Mystic River

For other uses, see Mystic River (disambiguation).

Mystic River
River
A quiet afternoon on the Mystic River, as seen from very close to Grandfather's House, Medford, Massachusetts
Name origin: from Wampanoag Muhs-uhtuq meaning "big river"

Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
District	Middlesex County
Municipalities	Everett, Somerville, Medford, Arlington

Tributaries
- left	Alewife Brook
- right	Chelsea Creek, Malden River


Source	Lower Mystic Lake
Mouth	Boston Harbor

Length	7 mi (11 km), roughly east-west
Basin	76 sq mi (197 km²)

Boston Harbor basin, showing the Mystic River drainage
Website: http://www.mysticriver.org/

Engraving of the Mystic River and environs in 1790

A 1903 USGS map of the Mystic River and environs

Mystic River as seen from the Cradock Bridge

The Mystic River is a 7.0-mile-long (11.3 km) river^[1] in Massachusetts, in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river." In an Algonquian language, "Missi-Tuk" means "a great river whose waters are driven by waves", alluding to the original tidal nature of the Mystic. It lies to the north of and flows approximately parallel to the lower portions of the Charles River.

The Mystic River has a long history of industrial use and a continuing water quality problem. Encompassing 76 square miles (200 km²) of watershed, the river flows from the Lower Mystic Lake and travels through the Boston-area communities of Arlington, Medford, Somerville, Everett, Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Boston. The river joins the Charles River to form inner Boston Harbor. Its watershed contains 44 lakes and ponds, the largest of which is Spot Pond in the Middlesex Fells, with an area of 307 acres (124 ha). Significant portions of the river's shores are within the Mystic River Reservation and are administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, which include a variety of recreation areas.

History

Before recorded history, Native Americans and then later colonists used weirs to catch alewives and fertilize their crops. In 1631, after the arrival of the English, the first ship built by Europeans in Massachusetts, the Blessing of the Bay, was launched from the river's shores. A few years later (1637) the first bridge was built; neighboring towns squabbled about the costs for more than a hundred years.

Over one hundred years later, the Mystic River played a role in the American Revolution when on September 1, 1774, a force of roughly 260 British regulars rowed from Boston up the Mystic River to a landing point near Winter Hill in today's Somerville. From there, they marched about a mile (1.6 km) to the Powder House where a large supply of provincial gunpowder was kept, and after sunrise they removed all the gunpowder, sparking a popular uprising known as the Powder Alarm. In 1775, the Battle of Chelsea Creek took place in the river's watershed in May, and the British attacked via the river's beach in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June.

In 1805 the Middlesex Canal linked the Charles and Mystic Rivers to the Merrimack River in Lowell, and during the 19th century, 10 shipyards along the Mystic River built more than 500 clipper ships. Shipbuilding peaked in the 1840s as schooners and sloops transported timber and molasses for rum distilleries between Medford and the West Indies.

By 1865, overfishing and pollution all but eliminated commercial fishing.

Extensive salt marshes lined the banks of the Mystic until 1909, when the first dam (Craddock Locks) was built across the river, converting salt marsh to freshwater marsh and enabling development. A dam named for Amelia Earhart, was built in 1966. It has three locks to allow the passage of boats, and is equipped with pumps to push fresh water out to the harbor even during high tide. Dam operators leave the locks open at times to allow the passage of fish. There is a fish ladder, but it has never been functional. The dam is closed to the public.

In 1950, construction was completed on the Maurice J. Tobin Bridge which spans the Mystic River, joining Charlestown and Chelsea.

Wildlife

At one time, the Mystic River was home to great numbers of many species of fish, including salmon, alewife, blueback herring, striped bass, bluefish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, carp, and more. Although most of these species still live in the Mystic River, pollution and dam building have severely damaged the populations. Pollution came from various mills and a small ship building yard in the past. The main source of pollution in the 20th century and into the present is from drainage from cities and towns in the watershed. Many of the records of nearby drainage pipes have been lost, or have undocumented changes and diversions. Once described as having so many herring that one could cross the river on their backs, the Mystic River herring run is much smaller than it was in historic times. Pollution has raised bacteria levels and turbidity, making it unfavorable for fish to live in.

