The Mill River is a 16.3-mile (26.2 km) river in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It flows into Long Island Sound at Southport harbor.

Dams on the Mill River form the Easton, Hemlock, and Samp Mortar Lake Reservoirs and control downstream flow.

See also

References

Coordinates: 41°09′55″N 73°16′14″W / 41.16528°N 73.27056°W / 41.16528; -73.27056

Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404. In July 2006, Money magazine ranked Fairfield the ninth "best place to live" in the United States, and the best place to live in the Northeast.

History

Colonial era

In 1635, Puritans and Congregationalists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, dissatisfied with the rate of Anglican reforms, sought to establish an ecclesiastical society subject to their own rules and regulations. The Massachusetts General Court granted them permission to settle the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford in the area now known as Connecticut.

On January 14, 1639, a set of legal and administrative regulations called the Fundamental Orders was adopted, and established Connecticut as a self-ruled entity. By 1639 these settlers had started new towns in the surrounding areas. Roger Ludlowe, framer of the Fundamental Orders, purchased the land presently Fairfield, and established the name.

Mill River may refer to:

Streams

Other

The Mill River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 17.1 miles (27.5 km).

Course

The river rises at North Pond in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, near Interstate 495. From there, the river flows south into Worcester County where it forms the boundary between Upton and Milford. It continues south through Hopedale, Mendon, and Blackstone to Rhode Island, where the rivers flows through Woonsocket to its confluence with the Blackstone River.

Crossings

Below is a list of all crossings over the Mill River. The list starts at the headwaters and goes downstream.

The Mill River is a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) long tributary of the Connecticut River in Springfield, Massachusetts. It flows from Watershops Pond (also known as Lake Massasoit) to its confluence with the Connecticut River. It is referred to as "The Miracle Mile" in a 2009 master's thesis that outlines possibilities for reclaiming the river's mouth as a recreational area. As of 2011, the final 350 feet (110 m) of the river, including its mouth, is confined in a pipe underneath Interstate 91 and a car dealership. Many Springfield residents bemoan the loss of the Mill River as a recreational area, and hope to gain greater access to both it and Connecticut Rivers in upcoming years. As it has for over a century, today the Mill River serves as a barrier between Springfield neighborhoods. Surrounding it are some of the most densely urbanized locations in Springfield.

At the head of Springfield's Mill River there are steep, stone retaining walls that were built to prevent the river's banks from degrading any further. The Mill River was once valued for its benefits to developing industry. Today, incompatible land uses present a problem to "freeing" the Mill River to become a recreational area again. A 2009 master's thesis describes a plan that could revitalize the Mill River and its surrounding neighborhoods by remaking the river as a recreational attraction, connecting the Connecticut River and the Basketball Hall of Fame with Watershops Pond and Springfield College.

Connecticut (ⁱ/kəˈnɛtᵻkət/ kə-NET-i-kət) is the southernmost state in the region of the United States known as New England. Connecticut is also often grouped along with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-State area. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. The state is named after the Connecticut River, a major U.S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for "long tidal river."

Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the "Constitution State", the "Nutmeg State", the "Provisions State", and the "Land of Steady Habits". It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Much of southern and western Connecticut (along with the majority of the state's population) is part of the New York metropolitan area: three of Connecticut's eight counties are statistically included in the New York City combined statistical area, which is widely referred to as the Tri-State area. Connecticut's center of population is in Cheshire, New Haven County, which is also located within the Tri-State area.

The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States. Flowing roughly southward for 406.12 miles (653.59 km) through four U.S. states, the Connecticut rises at the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island Sound. Its watershed encompasses five U.S. states and one Canadian province – 11,260 square miles (29,200 km²) – via 148 tributaries, 38 of which are major rivers. Discharging at 19,600 cubic feet (560 m³) per second, the Connecticut produces 70% of Long Island Sound's freshwater.

The Connecticut River Valley is home to some of the northeastern United States' most productive farmland, as well as a metropolitan region of approximately 2 million people surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts, and the state of Connecticut's capital, Hartford.

Etymology

The word "Connecticut" is a French corruption of the Mohegan word quinetucket, which means "beside the long, tidal river". The word "Connecticut" came into existence during the early 1600s, describing the river, which was also called simply "The Great River".