Farmington River - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from West Branch Farmington River) For the river of the same name in Liberia, see Farmington River (Liberia). River in the United States of America

Farmington River
Looking downstream on the Farmington River in Simsbury, Connecticut

Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts and Connecticut
Physical characteristics

Source	Outlet of Hayden Pond (West Branch of the Farmington River)
• location	Otis, Berkshire County, Massachusetts


2nd source	Barkhamsted Reservoir (East Branch of the Farmington River)
• location	Hartland, Hartford County, Connecticut


Source confluence	confluence of the East Branch and West Branch
• location	New Hartford, Litchfield County, Connecticut

Mouth	confluence with Connecticut River
• location	Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut
• coordinates	41°50′37.3596″N 72°37′52.6368″W / 41.843711000°N 72.631288000°W / 41.843711000; -72.631288000
Length	80.4 mi (129.4 km), from source of West Branch
Basin size	602 sq mi (1,560 km)

National Wild and Scenic River
Official name	Farmington River
Type	Recreational
Designated	August 26, 1994

The Farmington River is a river, 46.7 miles (75.2 km) in length along its main stem, located in northwest Connecticut with major tributaries extending into southwest Massachusetts. The longest route of the river, from the origin of its West Branch, is 80.4 miles (129.4 km) long, making it the Connecticut River's longest tributary by 2.3 miles (3.7 km) over the Westfield River directly to its north. The Farmington River's watershed covers 609 square miles (1,580 km). Historically, the river played an important role in small-scale manufacturing in towns along its course, but it is now mainly used for recreation and drinking water.

Geography

The headwaters of the Farmington River consist of the East and West Branches. The West Branch begins at the outlet of Hayden Pond in Otis, Massachusetts, while the East Branch begins in Hartland, Connecticut, at the confluence of Pond, Hubbard and Valley Brooks.

The East Branch has been impounded along the first 11 miles of its course by the Saville Dam to create the Barkhamsted Reservoir and Lake McDonough, exiting the latter in New Hartford, Connecticut, and joining the West Branch one mile south of the lake. Upper reaches of the river generally flow southward, but the river turns northward in Farmington, Connecticut, and runs mostly north and east until it flows into the Connecticut River in Windsor, Connecticut.

History

Sites built adjacent to the river by nomadic peoples at the end of the last Ice Age, c.12,400 years BP of the Younger Dryas indicate the presence of the earliest peoples to populate the region that would become known as southern New England. In the winter of 2019, the remains of the site were excavated in Avon, along with stone tools and artifacts constructed from materials in neighboring regions.

The upper Connecticut and Farmington River valleys were the lands of the Native American indigenous people called the Massaco, a sub-tribe of the Tunxis, who were affiliated with the Wappinger. The name Tunxis, a word in the Quiripi family of Eastern Algonquian languages, derives from the indigenous term Wuttunkshau for "the point where the river bends". Halfway through the course of the river, in a floodplain in the town of Farmington at the base of the Metacomet Ridge, the flow of the Farmington River changes its direction to the northeast, where it eventually joins up with the Connecticut River in Windsor.

When Europeans first arrived, the "Tunxis Sepus" territory consisted of a 165-mile square area bounded by Simsbury to the North, Wallingford to the South, to the northwest by Mohawk country, and on the east by the current towns of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield. In 1645, the Town of Farmington, Connecticut was named by the Connecticut General Assembly, and this was re-affirmed in 1650 by the execution of a deed by the General Assembly and the reservation of land for the "Tunxis Indians" near "Indian Neck" on the east bank of the Farmington River. A group of twenty wigwams existed in Farmington at the beginning of the eighteenth century, but only four or five families resided in the settlement by 1761

The Farmington River was one of the Massaco people's chief fishing grounds

The land of the Massaco was subsequently purchased by the Dutch. This and its settlement during the era of the Connecticut Colony are described in the early history of Simsbury.

