Sandy River (Kennebec River tributary)

(Redirected from Sandy River Valley, Maine) River in the United States

Sandy River
Stereoscopic view of the river c. 1875

Location
Country	United States
Physical characteristics

Source
• location	Phillips, Maine
• elevation	1,700 feet (520 m)

Mouth
• location	Kennebec River
• coordinates	44°45′52″N 69°53′23″W / 44.7644°N 69.8898°W / 44.7644; -69.8898 (Sandy River)
• elevation	156 feet (48 m)
Length	73 miles (117 km)

Discharge
• average	874 cu ft/s (24.7 m/s)

Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Lemon Stream
• right	South Branch Sandy River

Sandy River

Legend

					Sandy River Ponds
					Appalachian Trail
					SR 4
					Smalls Falls
					Chandler Mill Stream
					Crossman Stream
					SR 4
					Saddleback Stream
					Madrid
					SR 4
					SR 4
					South Branch Sandy River
					Orbeton Stream
					Cottle Brook
					SR 142
					former covered bridge
					SR 149 Phillips
					former Salmon Hole bridge
					Mount Blue Stream
					Dickey Brook
					Valley Brook
					SR 145 Strong
					McLeary Brook
					Winter Brook
					SR 4 Fairbanks
					Barker Stream
					Beaver Brook
					former MEC bridge
					US 2 Farmington
					Temple Stream
					Cascade Brook
					Beales Brook
					Wilson Stream
					SR 41 Farmington Falls
					McGurdy Stream
					Bragdon Brook
					Muddy Brook
					US 2 New Sharon
					Hale Brook
					Josiah Brook
					Bog Stream
					Lemon Stream
					Indian Stream
					Pelton Brook
					Kennebec River

The Sandy River is a 73.3-mile-long (118.0 km) tributary of the Kennebec River in the U.S. state of Maine.

The Sandy River originates in the Sandy River Ponds (44°53′37″N 70°32′26″W / 44.8937°N 70.5406°W / 44.8937; -70.5406 (Sandy River source)) at an elevation of 1,700 feet (520 m) in Sandy River Plantation. The river flows south to a confluence with Chandler Mill Stream in Maine Township E and then easterly to its confluence with Saddleback Stream in Madrid, and Orbeton Stream in Phillips. The river then flows southeasterly through the villages of Phillips and Strong. The river flows south from Strong to Farmington and flows northeasterly from Farmington Falls through New Sharon to discharge into the Kennebec River in Norridgewock a short distance south of the Madison town line. Maine State Route 4 follows the river from the Sandy River Ponds and bridges it at Strong along the way to Farmington, where it is again bridged. The river is bridged once more at Farmington by U.S. Route 2. Route 2 follows the river downstream to New Sharon where it makes the last bridged crossing of the river before its confluence with the Kennebec.

History

The Abenaki people found the lower river a good route for canoe travel; Phillips remained an important fishing location until dams prevented anadromous fish migration. Fish would wait at Salmon Hole until flow enabled them to swim into the higher-gradient spawning gravels upstream of that point. European settlement of the lower valley began during the American Revolutionary War. Building of water-powered mills had produced incorporated towns as far upstream as Madrid by the time of Maine statehood in 1820. Early European settlers farmed the river lowlands between the last spring frost in May and the first autumn frost in September. Tree-cutting began after the autumn harvest; logs and lumber were moved on sleds while snow covered the ground from December through March.

A major flood in October 1869, locally known as the "pumpkin freshet", destroyed every bridge over the river and most of the early mills. Rebuilding brought larger mills to Phillips, Farmington, and New Sharon, and the river was closely followed by the narrow gauge Sandy River Railroad from Phillips to Farmington in 1879. Construction of the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad up Orbeton Stream in 1891 enabled logging of the headwaters. Large steam sawmills on Redington Pond at the head of Orbeton Stream and on Toothaker Pond in Phillips converted the aboriginal spruce forests to lumber between 1891 and 1908. Pulpwood cutting kept the railroad profitable through World War I, but sustained forest yield was insufficient to pay operating costs. The railroad went into receivership in 1923 and was dismantled from 1934 to 1936. A week of rain on accumulated winter snow washed out the Redington Pond dam and produced the largest recorded river flow of 38,000 cu ft/s (1,100 m/s) on 18–19 March 1936.

Notes

"Sandy River, Phillips to Farmington | Maine: An Encyclopedia". 14 August 2013.
^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed June 30, 2011
York (1976) p. 14.
York (1976) p.186.
York (1976) pp. 38, 90–92 & 150.
^ York (1976) p. 24.
York (1976) p. 234.
Crittenden (1976) pp. 15–24.
Jones (1979) pp. 121 & 341.
Crittenden (1976) pp. 172–190.
York (1976) pp. 237–238.

