Coaticook River

Coordinates: 45°05′24″N 74°11′07″W / 45.09000°N 74.18528°W / 45.09000; -74.18528

Coaticook River
Coaticook River
Origin Vermont, Vermont, United States
Mouth Saint-François River
Basin countries Canada
Location Waterville
Length 56 km (35 mi)
Mouth elevation 149 m (489 ft)
Basin area 364 km2 (141 sq mi)
Left tributaries (from mouth) creeks: Bradley, Drouin-Prémont, Sévigny, Ferland, Rodrigue, Giroux, Bissonnette, Lafond, Sylvestre (crossing the border), Mesker Meadow creek (Meadow Brook in USA); United States: Gaudette creek, Sutton creek
Right tributaries (from mouth) creeks: Saint-Michel, Bourdon-Drouin, branch Lachance, creek Cornoir, du Pont-Rouge, Grenier, Tremblay, Cushing, Verill; United States: Number Six, Number Five, Davis Brook, Station Brook

The Coaticook River is a river located in the Estrie region of southern Quebec, in Canada. The mouth of the river is located in municipality of Waterville, in Coaticook Regional County Municipality, in administrative of Estrie, on South Shore of Saint-Laurent river.

Name

The name for the Coaticook River comes from the Abenaki name "koatikeku " which means "River of the land of the white pine".[1] White pines were common in the surrounding region and the nearby Upper Connecticut River Valley. Names such as Coös, the Coös County are derivative from this type of tree.

The toponym "Coaticook river" was officialized on December 5, 1968 at Commission de toponymie du Québec.[2]

Geography

The source of the Coaticook River is the Norton Pond (length: 4,1 km; altitude: 149 m), flowing in Essex County, in Vermont, at South of the Canadian border. The valley of this lake is extended toward South and includes Pherrins River which empties into Island Pond (Vermont). Island Pond is bordered on Westside by Holland Pond Access Area and Eastside by The Kingdom State Forest.

Coaticook River flows Northward at first on 6,8 km on American territory, crossing a forestry and agricultural valley. En Eastside, a railway goes along the river as well as route 114.

After crossing the border for the first time, the river path forms a loops on about 340 m toward North-East in municipality of Coaticook; then, the path of the river returns to Vermont where it forms a loop of 0,5 km in municipality Norton before returning in Canada.

After crossing the Canadian border, the Coaticook River flows generally northwest through:

The river flows northward, past the town of Coaticook, where there is 50 metres (160 ft) deep gorge that was created many years ago. The river than flows through Compton, Waterville and joins the Massawippi River, several kilometres south of the Saint-François River.

The Coaticook River empties on the southern bank of the Massawippi River at 5.9 km kilometers upstream from the confluence of the Rivière aux Saumons (Massawippi River and 8.8 km upstream from the confluence of the Massawippi river and Saint-François River.

References

  1. Coaticook River on website of "Commission de toponymie du Québec" (Geographical Names Board of Quebec).(French)
  2. Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of place names - Toponym: "Coaticook River"

See also

Media related to Category:Coaticook River at Wikimedia Commons

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