Willimantic River
| Willimantic River | |
|---|---|
_(46163127404).jpg) The Willimantic River flows past the old American Thread Company mill in Willimantic. | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Connecticut |
| Counties | Tolland, Windham, New London |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of Middle River and Furnace Brook |
| • location | Stafford Springs, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States |
| • coordinates | 41°57′09″N 72°18′07″W / 41.95250°N 72.30194°W[1] |
| Mouth | Confluence with Natchaug River to form Shetucket River |
• location | Willimantic, Windham County, Connecticut, United States |
• coordinates | 41°42′46″N 72°11′30″W / 41.71278°N 72.19167°W[2] |
| Length | 25 mi (40 km) |
| Basin size | 225 sq mi (580 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Coventry, CT |
| • average | 216 cu ft/s (6.1 m3/s)Average, 1931-2005 |
| • minimum | 97.9 cu ft/s (2.77 m3/s)Annual mean, 1965 |
| • maximum | 370 cu ft/s (10 m3/s)Annual mean, 1938 |
The Willimantic River is a tributary of the Shetucket River, approximately 25 miles (40 km) long in northeastern Connecticut in the New England region of the United States.
It is formed in northern Tolland County, near Stafford Springs by the confluence of Middle River and Furnace Brook. It flows south to the city of Willimantic, where it joins the Natchaug River to form the Shetucket. It is joined by the Hop River on the Coventry, Columbia, and Windham town border.[3] The river is also designated as a National Recreation Trail.[4]
Name
[edit]The word Willimantic is of Algonquian origin, either Mohegan-Pequot or Narragansett. It is commonly translated as "land of the swift running water", but the word more likely originally meant "place near the evergreen swamp".[5] The word was first attested in English writing as Waramanticut in 1684,[6] and later as Wallamanticuk, Wewemantic and Weammantuck before being standardized as Willimantic.[7]
Geography
[edit]Shortly upstream from its confluence with the Natchaug, the Willimantic experiences a drop of ninety feet in one mile. The river powered textile mills from Stafford Springs to Willimantic, including the American Thread Company mill. None of these mills are operating as of 2007, having all been destroyed or converted to other uses such as apartment space.[8]
A popular long paddling route begins south of Stafford Springs along Route 32 where the river is mostly quickwater all of the way to the flatwater of Eagleville Pond. The remainder is fairly easy going to the take-out at Route 66. Beware of the dam at the Route 275 bridge. Other access points may be at the N. River Road bridge, the Route 74 bridge, the Depot Rd bridge, the Route 195 bridge, the Jones Crossing bridge, the Merrow Road bridge, the U.S. Route 44 bridge, Brigham bridge, near the Route 275 dam, the Depot Rd bridge, the Route 31 bridge, and the Flanders Rd bridge.[8]
Crossings
[edit]| County | Town | Carrying |
|---|---|---|
| Windham | Windham | Closed Bridge (Connected to ATC Mill 04.) |
| The Garden Bridge (Former Jillson Bridge) | ||
| South St. (Frog Bridge) | ||
 New England Central Railroad
| ||
| Willimantic Footbridge | ||
 Route 32
| ||
| Windham/Tolland | Windham/Columbia |  Air Line State Park Trail
|
 Route 66
| ||
| Windham/Coventry | .svg){kind=small} US 6 (Willimantic Bypass)
| |
| Tolland | Mansfield/Coventry | Flanders Rd. |
 Route 31
| ||
| New England Central Railroad
| ||
| Depot Rd. | ||
| New England Central Railroad
| ||
 Route 275
| ||
| Plains Rd. | ||
| Merrow Rd. | ||
| Mansfield/Tolland |  Route 195
| |
| Willington/ | New England Central Railroad
| |
| S. River Rd./Depot Rd. | ||
 Route 74
| ||
 I-84
| ||
| New England Central Railroad
| ||
| Route 32
| ||
| Ellington/Willington | New England Central Railroad
| |
| Stafford |  Private Dr.
|
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (September 12, 1979). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Willimantic River". Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (September 12, 1979). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Natchaug River". Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Meet the Willimantic River Watershed". www.willimanticriver.org. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
- ^ "Willimantic River Water Trail". NRT Database. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
- ^ Eves, Jamie H.; Eves, Katherine L. S. "Swift Waters or Cedar Swamp? Native American Placenames in Connecticut and the Meaning of "Willimantic"". Windham Textile and History Museum. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ^ Trumbull, J. Hammond (1859). The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, May, 1678 - June, 1689. Case, Lockwood & Co. p. 202. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ^ Douglas-Lithgow, Robert Alexander (1909). Dictionary of American-Indian place and proper names in New England: with many interpretations, etc. Salem Press. p. 296. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- ^ a b "Meet the Willimantic River". www.willimanticriver.org. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
External links
[edit]- Meet the Willimantic River
- Connecticut Explorer's Guide Online paddling map of the Willimantic River.