Crossings

Crossing	Carries	Location	Built	Coordinates
Tobin Bridge	Northeast Expressway	Charlestown to Chelsea	1950	42°23′05″N 71°02′51″W / 42.38483°N 71.04755°W / 42.38483; -71.04755
Malden Bridge	Alford Street	Charlestown to Everett	1963^[2] (restored 2010-2014)	42°23′20″N 71°04′17″W / 42.38900°N 71.07139°W / 42.38900; -71.07139
	MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Commuter Rail	Somerville to Everett	Original 1849 by Grand Junction Railroad?	42°23′35″N 71°04′28″W / 42.392976°N 71.074402°W / 42.392976; -71.074402
Amelia Earhart Dam	No public access	Somerville to Everett	1966	42°23′42″N 71°04′30″W / 42.394881°N 71.075054°W / 42.394881; -71.075054
	MBTA Haverhill/Reading Commuter Rail and MBTA Orange Line	Somerville to Everett	Replaced in 1975 when Orange Line was constructed?	42°23′48″N 71°04′38″W / 42.396631°N 71.077236°W / 42.396631; -71.077236
Wellington Bridge	Fellsway	Somerville to Medford	1935, reconstructed 1979^[3]	42°23′59″N 71°05′01″W / 42.39981°N 71.08356°W / 42.39981; -71.08356
	Mystic Valley Parkway	Medford	1988^[4]	42°24′21″N 71°05′47″W / 42.40582°N 71.09646°W / 42.40582; -71.09646
	Interstate 93	Medford		42°24′53″N 71°06′14″W / 42.41472°N 71.10391°W / 42.41472; -71.10391
Cradock Bridge	Main Street	Medford		42°25′03″N 71°06′37″W / 42.417602°N 71.110164°W / 42.417602; -71.110164
Medford Pipe Bridge	Pedestrians	Medford	1897	42°25′6″N 71°6′44″W / 42.41833°N 71.11222°W / 42.41833; -71.11222
	Mystic Valley Parkway	Medford	1906 (functionally obsolete)^[5]	42°25′05″N 71°06′45″W / 42.418019°N 71.112588°W / 42.418019; -71.112588
	Winthrop Street	Medford		42°25′04″N 71°07′05″W / 42.417717°N 71.117941°W / 42.417717; -71.117941
	Mystic Valley Parkway	Medford	1906 ^[6]	42°25′05″N 71°07′36″W / 42.418100°N 71.126741°W / 42.418100; -71.126741
	MBTA Lowell Commuter Rail	Somerville to Medford	Original in 1835? (Boston and Lowell Railroad)	42°25′04″N 71°07′43″W / 42.417835°N 71.128519°W / 42.417835; -71.128519
	Boston Avenue	Somerville to Medford		42°25′02″N 71°07′49″W / 42.417238°N 71.130416°W / 42.417238; -71.130416
	River Street / Harvard Avenue	Arlington to Medford		42°24′56″N 71°08′18″W / 42.415490°N 71.138361°W / 42.415490; -71.138361
	Medford Street / High Street	Arlington to Medford		42°25′14″N 71°08′34″W / 42.42054°N 71.14289°W / 42.42054; -71.14289

In popular culture

In 1844, Medford abolitionist and writer Lydia Maria Child described her journey across the Mystic to her grandfather's house in the poem "Over the River and Through the Wood." (Grandfather's House, restored by Tufts University in 1976, still stands near the river on South Street in Medford.) John Townsend Trowbridge's popular 1882 novel, The Tinkham Brothers' Tide-Mill, had its setting along the river at a time when saltwater still reached the Mystic Lakes.

In the 1861 poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere rides along the banks of the Mystic River.

The river gave its name to the 2001 Dennis Lehane novel and its 2003 Academy Award winning Clint Eastwood film adaptation Mystic River.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mystic River.

↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011
↑ National Bridge Inventory Database entry B16029388MUNNBI
↑ National Bridge Inventory Database entry M120014DXDOTNBI
↑ National Bridge Inventory Database entry M120194DYDOTNBI
↑ National Bridge Inventory Database entry M120034DTDOTNBI
↑ National Bridge Inventory Database entry M120054DUDOTNBI

"History of the Mystic". About the Mystic River Watershed. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "Paul Revere's Ride". Retrieved 2008-01-03.

External links

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

National Historical Parks	Adams Blackstone River Valley Boston Lowell Minute Man New Bedford Whaling

National Historic Sites	Boston African American Frederick Law Olmsted John Fitzgerald Kennedy Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters Salem Maritime Saugus Iron Works Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service Units	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges	Assabet River Great Meadows Mashpee Massasoit Monomoy Nantucket Nomans Land Oxbow Parker River Silvio O. Conte Thacher Island

Other	Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve West Hill Dam (USACE)

State Parks

Parks	Alewife Brook Ames Nowell Ashland Bash Bish Falls Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Borderland Boston Harbor Islands Bradley Palmer C. M. Gardner Callahan Castle Island State Park Chicopee Memorial City Square Clarksburg Cochituate Connecticut River Greenway Demarest Lloyd Dighton Rock Dunn Ellisville Harbor Fall River Heritage Gardner Heritage Great Brook Farm Halibut Point Hampton Ponds Holyoke Heritage Hopkinton Lake Lorraine Lake Wyola Lawrence Heritage Lowell Heritage Lynn Heritage Massasoit Maudslay Moore Mount Holyoke Range Natural Bridge Nickerson Pearl Hill Pilgrim Quinsigamond Robinson Roxbury Heritage Rutland Skinner South Cape Beach Wahconah Falls Webb Memorial Wells Western Gateway Heritage Whitehall Wompatuck