The Spoonville Dam, built on the Farmington River in 1899 below the Tariffville Gorge in East Granby, was breached in the Flood of 1955 and remained as a partial dam for several decades before being removed in July 2012. The dam, as well as the bridge crossing the Farmington River downstream at Route 187, derived its name from the silver plating factory erected in 1840 on the north bank of the river. It was the first factory of its kind in the United States.

Historical crossings

Several bridges constructed in the 19th century and early 20th century still span the Farmington River to this day. Among these are:

Farmington River Railroad Bridge, a stone arch bridge in Windsor, Connecticut built in 1867

Drake Hill Road Bridge, a Parker through-truss bridge in Simsbury, Connecticut constructed in 1892
Town Bridge, a Parker through-truss bridge in Canton, Connecticut constructed by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company in 1895
Richards Corner Bridge, a Pratt through-truss bridge in New Hartford, Connecticut built in 1930 which spans the East Branch Farmington River
Pleasant Valley Bridge, a Parker through-truss bridge in Barkhamsted, Connecticut built in 1939
Unionville Bridge, a Warren through-truss bridge in Unionville, Connecticut built in 1939

Recreation

Fishing

The Farmington River is among Connecticut's most heavily stocked trout streams, with over 50,000 brook, brown, rainbow and tiger trout planted in 2022 throughout the West Branch and main stem. It also hosts a robust population of wild, stream-born trout, which have been found to account for roughly 40% of the river's trout population. The West Branch, in particular, has developed a reputation as one of the best trout streams in the Northeastern United States, owing largely to being a bottom-release tailwater which remains cold, well-oxygenated and especially conducive to sustaining coldwater fish species year-round. The unique "Survivor Strain" brown trout, selectively bred at state hatcheries to be supremely adapted to Connecticut's waters, relies on annual collections of high-quality wild and holdover trout from the West Branch.

Boating

The river has several whitewater sections that are popular for tubing and kayaking. One of these, the colloquial "Upper Farmington" section of the West Branch in New Boston, Massachusetts, is about 7 miles (11 km) long. It is Class 2 through farm and woods scenery to an iron bridge, where kayak and canoe slalom races are held. A second whitewater section is found in Tariffville, Connecticut, consisting of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of technical Class 2 and Class 3 water with heavy currents. Other whitewater areas include Satan's Kingdom in New Hartford, Connecticut, which is also popular with tubers, and the Crystal Rapids section in Collinsville and Unionville, Connecticut, which offers 4 miles (6.4 km) of Class 2 waters.

Dams and power generation

The west branch of the river includes two hydroelectric dams in West Hartland and Colebrook, run by the Metropolitan District Commission of Connecticut.

The largest dam on the east branch is the Saville Dam, which impounds the Barkhamsted Reservoir.

The Rainbow Dam, a 68-foot (21 m) dam with a hydroelectric generator and a fish ladder, dams the river at Windsor, a few miles before the river flows into the Connecticut River.

A number of other dams have been built on the river since European settlement, usually to power mills and other industry. A few, such as in Collinsville, are still mostly intact. The Collinsville Renewable Energy Promotion Act (H.R. 316;113th Congress) would instruct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue licenses to the town of Canton, Connecticut, to restart two small power dams along the river. The bill passed the United States House of Representatives on February 12, 2013, but has not yet become law.

Water released from or flowing over the Otis Reservoir dam enters the Farmington River just north of Reservoir Road in Otis, Massachusetts. Significant quantities of water are released during the fall in order to drop the reservoir water level for the winter.

