Black River (Connecticut River tributary)

The Black River is a 40.8-mile-long (65.7 km)^[1] river in the U.S. state of Vermont, and a tributary of the Connecticut River. The river's watershed consists of approximately 202 square miles (520 km²) in southeastern Vermont, almost all of which lies in Windsor County.

Course

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The Black River begins in a small body of water called Black Pond, in Plymouth, Vermont. Winding its way toward the town of Ludlow, its narrow flow picks up a variety of small brooks and streams and is cooled by overhanging branches. Passing through Amherst Lake, Echo Lake, Lake Rescue, and Lake Pauline, the Black River picks up more tributaries and winds through the town of Ludlow, the home of Okemo Mountain Ski Resort. Tumbling through impressive Cavendish Gorge, the river widens as it passes under the Downers Covered Bridge and enters Perkinsville.

The North Branch of the Black River, its headwaters in Reading, joins the main stem in Weathersfield at the flood control dam. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1957 and 1960, the dam holds back waters to protect the downstream towns of North Springfield and Springfield from floods.

The Black River pushes on through these final two towns, past small dams and many industrial sites, until its final confluence with the Connecticut River at Hoyt's Landing, across from New Hampshire's Fort at Number 4 in Charlestown. Its watershed lies south of the Ottauquechee River and north of the Williams River.

History

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Black River and Falls in Springfield c. 1910

Since the settlement of Springfield in the mid-18th century, the river has been at its heart. A source of power for the many industrial factories built on her shores, many small hydro dams were built near the impressive Comtu Falls in the center of Springfield.^[2] The official name of those falls is Black River Falls.^[3]

Flooding was a common occurrence on the Black River. Particularly noteworthy was the flood of 1927. A late-season tropical storm brought torrential rains to the lower towns of the watershed in early November. The small tributary streams overflowed their banks, releasing thousands of gallons of cold water into the Black River. Homes were lost, hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage was done, and businesses were destroyed.^[4]

References

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^ 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
^ Wood, John. A Leap in the Dark: How Springfield, Vermont Coped with Industrialization, Immigration and War, 1890-1920. Dissertation: California State University, 1987.
^ "Domestic Names | U.S. Geological Survey". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved Dec 5, 2022.
^ Lyndes, The Black River's Rampage, 1927: Springfield, VT. American Legion Press, 195.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Black River (Connecticut 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

v t e Rivers of Vermont by drainage system
Connecticut River Watershed	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
Hudson River Watershed	Batten Kill Hoosic River Walloomsac River
Saint Lawrence River Watershed	Barton River Black River Brownington Branch Browns River Coaticook River Cold River Clyde River Jail Branch River Johns River Lamoille River Lemon Fair River Mad River Mettawee River Mill River Missisquoi River Otter Creek Pherrins River Poultney River Rock River Stevens Branch Tomifobia River Willoughby River Winooski River

43°15′50″N 72°26′22″W / 43.263769°N 72.439556°W / 43.263769; -72.439556

Course

History

See also

References

External links