Housatonic River
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox river
The Housatonic River (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is an approximately Template:Cvt long<ref name=Plan>Template:Cite report</ref><ref name=NHD>U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Template:Webarchive, accessed April 1, 2011</ref> river in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about Template:Convert of southwestern Connecticut into Long Island Sound.
History
Indigenous history
Indigenous people began using the river area for fishing and hunting at least 6,000 years ago. By 1600, the inhabitants were mostly Mohicans and may have numbered 30,000.<ref name=HVA2>Template:Cite web</ref>
The river's name is derived from the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond the mountain place" or "river of the mountain place".<ref name=HVA2 /><ref name = "HVA">Housatonic Valley Association. Cornwall Bridge, CT. "History of the Housatonic Valley." Template:Webarchive Accessed 2015-10-1.</ref> It is referred to in the deed by which a group of twelve colonists called "The Proprietors" captured the land now called Sherman and New Fairfield as "Ousetonack".<ref name=Simon>Template:Cite book</ref> Samuel Orcutt, a 19th-century historian, explained the term's pronunciation as "more properly...Howsatunnuck" and also noted an early spelling in the form of "Oweantinock".<ref name=Orcutt1>Template:Cite book</ref> Prior to the 18th century, the river was alternatively known as the Pootatuck River. Accounts differ on the origin of this name, with some claiming that Pootatuck is an Algonquian term translating to "river of the falls"<ref name = "HVA" /><ref name="Peg">Template:Cite news</ref> while others relate the term was eponymous, reflecting the name of the tribe that had their principal village along the river in the area of Newtown, Connecticut.<ref name="cothren1854">Template:Cite book</ref> "Pootatuck River" eventually came to refer a lesser tributary in the Housatonic watershed which empties into the Housatonic River at Sandy Hook, Connecticut.<ref name="tunutmeg">Template:Cite web</ref>
The river passes through land that was formerly occupied primarily by native people of Algonquian lineage, typically living in villages of two to three hundred families housed in hide wigwams.<ref name="Peg"/><ref name=Silverberg>Template:Cite book</ref> These native inhabitants burned the forests along the Housatonic Valley in the autumn to keep the underbrush down, a practice which was customary throughout Connecticut prior to European settlement.<ref name=Tomaino>Template:Cite book</ref>
One notable native was Chief Squantz of the Schaghticoke tribe, who still hold a portion of the former reservation on the west side of the Housatonic River, in what is now called the town of Kent.<ref name=Simon/>
English settlement of the northern Housatonic Valley began in 1725 in Sheffield, Massachusetts.<ref name=HVA2 /> By 1734, Mohicans established the Indian Town of Stockbridge, which grew over 15 years but then failed, with land pressures increasing.<ref name=HVA2 />
Industrialization
The river has been a source of power for paper, iron, textiles, and electricity industries.<ref name=HVA2 /> At Great Barrington, a grist mill built by David Ingersoll in 1739 used the river for power.<ref name=HVA2 /> The paper industry grew using the river's power from circa 1800.<ref name=HVA2 />
The river was dammed with the advent of industry. In 1900, there were 30 dams on the river in Pittsfield. Many have been removed, but many remain, such as the Woods Pond dam in Lenox, Columbia Mill dam in Lee, Willow Mill dam in South Lee, Glendale dam in Stockbridge, and Rising Pond dam in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.<ref name=HVA2 />
Five dams impound the river in Connecticut to produce hydroelectricity: the Falls Village, Bulls Bridge, Shepaug, Stevenson and Derby dams. The last three dams form a chain of lakes: Lake Lillinonah, Lake Zoar and Lake Housatonic, from New Milford south to Shelton.
Covered wooden bridges
Three wooden covered bridges cross the Housatonic River. Two are in Connecticut: one known as Bull's Bridge, which spans the river between Gaylordsville and Kent, and another at Cornwall, known as the West Cornwall Covered Bridge. Reinforced with present-day materials, both bridges carry normal vehicle traffic, albeit in only one direction at a time. The third bridge, Old Covered Bridge located in Sheffield, Massachusetts, was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1998; it is now open only to foot traffic.<ref>Massachusetts Covered Bridges - Upper Sheffield Bridge Template:Webarchive. Coveredbridgesite.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-15.</ref>
Cultural references
Lydia Sigourney's poem The Housatonic is in her volume, Scenes in my Native Land, 1845, where it accompanied by descriptive text on the river and its neighbourhood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The United States Navy named a ship for the Housatonic River. The Template:USS has the distinction of being the first ship in history to be sunk by a submarine, the Confederate vessel CSS H.L. Hunley, in 1864.
Inspired by the river during his honeymoon, the American classical music composer Charles Ives wrote "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" as part of his composition Three Places in New England during the 1910s, drawing his text from a poem of the same name by Robert Underwood Johnson. The town of Stockbridge is located in southwestern Massachusetts. The river enters Stockbridge on the east side of town before turning south toward Connecticut.
