Wild River (Androscoggin River tributary)
Wild River | |
---|---|
Jackson, NH | |
• coordinates | 44°13′51″N 71°9′0″W / 44.23083°N 71.15000°W |
• elevation | 2,810 ft (860 m) |
Gilead, ME | |
• coordinates | 44°23′45″N 70°58′45″W / 44.39583°N 70.97917°W |
• elevation | 678 ft (207 m) |
Length | 17.2 mi (27.7 km) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Red Brook, Spruce Brook, Cypress Brook, Moriah Brook, Bull Brook, Martins Brook |
• right | Baldface Brook, Cedar Brook, Blue Brook, Twin Brook, Dew Drop Brook, Burnt Mill Brook, Evans Brook, Little Lary Brook, Gammon Brook |
The Wild River is a 17.2-mile-long (27.7 km)
Route
The Wild River rises on the north end of Black Mountain
Early history
Early European settlement of the watershed was northerly up the
The town of Gilead was incorporated in 1804.
In 1882, Major Gideon Hastings obtained title to large tracts of timberland and commenced operations of the Hastings Lumber Company.[7]
Wild River Railroad
In 1891, a railroad was built following the present Route 113 from Gilead to Hastings lumber mill on Evans Brook near its confluence with the Wild River.[8] A row of ten houses built along the Wild River for company employees at Hastings became known as "the ten commandments".[9] Rails extended 10 miles (16 km) up the Wild River from Hastings by 1896 with branch lines up tributaries Bull Brook, Blue Brook, Moriah Brook, Cypress Brook, and Spruce Brook.[10] A 1903 wildfire destroyed the unharvested timber in the watershed.[11] The railroad was dismantled in 1904.[12] The lumber company land was purchased for the White Mountain National Forest between 1912 and 1918.[13] Passage of the New England Wilderness Act in December 2006 designated 23,700 acres (9,600 ha) of the watershed as the Wild River Wilderness.[11]
Locomotives
Number | Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gilead | Lima Locomotive Works | 2-truck, 3-cylinder Shay | 30 September 1891 | 370 | purchased new - destroyed by boiler explosion 18 April 1899[14] |
2 | Portland Company | 4-4-0 | 1871 | 202 | formerly Portland and Ogdensburg Railway #4 Hyde Park - replaced by # 4 and boiler used in the wood alcohol mill of the Hastings Chemical Company[15] | |
3 | Lima Locomotive Works | 2-truck, 3-cylinder Shay | 10 November 1896 | 523 | built as Success Pond Railroad # 6; leased from Blanchard & Twitchell Company of Berlin, New Hampshire to replace # 1; went to White River Railroad of Woodstock, Vermont when Wild River Railroad was dismantled[16][17][18]
| |
4 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 2-4-2 Tank locomotive | 1900[19] | 17433 | purchased new to replace # 2 - sold to Berlin Mills Railroad in 1904[20] |
Recreation
In the summer and early fall, this river becomes little more than a trickle. However, it does hold native brook trout that eagerly attack small dry flies, much to the delight of fly fishermen that visit. Wild River Trail follows the old railroad grade along the river.[11] A visit in early spring or late fall should be pursued with caution as Route 113 is not maintained in the winter. It is a long way around if you get there and find the road closed. The Appalachian Trail follows the crest of the Carter-Moriah Range along the western boundary of the watershed.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ New Hampshire GRANIT state geographic information system
- ^ "Wild River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ Wight (1971) p.20
- ^ Wight (1971) p.22
- ^ Wight (1971) p.48
- ^ Wight (1971) p.65
- ^ Wight (1971) p.66
- ^ Wight (1971) p.77
- ^ Wight (1971) p.125
- ^ Wight (1971) p.95
- ^ a b c d "Wilderness Connect".
- ^ Wight (1971) p.122
- ^ Wight (1971) pp.133-135
- ^ Koch (1971) p.338
- ^ Wight (1971) p.98
- ^ Wight (1971) pp.101&122
- ^ Koch (1971) p.399
- ^ "Lima Locomotive & Machine Co. Shop Number 523". Shay Locomotives. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
- ^ Westing, Fred (1966). The Locomotives that Baldwin Built. Bonanza Books. p. 106.
- ^ Wight (1971) pp.112&122
References
- Koch, Michael (1971). The Shay Locomotive Titan of the Timber. World Press.
- Wight, D.B. (1971). The Wild River Wilderness. Courier Printing Company.