Natural resources and conservation

Much of the Farmington River has been designated as part of the United States National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. The first such designation on the river was bestowed in 1994 and included 14 miles of water, mostly along the Farmington River West Branch but also a section of the river's main stem, from Hartland to the New Hartford-Canton town line. In 2019, this designation was extended 1.1 miles further downstream to the confluence with the Nepaug River. Most of the Farmington River main stem and the Salmon Brook tributary system, totalling 61.7 miles of additional water, were also designated Wild & Scenic in 2019. The Farmington River Coordinating Committee oversees the implementation of management plans for the designated runs of the Farmington River and includes representatives from towns along the river, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Metropolitan District Commission, National Park Service, Farmington River Watershed Association and Farmington River Anglers Association.

The Farmington River and its tributaries are known to contain 11 species of freshwater mussels. The Farmington has the highest mussel species diversity of any tributary to the Connecticut, lacking only the Yellow lampmussel, which is found only in the mainstem of the Connecticut from Turners Falls, MA downriver to Windsor, CT.

Photographs of notable places

Drake Hill Road Bridge, built in 1892 to span the Farmington River in Simsbury, Connecticut
Historic mills along the Farmington River in the Collinsville section of Canton, Connecticut.
A stone arch bridge built in 1867 which still spans the Farmington River in Windsor, Connecticut.
The Saville Dam impounds the East Branch Farmington River to form Barkhamsted Reservoir.
Town Bridge, built in 1895 over the Farmington River in Canton, Connecticut.

References

^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
Farmington River Watershed: Water Quality Assessment Report (PDF). Massachusetts: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2001. p. 9.
"CTDOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ENCOUNTER EARLY NATIVE AMERICAN SITE IN TOWN OF AVON". Connecticut Department of Transportation. Ct.gov. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
Trumbull, Connecticut.http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/tunxishist.htm
^ "Welcome to the Farmington Libraries, CT!". www.farmingtonlibraries.org. Archived from the original on 2010-08-27.
"Spoonville Dam is gone!". Farmington River Watershed Association. Farmington River Watershed Association. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
Federal Writers' Project. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore and People. US History Publishers. p. 500. ISBN 978-1-60354-007-0. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
Susan Babbitt (February 15, 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Farmington River Railroad Bridge". National Park Service. Archived from the original (pdf) on Feb 4, 2017.
Clouette, Matthew (February 20, 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Drake Hill Road Bridge". National Park Service. and Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 1983
Bruce Clouette & Hoang Tinh (April 30, 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Town Bridge" (pdf). National Park Service.
"Richards Corner Bridge". Bridgehunter.com: Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
"Pleasant Valley Bridge". Bridgehunter.com: Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
"Unionville Bridge". Bridgehunter.com: Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
"Fish Stocking Report 2022" (PDF). CT.GOV. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
Swanson, Aaron. "Farmington River: Fishing The Spawn". The Fisherman. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
^ Broatch, Kierran (September–October 2014). "Survivor Browns—The Farmington River's Special Strain" (PDF). Connecticut Wildlife. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
"Farmington, W. Branch - 1. Upper New Boston (Reservoir Road to Iron Bridge)". American Whitewater. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
Cole, Jim (May 5, 2009). Paddling Connecticut and Rhode Island: Southern New England's Best Paddling Routes. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 42. ISBN 9780762757732.
"F6 - Satans Kingdom Area to Collinsville Upper Dam". www.massachusettspaddler.com. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
"Local Places to Paddle". www.collinsvillecanoe.com. Collinsville Canoe & Kayak. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
"H.R 316 - 113th Congress". United States Congress. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
"West Branch of the Farmington River, Connecticut". www.rivers.gov. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
"Farmington River & Salmon Brook, Connecticut". www.rivers.gov. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
"FRCC - About". www.farmingtonriver.org. Farmington River Coordinating Committee. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
^ "Nedeau, E.J. 2008. Freshwater Mussels and the Connecticut River Watershed. Connecticut River Watershed Council, Greenfield, MA" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-06.