There was a 1962 American nuclear weapon test of the same name; several such tests used Native American words as codewords.
UFO sighting and monument
In 1969, nine-year-old Thom Reed and his family claimed to see a bright light rise from the Housatonic River, then found themselves inside "what appeared to be an airplane hangar," where they saw creatures that "resembled large insects." Supporters of the family erected a memorial to the incident at the Old Covered Bridge in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in 2015. The 5,000-pound memorial was removed by the town in 2019. The incident featured in a 2020 episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Ecology and wildlife
Historically, the Housatonic River and its Naugatuck River tributary hosted the southernmost spawning runs of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).<ref>Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Salmon Creek tributary of the Housatonic River may have been named for this salmonid, which can reach up to Template:Convert.
Pollution
PCBs
From circa 1932 until 1977, the river received PCB pollution discharges from the General Electric (GE) plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the Pittsfield plant and several miles of the Housatonic as a Superfund site in 1997, and ordered GE to remediate the site. EPA and GE began a cleanup of the area in 1999.<ref>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Boston, MA. GE/Housatonic River Site in New England: Site History and Description." Template:Webarchive 2009-11-12.</ref> Most of the PCBs used in the United States during this period were made by Monsanto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, made by Monsanto, was a primary contaminant of the pollution in the Housatonic River.<ref name=USGS>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the water quality has improved in recent decades, and some remediation has taken place,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>EPA. Housatonic River 1½ Mile - Overview Template:Webarchive</ref> the river continues to be contaminated by PCBs.<ref>deFur, Peter L. (2004). "Housatonic River Ecological Risk Assessment." Template:Webarchive Environmental Stewardship Concepts, Richmond, VA. Presentation at EPA Public Peer Review Meeting, 2004-01-13</ref>
Between 2005 and 2018 GE completed remediation and restoration of the 10 manufacturing plant areas within the city, and continues to conduct inspection, monitoring and maintenance activities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additional remediation is planned for the downstream polluted areas of the river. The highest concentrations of PCBs in the Housatonic River are found in Woods Pond in Lenox, Massachusetts, just south of Pittsfield, where they have been measured up to 110 mg/kg in the sediment.<ref name=USGS/> About 50% of all the PCBs currently in the river are estimated to be retained in the sediment behind Woods Pond dam. This is estimated to be about 11,000 pounds of PCBs.<ref name=USGS/> Former filled oxbows are also polluted.<ref name=EPA1>Template:Cite web</ref>
Birds, such as ducks, and fish that live in and around the river contain significant levels of PCBs and can present health risks if consumed.<ref name="www2.epa.gov">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=EPA2>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2025 fish consumption advisories remain in effect for both the Massachusetts and Connecticut portions of the river.<ref name="mass-dph-fish">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ct-dph-fish">Template:Cite web</ref>
- "Rest of River" settlement agreement
Negotiations regarding how to clean up the contaminated areas south of Pittsfield continued for many years following the initial Superfund site designations, involving GE, EPA, local governments, citizen groups and other stakeholders. In February 2020 EPA announced a settlement agreement involving GE, EPA and most of the concerned parties, to remove contaminated sediment from the river.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite report</ref><ref name="rest-river-settlement">Template:Cite web</ref> Following a public comment period, EPA issued a permit in December 2020 for the final cleanup phase. In 2021 two of the citizen groups that were parties to the settlement filed an appeal of the permit, criticizing the design of the planned landfill. In February 2022 the US Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) denied the permit appeal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two citizen groups appealed the EAB decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and in July 2023 the court rejected the plaintiffs' challenge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In March 2025 EPA issued a conditional approval for GE's proposed disposal facility for low-level contaminated materials in the Town of Lee. Site preparation activities are expected to start in late 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Highly contaminated soil will be removed and shipped to federally approved facilities outside the state.<ref name="rest-river-settlement"/>
Mercury
The Connecticut segment of the river is polluted with mercury levels far beyond background levels, starting at the confluence with the Still River. The hat manufacturing industry of Danbury, Connecticut, which operated from the 19th to the mid-20th century, was the source of most of this mercury pollution, from mercury nitrate used in the felting process. In the 21st century, the mercury remains in the river sediment and flows downstream, especially during storm events.<ref name=Lerman>Template:Cite thesis</ref>Template:Better source needed<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> High mercury levels are measured in the sediment at the outflow delta of the Housatonic River into Long Island Sound.<ref name=JCR>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Watershed and course
The Housatonic River watershed drains Template:Convert in western Connecticut and Massachusetts and eastern New York.<ref name=Plan/> The Housatonic rises from four sources in far western Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains near the city of Pittsfield. It flows southward through western Massachusetts through the Berkshires and into western Connecticut, and empties into the Long Island Sound between the cities of Stratford and Milford, forming a border between Connecticut's Fairfield County and New Haven County, respectively. It includes 83 towns.
