Housatonic River
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For the eponymous village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts see Housatonic, Massachusetts.
| Housatonic River | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Muddy Pond |
| Mouth | Long Island Sound |
| Basin countries | USA (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York) |
| Length | 149 miles (240 km) |
| Source elevation | ~1,440 feet (439 m) |
| Basin area | 1,948 square miles (5,045 km²) |
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately 149 mi (240 km) long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about 1,950 square miles of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound. Its watershed is just to the west of the watershed of the lower Connecticut River.
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[edit] Geography
The Housatonic rises from four sources in far western Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains near the city of Pittsfield. It flows southward through western Massachusetts through the Berkshires and into western Connecticut, and empties into Long Island Sound in a fjord between the towns of Stratford and Milford.
The river's total fall is 1430 feet (959 feet from the confluence of its east and west branches). Its major tributaries are the Williams, Green and Konkapot Rivers in Massachusetts, the Tenmile River in New York, and the Shepaug, Pomperaug, Naugatuck, and Still Rivers in Connecticut. It receives the Naugatuck River at Derby, Connecticut, and the Still River south of New Milford, Connecticut.
The river is impounded in several places in Connecticut for hydroelectricity.
[edit] History
The river's name comes from the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond the mountain place". [1]
Inspired by the river during his honeymoon, the American classical music composer Charles Ives wrote The Housatonic at Stockbridge as part of his composition Three Places in New England.
Until 1977 the river received PCB pollution from the General Electric plant at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Although the water quality has improved in recent decades, the river continues to be contaminated by PCBs.
There is an American Nuclear Test of the same name, although it is not known if the name came from the river or some other source.
