Street
Connecticut Highway 171.svg Route 171
West Thompson RoadThompson1964
Blain Road (bridge removed)
Red Bridge Road1964
Brickyard Road1964
Fabyan Road1999
Connecticut Highway 197.svg Route 197
MA Route 131.svg Route 131Dudley
Southbridge Branch RR (abandoned)
West Dudley Road
East Main StreetSouthbridge
AO Factory Road (private)
AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
Pipeline crossing
Business Park Road (Private)
MA Route 169.svg Route 1691956
Central Street
River Street
Mill Street1956
MA Route 131.svg Route 131
Westville Dam service roadSturbridge and Southbridge2003
Breakneck Road/Wallace Road1956
Old Mashapaug RoadSturbridge1956
Grand Trunk Rail Trail2002
Farquhar Road1939
Haynes Street1961
I-84.svg I-841971
Old Sturbridge Village Road1972
OSV Pedestrian Bridge (Private)
OSV Covered Bridge (Private)
Stallion Hill Road1956
Holland Road1956
Holland-East Brimfield RoadBrimfield1958
Morse Road (closed)Holland1939
Pond Bridge Road1934
East Brimfield Road1958
Potterdam Road (private)
Sturbridge Road1939
Mashapaug Road
Holland RoadUnion1954
I-84.svg I-84
Buckley Highway1954
Mashapaug Pond Dam


Three sections of the Quinebaug River have been designated as a National Recreation Trail by the National Park Service, of the first water trails to receive this designation.

The sections are:

-- Holland Pond to East Brimfield Reservoir (in Holland and Brimfield, Massachusetts)
-- Paper Mill Dam in Dudley to West Thompson Lake, and
-- Simonzi Park in Putnam to Aspinook Pond in Canterbury.
Canoe/Kayak launch sites are located at the following locations:
  • Pond Bridge Road, Holland
  • US Route 20 boat ramp, Brimfield
  • Old Mashapaug Road, Sturbridge
  • West Dudley Road, Dudley
  • Fabyan Road, Thompson
  • West Thompson Lake boat ramp, Thompson
  • Simonzi Park on Kennedy Drive, Putnam
  • Route 101, Pomfret
  • Riverside Park off Day Street, Brooklyn
  • Town Park off Route 12, Killingly
  • Quinebaug Trout Hatchery, Plainfield
  • Robert Manship Park off Route 14, Canterbury
  • Butts Bridge Road, Canterbury

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  2. Jump up^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011

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