Neponset River

The Neponset River is a

The Neponset River is fed by a drainage basin of approximately 130 square miles, a watershed that includes numerous aquifers, wetlands, streams, and surrounding upland areas.^[1] Some 250,000 people live in the Neponset River watershed, which in addition to the towns listed above, includes portions of Stoughton, Medfield, Dover, and Randolph.

The Canton River, a tributary of the Neponset River, is located in Canton, Massachusetts. It flows under the Canton Viaduct.

History

Before Europeans arrived, the area was inhabited by

The river's recorded history begins in 1619 when Native Americans traveled down the Neponset River to Thompson's Island, where they traded furs with English settlers.[4]

The falling waters of the Neponset provided the energy for the country's first water-powered grist mill, gunpowder mill, paper mill and the Revere Copper Company, among others.^[1]

The upper stretch of the Neponset River, in Foxborough, Walpole and Norwood, is steeply sloped, dropping about 228 feet (69 m) over its first 12 miles, (19 km) and so the earliest years of the Industrial Revolution brought the Neponset to prominence. In 1635, Israel Stoughton built the first dam on the Neponset (only the second dam in the entire New World) for his grist mill. It was the first of three mills for flour, gunpowder and paper making.

In 1639, English settlers in Dedham began digging a canal connecting the Charles River with Mother Brook, a tributary of the Neponset, in order to provide their town with water power for mills; it was the first man-made canal in North America and increased the water flow in the lower sections of the Neponset. In 1640, shipbuilding began at Gulliver's Creek Wharf, and in 1673 John Trescott built a lumber mill on the river.^{[citation needed]}

In 1765, a chocolate mill was established by Dr. James Baker and Irish immigrant John Hannon (later known as

The stretch of the Neponset from Milton to Dorchester Bay was referred to as Milton River on some early maps.[5]

About 2,000 feet (610 m) of the river was placed in conduits during construction of the Foxboro Raceway and later Foxboro Stadium. During the construction of Gillette Stadium, the river was relocated to the edge of the property (adjacent to the Framingham Secondary) and daylit.^[6]

In 2021, the

Today the Neponset River and its watershed are increasingly being protected and opened up as a recreational destination for the benefit of local residents. Several recommendations of the 1966 Lower Neponset River Reservation Master Plan have been implemented, including the reclamation of the former Hallet Street landfill and the old Neponset Drive-In to provide the 66-acre (270,000 m²) Pope John Paul II Park, which opened to the public in 2001. At Squantum Point in Quincy, phase one of Squantum Point Park, 25 acres (100,000 m²) of a 50-acre (200,000 m²) former U.S. Navy Airfield, was developed as waterfront parkland with assistance from National Grid plc and dedicated in the spring of 2001.

In popular culture

The Neponset River figures in the movie

The Gillette Stadium Lighthouse is the largest lighthouse type structure in America. While the structure is located next to the Neponset River, the Gillette Stadium Lighthouse is not a real lighthouse because the Neponset River is not a federally controlled water way in Foxborough, as it is less than 2 miles wide.[10] Gillette Stadium Lighthouse stands at 218 feet tall and 22 stories high.^[11]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Neponset River.

River and watershed

• Neponset River Watershed Association
• Neponset Watershed Map Neponset River Watershed Association
• The Neponset River Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
• River Bank Destruction, Squantum Point, Neponset River

Greenway and recreation

• Neponset River Reservation Department of Conservation and Recreation
• Neponset River Greenway Map Department of Conservation and Recreation