For most of its extent the watershed is just to the west of the watershed of the lower Connecticut River, and to the east of the Hudson River Basin. Near the coast, smaller watersheds border it: on the east the Quinnipiac River and Wepawaug River watersheds, and on the west the Norwalk River, Saugatuck River, and Pequonnock River watersheds.
The river's total fall is Template:Convert (Template:Convert from the confluence of its east and west branches) to Long Island Sound. Its major tributaries in Massachusetts are (heading downstream) the Williams River (in Great Barrington), Green River and Konkapot River (in Ashley Falls). Crossing south into Connecticut, the Housatonic's major tributaries are the Blackberry River (in Canaan), Salmon Creek (below Falls Village), Ten Mile River (above Gaylordsville but originating in New York), Still River (south of New Milford), Shepaug River (at the Bridgewater and Southbury border), Pomperaug River (at Southbury), and Naugatuck River (in Derby). The Naugatuck River is the Housatonic's largest tributary with a contributing watershed of Template:Convert.<ref name=Plan/>
Candlewood Lake is a pumped storage facility which is replenished when water is pumped into it from the Housatonic during times of non-peak electrical consumption; the water is then allowed to flow back into the river during peak times to generate electricity.
Housatonic Valley region
The Greater Danbury metropolitan area in Western Connecticut is also known as the Housatonic Valley Region.
The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area is a designated National Heritage Area consisting of an Template:Convert area in the watershed of the upper Housatonic River, extending from Kent, Connecticut, to Lanesborough, Massachusetts, including eight towns in Connecticut and eighteen in Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Recreation
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The Housatonic River is a popular whitewater paddling destination beginning at Falls Village, Connecticut, and continuing to Gaylordsville. Most of the river is quickwater and Class I whitewater with long sections of Class II-III whitewater. A deadly and extreme Class VI resides at Great Falls in Canaan (Falls Village) and is most likely not able to be paddled. The most dangerous and difficult section that is navigable is by Bulls Bridge, with Class V whitewater.
There are several minor and major dams along the river that form lakes. Most notable are two lakes in Connecticut, Lake Zoar, which borders Monroe, Newtown, Oxford, and Southbury, and Lake Lillinonah. Both lakes are major water-sport recreation outlets for the surrounding towns.
Two of the three lakes formed by the dams are used for rowing by clubs, schools, and to host regattas. Lake Lillinonah is used by the GMS Rowing Center and is host to the GMS Regatta.<ref>GMS Rowing Center. New Milford, CT. "About Us/Vision." Template:Webarchive</ref> Lake Housatonic is used by the Yale University Crew Team at the Gilder Boathouse and by the New Haven Rowing Club. It is also host to the Derby Sweeps & Sculls and the Head of the Housatonic.
The Housatonic River is also a popular fly fishing destination. Fly fishing on the Housatonic River has been compared with western rivers and is among the finest for trout in the eastern United States. The most popular area for fly fishing is in Litchfield County, Connecticut, between the dam at Falls Village and Cornwall Bridge. The sections between Kent School and Bulls Bridge are also known for quality fly fishing. The area below Bulls Bridge thru Gaylordsville and the power plant in New Milford is dangerous and not recommended for swimming or entering the water as the currents are quite strong.Template:Citation needed Fish consumption advisories remain in effect for the Housatonic River in Connecticut as of 2025.<ref name="ct-dph-fish"/>
The Appalachian Trail follows the river along this section from the Bulls Bridge covered wooden bridge near Kent to Falls Village.
Major crossings
Template:Main As U.S. Route 7 runs along the Housatonic River Valley between Pittsfield and New Milford, it crosses the Housatonic several times.
See also
References
Citations
Notes
External links
- Housatonic Valley Association
- Housatonic River Initiativer-Riverkeeper
- GE's Website reviewing the options for Housatonic River cleanup
- Charles Ives, Three Places in New England, Music Web
- Watershed map
- Connecticut Explorer's Guide, Online paddling map of the Housatonic River
- GE/Housatonic River Site: Introduction, US EPA
Template:Rivers of Connecticut Template:Massachusetts rivers Template:Housatonic River Watershed Template:Coastal waterbodies of Connecticut
- Pages with broken file links
- Housatonic River
- Long Island Sound
- Milford, Connecticut
- Rivers of Berkshire County, Massachusetts
- Rivers of Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Rivers of Litchfield County, Connecticut
- Rivers of New Haven County, Connecticut
- Connecticut placenames of Native American origin
- Massachusetts placenames of Native American origin
- Rowing venues in the United States
- Stratford, Connecticut
- Rivers of Massachusetts
- Rivers of Connecticut
- Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States