External links

Rivers of Massachusetts by drainage system

Atlantic Ocean

Buzzards Bay	Acushnet River Agawam River Back River Copicut River Crooked River Mattapoisett River Nasketucket River Paskamanset River Pocasset River Sippican River Slocums River Wankinco River Westport River Weweantic River
Nantucket Sound	Bass River Bumps River Childs River Coonamesset River Mashpee River Mitchell River Oyster Pond River Popponesset Creek Quashnet River Santuit River
Others	Tiasquam River

Gulf of Maine

Cape Cod Bay	Bluefish River Eel River Herring River Jones River Little Pamet River Pamet River Town Brook
Massachusetts Bay	Aberjona River Alewife Brook Canton River Charles River Chelsea Creek Cochato River Fore River Fresh River Indian Head River Malden River Millers River Monatiquot River Muddy River Mystic River Neponset River North River Saugus River Stony Brook (Boston) Stony Brook (Waltham) Stop River Weir River Weymouth Back River
Merrimack River Watershed	Artichoke River Assabet River Back River Beaver Brook Cochichewick River Concord River Little River Merrimack River Nashua River Nissitissit River North Nashua River Phillips Brook Powwow River Quinapoxet River Salmon Brook Shawsheen River Souhegan River South Branch Souhegan River South Nashua River Spicket River Squannacook River Stillwater River Sudbury River Trout Brook Vine Brook Whitman River
Others	Annisquam River Blackwater River Eagle Hill River Egypt River Ipswich River Jericho Creek Roger Island River Rowley River Skug River

Long Island Sound

Connecticut River Watershed	Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River
Housatonic River Watershed	Housatonic River Konkapot River Schenob Brook Umpachene River
Thames River Watershed	French River Quinebaug River

Narragansett Bay

Mount Hope Bay (Taunton River Watershed)	Assonet River Canoe River Cedar Swamp River Cocasset River Cotley River Forge River Hockomock River Matfield River Mill River Nemasket River Poor Meadow Brook Quequechan River Rumford River Salisbury Plain River Satucket River Segreganset River Shumatuscacant River Snake River Taunton River Three Mile River Town River Wading River Winnetuxet River
Providence River Watershed	Abbott Run Blackstone River Bungay River Chockalog River Mill River Mumford River Peters River Quinsigamond River Sevenmile River Tannery River Ten Mile River West River Wilde River
Others	Barrington River Cole River Coles Brook Kickemuit River Lees River Palmer River Runnins River

Upper New York Bay

Hudson River Watershed	Hoosic River Kinderhook Creek

Rivers of Connecticut by drainage system

Long Island Sound

Black Rock Harbor	Ash Creek Rooster River
Bridgeport Harbor	Pequonnock River
Connecticut River Watershed	Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Podunk River Salmon River Scantic River
Housatonic River Watershed	Blackberry River East Aspetuck River Housatonic River Konkapot River Mad River Naugatuck River Pomperaug River Rocky River Schenob Brook Shepaug River Still River Ten Mile River Whiting River
Little Narragansett Bay (Pawcatuck River Watershed)	Ashaway River Green Fall River Pawcatuck River Shunock River Wood River
Milford Harbor	Wepawaug River
New Haven Harbor	Mill River Quinnipiac River West River
Norwalk Harbor (Norwalk River Watershed)	Norwalk River Silvermine River
Saugatuck River Watershed	Aspetuck River Saugatuck River
Thames River Watershed	Basset Brook Beaver Brook Bigelow Brook Fenton River Fishers Brook Five Mile River French River Hop River Little River Merrick Brook Moosup River Mount Hope River Natchaug River Oxoboxo River Pachaug River Quinebaug River Shetucket River Thames River Willimantic River Yantic River
Others	Black Hall River Byram River Cove River Farm River Hammonasset River Indian River Mianus River Mill River (Fairfield) Mystic River Niantic River Noroton River Oyster River Rippowam River

