Merrimack River
The
Merrimack River (or
Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a 110-mile-long (177-kilometer-long) river in the Northeastern
United States. It rises at the confluence of the
Pemigewasset and
Winnipesaukee rivers in
Franklin, New Hampshire,
[The Merrimack River Watershed Council, Inc. Available at: http://www.merrimack.org/aboutwatershed/geography.htm (Accessed 21 July 2006).] flows southward into
Massachusetts, and then flows northeast, near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, until it empties into the
Atlantic Ocean at
Newburyport.
Several U.S. naval ships have been named the
USS Merrimack and USS
Merrimac in honor of this river.
Prior to glaciation, the Merrimack continued its southward course far beyond the present day New Hampshire-Massachusetts border to enter the Atlantic Ocean near
Boston. Upon the glacier's retreat, debris deposited north of Boston filled the lower Merrimack Valley, redirecting the river into its current northeast bend at Lowell.
The total watershed of the river is approximately 5,000
square miles (13,000 km²), covering much of southern New Hampshire and a portion of northeastern Massachusetts. On its banks are a number of cities built to take advantage of water power in the 19th-century, when textile mills dominated the New England economy:
Concord,
Manchester, and
Nashua in New Hampshire, and
Lowell,
Lawrence, and
Haverhill in Massachusetts. At the mouth of the river is the small city of
Newburyport. Prior to the construction of the
Middlesex Canal, Newburyport was an important ship-building city, since it was in a location to receive New Hampshire timber that had been floated downriver.
 |
The Merrimack River, formed by the confluence of the Pemigewasset River (left) and Winnipesaukee River (right) is shown on a map of the northeastern United States |
The river is perhaps best known for the early American literary classic
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River by
Henry David Thoreau. Among its tributaries are the
Souhegan River, which extends west from the town of
Merrimack, New Hampshire, the
Nashua River, which flows north into the city of Nashua, the
Concord River, which flows north from
Concord, Massachusetts to Lowell, and the
Shawsheen River, which after also flowing north, joins the Merrimack at Lawrence.
The name
Merrimack is believed to have been adopted by early European settlers from
Merruasquamack, a name meaning "swift water place" that given by Native American tribes for the portion of the river between
Manchester, New Hampshire and
Lowell, Massachusetts. A number of tribes occupied the watershed and gave the river several different names.
The original Euro-American spelling of the river's name was
Merrimac, but the river is now named Merrimack. Both variants were used in early days and can continue to be seen in the present day in the names of two New England towns.
Merrimac, Massachusetts, settled in 1638 and originally part of
Amesbury, Massachusetts, was called West Amesbury until 1876, at which time it adopted its current name and spelling.
Merrimack, New Hampshire was incorporated in 1746, spelling its name "Marrymac" in the record of its first town meeting. It is referred to as Merrimac into the early 19th century: in the 1810 decennial census, it was spelled Merrimac, but in the 1820 and afterwards, Merrimack. When, where and why the names of this town and the river became standardized as Merrimack is unknown.
|
Gage height for Merrimack River at Goffs Falls below Manchester, NH, June - May 2006. |
While the Merrimack River is prone to minor
flooding, on
May 15,
2006 rainfall raised the river more than 8 feet above flood stage, forcing evacuations, damaging property, and breaking the main sewage pipeline in the city of
Haverhill, Massachusetts, dumping 35 million gallons of raw sewage waste into the river per day.
[Rains keep New Englanders from homes CNN.com May 17, 2006] Reports of total rainfall vary, but most areas appear to have received around a foot of rain with some areas receiving as much as 17 inches.
According to The Boston Globe, around 1,500 people evacuated their homes to escape the flood.
[Flooding besets region; more rain in forecast by Brian MacQuarrie, The Boston Globe, May 16, 2006]This flood also prompted the city of
Lowell, Massachusetts to drop the flood-controlling Francis Gate for only the third time in its 150 years of service. When lowered, the Francis gate seals the city's canal system off from its source on the Merrimack. The Great Gate, as it is also called, was built in 1850 under the direction of
James B. Francis. Considered unnecessary when it was first constructed, "Francis' Folly" saved the center of Lowell from overflowing canals in 1852 and 1936. However, technically, the gate was not dropped in 2006 since a more modern bulkhead of 16 inch by 16 inch steel beams constructed against the side of the Francis Gatehouse was used instead.
The most significant flood in the recorded history of the Merrimack was in March of 1936, when a double flood of rain and melting snow and ice swelled the Merrimack to 68.4 feet, 10 feet higher than the 2006 flood. The
Jack Kerouac book
Doctor Sax is set during this event.
Image:Flooded_merrimack.jpg|The flooded Merrimack River, as seen from Haverhill, Massachusetts on River Street.Image:HPIM0057.jpg|The flooded Merrimack River, as seen from Lowell, Massachusetts on University Ave Bridge looking down river.Image:HPIM0070.jpg|The flooded Merrimack River, as seen from Lowell, Massachusetts on Hunt Falls Bridge looking Up river towards downtown.The Concord River is on the left at the end of the mill.Image:Merrimackriver05.14.06flood.PNG|The flooded Merrimack River, as seen from Arms park in Manchester, New Hampshire looking down river. At normal levels, the bank of the river can be seen at the bottom of this stairwell.*
List of Massachusetts rivers*
List of New Hampshire rivers*
USGS Merrimack River drainage basin in Massachusetts
*
Merrimack.org Merrimack River watershed in New Hampshire
*[https://rsgis.crrel.usace.army.mil/nae/static/htmlfiles/merrimackgis.html US Army Corps of Engineers] Merrimack River basin reservoir and river level status
*
Merrimack River Watershed Council, a non-profit conservation group based in Lowell, Mass.
