Quinebaug River

For the river from New Haven, CT: Quinnipiac River

The Quinebaug River is a river in south-central Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut, with watershed extending into western Rhode Island. The name "Quinebaug" comes from the southern New England Native American term, spelled variously Qunnubbâgge, Quinibauge, etc., meaning "long pond", from qunni-, "long", and -paug, "pond".^[1] The river is one of the namesake rivers in the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor.

Course

The river is about 69 miles (111 km) in length.^[2] It originates from East Brimfield Lake and ponds northwest of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, flows generally southeast and south through Connecticut (Putnam, Danielson, Plainfield, Canterbury and Jewett City), the river joins Aspinook pond which begins in Canterbury and ends in Jewett City. The river then continues to the Shetucket River northeast of Norwich. That river flows from there into the Thames River and drains into the Long Island Sound. It is dammed in its upper reaches at East Brimfield Dam, Westville Dam, and West Thompson Dam all for flood control, as well as numerous mill dams which powered mills along the river's course. Some of these still provide hydroelectric power today.

Watershed

The Quinebaug River watershed covers 850 square miles (2,200 km²), and extends into western Rhode Island. It is heavily forested with 29 named streams including six major tributaries (the French, Moosup and Five Mile Rivers, and the Wales, Mill and Cady brooks). The watershed also contains 54 lakes and ponds, 31 of which with an area of 10 acres (40,000 m²) or more, for a total of about 3,000 acres (12 km²); the largest is East Brimfield Reservoir in Brimfield and Sturbridge (420 acres (1.7 km²)). The watershed is home to fish species including trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, and panfish. Elevations range from 1,264 feet (385 m) above sea level on Mount Pisgah in Wales, Massachusetts, to about 25 ft (7.6 m) in Norwich, Connecticut.

Crossings

State	County	Town	Carries	Built
CT	New London	Lisbon and Griswold	Providence and Worcester Railroad
			I-395 (Connecticut Turnpike)	1956
			Route 12/Route 138
			Silvandale Road crossing (abandoned)
	Windham	Canterbury	Providence and Worcester Railroad
		Canterbury	Butts Bridge Road
		Canterbury and Plainfield	Route 14
		Brooklyn and Plainfield	Route 205
		Brooklyn and Killingly	US 6
		Pomfret and Killingly	Route 101
		Pomfret and Killingly	Cotton Bridge Road
		Putnam	Landfill access bridge (private)
			Airline Rail Trail
			US 44
			Bridge Street
			Route 171
		Thompson	West Thompson Road	1964
			Blain Road (bridge removed)
			Red Bridge Road	1964
			Brickyard Road	1964
			Fabyan Road	1999
			Route 197
MA	Worcester	Dudley	Route 131
			Southbridge Branch RR (abandoned)
			West Dudley Road
		Southbridge	East Main Street
			AO Factory Road (private)
			AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
			AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
			AO Factory Pedestrian Bridge (private)
			Pipeline crossing
			Business Park Road (Private)
			Route 169	1956
			Central Street
			River Street
			Mill Street	1956
			Route 131
		Sturbridge and Southbridge	Westville Dam service road	2003
		Sturbridge and Southbridge	Breakneck Road/Wallace Road	1956
		Sturbridge	Old Mashapaug Road	1956
			Grand Trunk Rail Trail	2002
			Farquhar Road	1939
			Haynes Street	1961
			I-84	1971
			Old Sturbridge Village Road	1972
			OSV Pedestrian Bridge (Private)
			OSV Covered Bridge (Private)
			Stallion Hill Road	1956
			Holland Road	1956
	Hampden	Brimfield	Holland-East Brimfield Road	1958
		Holland	Morse Road (closed)	1939
		Holland	Pond Bridge Road	1934

Paddling the River

Three sections of the Quinebaug River have been designated as a National Recreation Trail by the National Park Service, of the first water trails to receive this designation. The sections are: Holland Pond to East Brimfield Reservoir (in Holland and Brimfield, Massachusetts), Paper Mill Dam in Dudley to West Thompson Lake, and Simonzi Park in Putnam to Aspinook Pond in Canterbury. The East Coast Greenway runs along the river in some spots.

Canoe/Kayak launch sites are located at the following locations:

Pond Bridge Road, Holland
US Route 20 boat ramp, Brimfield
Old Mashapaug Road, Sturbridge
West Dudley Road, Dudley
Fabyan Road, Thompson
West Thompson Lake boat ramp, Thompson
Simonzi Park on Kennedy Drive, Putnam
Route 101, Pomfret
Riverside Park off Day Street, Brooklyn
Town Park off Route 12, Killingly
Quinebaug Trout Hatchery, Plainfield
Robert Manship Park off Route 14, Canterbury
Butts Bridge Road, Canterbury

Gallery

Brimfield Lake and Dam on the Quinebaug River in Hampden County, Massachusetts
Westville Lake and Dam on the Quinebaug River in Worcester County, Massachusetts

References

^ Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-04-05 at WebCite, accessed April 1, 2011

[Bright2004-1] Bright, William (2004). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. Retrieved 14 April 2011.

[NHD-2] U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-04-05 at WebCite, accessed April 1, 2011

[1]

[2]