Upper New York Bay

Hudson River Watershed	Titicus River

Connecticut River watershed

Tributaries

Connecticut	Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Salmon River Scantic River
Massachusetts	Burnshirt River Chapel Brook Chicopee River Connecticut River Cranberry River Deerfield River East Brookfield River Farmington River Fall River Five Mile River Green River Hubbard River Manhan River Mill River (Northampton) Mill River (Springfield) Millers River Mirey Brook North Branch Millers River North Branch Westfield River North River Otter River Quaboag River Scantic River Seven Mile River Tarbell Brook Ware River Westfield River
New Hampshire	Ammonoosuc River Ashuelot River Blow-me-down Brook The Branch Cold River Connecticut River East Branch Mohawk River Gale River Great Brook Halls Stream Ham Branch Indian River Indian Stream Israel River Johns River Knox River Little River Little Sugar River Mascoma River Millers River Mink Brook Mirey Brook Mohawk River Nash Stream North Branch Gale River North Branch Millers River North Branch Sugar River North Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Oliverian Brook Otter Brook Partridge Brook Perry Stream Phillips Brook Simms Stream South Branch Ashuelot River South Branch Gale River South Branch Israel River South Branch Sugar River Stocker Brook Sugar River Tarbell Brook Upper Ammonoosuc River West Branch Mohawk River West Branch Upper Ammonoosuc River Wild Ammonoosuc River Zealand River
Vermont	Black River Connecticut River Deerfield River Fall River Green River Halls Stream Leach Creek Moose River Nulhegan River Ompompanoosuc River Ottauquechee River Passumpsic River Rock River Saxtons River Utley Brook Waits River Wells River West River Whetstone Brook White River Williams River Winhall River

Lakes

Connecticut	Barkhamsted Reservoir Lake Beseck Lake Hayward Lake Pocotopaug
Massachusetts	Brooks Pond Browning Pond Lake Monomonac Quabbin Reservoir Lake Wyola
New Hampshire	Ashuelot Pond Back Lake Canaan Street Lake Cedar Pond Christine Lake Comerford Reservoir Connecticut Lakes Crystal Lake Dublin Pond Eastman Pond Echo Lake Lake Francis (Murphy Dam) Goose Pond Grafton Pond Granite Lake Lakes of the Clouds Little Sunapee Lake Mascoma Lake McIndoes Reservoir Lake Monomonac Moore Reservoir Pearly Lake Silver Lake Spofford Lake Lake Sunapee Surry Mountain Lake Lake Tarleton
Vermont	Ball Mountain Lake Comerford Reservoir Harriman Reservoir Harvey's Lake McIndoes Reservoir Moore Reservoir North Hartland Lake Lake Rescue Townshend Lake

Towns

Connecticut	Chester Cromwell Deep River East Haddam East Hampton East Hartford East Windsor Enfield Essex Glastonbury Haddam Hartford Higganum Lyme Middletown Moodus Old Lyme Old Saybrook Portland Rocky Hill South Windsor Suffield Thompsonville Wethersfield Windsor Windsor Locks
Massachusetts	Agawam Chicopee Deerfield Easthampton Gill Greenfield Hadley Hatfield Holyoke Longmeadow Millers Falls Montague Northampton Northfield South Hadley Springfield Sunderland Turners Falls West Springfield Whately
New Hampshire	Bath Charlestown Chesterfield Claremont Clarksville Colebrook Columbia Cornish Dalton Groveton Hanover Haverhill Hinsdale Lancaster Lebanon Littleton Lyme Monroe Northumberland Orford Piermont Pittsburg Plainfield Stewartstown Stratford Walpole West Lebanon Westmoreland Woodsville
Quebec	East Hereford
Vermont	Ascutney Barnet Beecher Falls Bellows Falls Bloomfield Bradford Brattleboro Brunswick Canaan Concord Dummerston Fairlee Gilman Guildhall Hartford Hartland Lemington Lunenburg Maidstone Newbury Norwich Putney Rockingham Ryegate Springfield Thetford Vernon Waterford Weathersfield Wells River Westminster White River Junction Wilder Windsor

Crossings

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