References

Crittenden, H. Temple (1976). The Maine Scenic Route. McClain Printing.
Jones, Robert C. (1979). Two Feet Between the Rails (Volume 1 - The Early Years). Sundance Books.
York, Vincent (1976). The Sandy River & Its Valley. Knowlton & McLeary.
"Sandy River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 30 September 1980. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
Maine Streamflow Data from the USGS
Maine Watershed Data From Environmental Protection Agency

v t e Kennebec River Watershed
Tributaries	Abagadasset River Carrabassett River Dead River East Branch Eastern River East Branch Moose River East Branch Sebasticook River Eastern River Lemon Stream Little River Moose River Moxie Falls North Branch Dead River Roach River Sandy River Sebasticook River South Branch Dead River South Branch Moose River South Branch Sandy River West Branch Carrabassett River West Branch Eastern River West Branch Moose River
Lakes	Annabessacook Lake Attean Pond Brassua Lake China Lake Cobbosseecontee Lake East Pond Embden Pond Enchanted Pond First Roach Pond Flagstaff Lake Great Moose Lake Great Pond Indian Pond Long Pond (Belgrade Lakes) Long Pond (Moose River) Maranacook Lake Messalonskee Lake Moosehead Lake Moxie Pond Narrows Pond North Pond Pleasant Pond Sebasticook Lake Spencer Lake Staples Pond Unity Pond Wood Pond Wyman Dam
Towns	Albion Anson Athens Augusta Bath Belgrade Benton Bingham Burnham Caratunk Chesterville China Clinton Corinna Detroit Dexter Embden Fairfield Farmingdale Farmington Gardiner Greenville Hallowell Harmony Hartland Jackman Kingfield Madison Manchester Monmouth Moscow New Portland New Sharon New Vineyard Newport Norridgewock Oakland Phillips Pittsfield Readfield Richmond Rockwood Rome Saint Albans Sidney Skowhegan Solon Smithfield Stratton Strong Unity Vassalboro Vienna Waterville Wilton Winslow Winthrop Woolwich
Landmarks	Mount Abraham Arnold Trail Augusta Memorial Bridge Bath Iron Works Bigelow Preserve Mount Bigelow Carlton Bridge Crocker Mountain Fort Halifax Harris Station Dam International Railway of Maine Kennebec Central Railroad Maine Kennebec Bridge Major Reuben Colburn House Pearl Harbor Remembrance Bridge Mount Redington Sagadahoc Bridge Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Somerset and Kennebec Railroad Somerset Railroad Spaulding Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain Togus

Rivers of Maine by drainage system

Bay of Fundy

Passamaquoddy Bay

Saint John River Watershed

Casco Bay

Fore River Watershed	Fore River Long Creek Stroudwater River South Branch Stroudwater River
Presumpscot River Watershed	Bear River Chute River Crooked River East Branch Piscataqua River Little River Muddy River North Branch Little River Northwest River Piscataqua River Pleasant River Presumpscot River Songo River Sticky River Tenny River
Others	Cousins River Harraseeket River Little River New Meadows River Royal River

Gulf of Maine

Blue Hill Bay (Union River Watershed)	Bog River East Branch Union River Little Bog River Middle Branch Union River Union River West Branch Union River
Chandler Bay	Sandy River
Dennys Bay	Dennys River Hardscrabble River Orange River
Englishman Bay	Chandler River East Branch Chandler River Englishman River
Frenchman Bay	Jordan Stream Skillings River
Harrington Bay	Harrington River Mill River
Little River Watershed	Little River (Drakes Island) Merriland River
Machias Bay (Machias River Watershed)	Crooked River East Machias River Machias River Maine River Middle River West Branch Machias River
Mousam River Watershed	Littlefield River Middle Branch Mousam River Mousam River
Narraguagus Bay (Narraguagus River Watershed)	Little Narraguagus River Narraguagus River Spring River West Branch Narraguagus River (Cherryfield) West Branch Narraguagus River (Hancock County)
Pleasant Bay (Pleasant River Watershed)	Little River Pleasant River West Branch Pleasant River Western Little River
Piscataqua River Watershed	Great Works River Little River Neoutaquet River Piscataqua River Salmon Falls River
Sheepscot River Watershed	Back River Cross River Dyer River Marsh River Sasanoa River Sheepscot River West Branch Sheepscot River
Wohoa Bay	Indian River Southwest Branch Indian River West River
Others	Batson River Benjamin River Cape Neddick River Damariscotta River Johns River Jordan River Josias River Kennebunk River Little River (Boothbay) Little River (Georgetown) Little River (Goosefare Bay) Little River (York) Morse River Ogunquit River Pemaquid River Sprague River Webhannet River York River

Merrymeeting Bay

Androscoggin River Watershed

Kennebec River Watershed

Muscongus Bay

Saint George River Watershed	Back River Dead River East Branch Oyster River Mill River Oyster River Saint George River West Branch Oyster River
Others	Back River (Medomak) Back River (Meduncook) Goose River Medomak River Meduncook River

Penobscot Bay

Penobscot River Watershed

Others

Saco Bay

Saco River Watershed	Charles River Cold River Hancock Brook Kezar River Little Cold River Little Ossipee River Little River Little Saco River Mad River Middle Branch Mad River Old Course Saco River Ossipee River Saco River Shepards River South Branch Mad River South River Tenmile River West Branch Tenmile River
Others	Dunstan River Libby River Nonesuch River Scarborough River Spurwink River

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