Reservations	Beaver Brook Belle Isle Marsh Blue Hills Breakheart Charles River Chestnut Hill Cutler Dorchester Shores Elm Bank Fort Phoenix Hammond Pond Hemlock Gorge Horseneck Beach Jug End Lynn Shore Middlesex Fells Mount Everett Mount Greylock Mount Sugarloaf Mount Tom Myles Standish Mystic River Nahant Beach Nantasket Beach Nasketucket Bay Neponset River Pope John Paul II Purgatory Chasm Quincy Quarries Quincy Shore Revere Beach Rumney Marsh Salisbury Beach Sandy Point Scusset Beach Stony Brook Upper Charles River Wachusett Mountain Walden Pond West Island Weymouth Wilson Mountain

Other	Appalachian Trail Ashuwillticook Rail Trail Cape Cod Rail Trail Fort Revere Lake Dennison Recreation Area Lower Neponset River Trail Nashua River Rail Trail Norwottuck Rail Trail Quabbin Reservoir Southwest Corridor Park Squantum Point Park Streeter Point Recreation Area Sudbury Reservoir Wachusett Reservoir Ware River Watershed Area

State Forests

Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife Management Areas	Agawam Lake Agawam Mill Pond Ashby Ashfield Hawley Attitash Ayer Game Farm Baddacook Pond Bakers Pond Bay Circuit Trail Bearse Pond Becket Bennett Birch Hill Black Brook Blackstone / West River Bolton Flats Boxboro Station Brayton Point Salt Marsh Breakneck Brook Brewer Brook Bullock Ledge Burrage Pond Canoe River Catamount Chalet Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh Childs River Chockalog Swamp Church Homestead Clapps Pond Clinton Bluff Concord River Connecticut River Cook Pond Copicut Coy Hill Crane Pond Cummington Cusky Pond Dartmoor Farm Darwin Scott Memorial Day Mountain Deerfield River Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal Dolomite Ledges Dunstable Brook E. Kent Swift Eagle Island East Mountain Eastham Salt Marsh Elbow Meadow English Salt Marsh Eugene D. Moran Facing Rock Fairfield Brook Farmington River Fish Brook Fisherville Pond Fisk Forestdale Lot Fisk Meadows Five Mile River Flagg Swamp Flint Pond Four Chimneys Fox Den Fox Island Salt Marsh Frances A. Crane Freetown Swamp George L. Darey Housatonic Valley Glen Echo Lake Gosnold Grassy Pond (Dennis) Grassy Pond (Plymouth) Green River (Franklin County) Green River (Berkshire County) Greenfield River Halfway Pond Hamilton Hancock Harlow / Cooks Pond Haskell Swamp Hauk Swamp Hawksnest State Park Hawley Head Of The Plains Herman Covey High Ridge Hinsdale Flats Hiram H. Fox Hockomock Swamp Hog Pond Lot Honey Pot Hoosatonic River Hoosic River Hop Brook Housatonic River Hubbard Brook Hunting Hills Hyannis Ponds Ipswich River John J. Kelly Joint Base Cape Cod Jug End Fen Jug End Kampoosa Fen Katama Plains Knops Pond Konkapot River Lackey Pond Lake Lorraine Lake Rohunta Lake Snipatuit Lake Warner Lanesboro Lawrence Brook Lawrence Pond Lot Leadmine Leyden Lilly Pond Little Alum Pond Long Sought For Pond Maple Hill Maple Springs Martha Deering Martin H. Burns Mascuppic Lake Mashpee Pine Barrens Mashpee Pond Lot Mashpee River Mckinstry Brook Meetinghouse Swamp Merrill Pond Miacomet Heath Mill River Millers River Mine Brook Montague Plains Montague Moose Brook Moose Brook Moose Hill Mossy Pond Mount Watatic Reservation Mt. Esther Mt. Toby Highlands Mt. Toby Mt. Tom Muddy Brook Muddy Pond Mulpus Brook Nashua River Natty Brook Nemasket River Nissitissit River Noquochoke Nordeen Marsh North Brookfield North Shore Salt Marsh Northboro Oakham Olivers Pond Orange Otis Packard Pond Palmer Pantry Brook Pauchaug Brook Peru Peterson Swamp Phillipston Podunk Marsh Poland Brook Popple Camp Popponesset Beach Poutwater Pond Powell Brook Prince River Provincetown Route 6 Corridor Purchade Brook Quaboag Quacumquasit Quag Pond Bog Quashnet River Quashnet Woods State Reservation Quinapoxet River Quinsigamond Marsh Quisset Raccoon Hill Rainbow Beach Red Brook Richardson Robbins Pond Rochester Rocky Gutter Rowe Salisbury Salt Marsh Salisbury Salt Marsh Sandwich Game Farm Sandy Pond Satan's Kingdom Savage Hill Savoy Sawmill River Scorton Creek Coastal SE Mass Bioreserve Sevenmile River Shattuck Brook Sheperds Island Shubael Pond Sibley Brook Sly Pond South Barrier Beach South Meadow Pond South Shore Salt Marsh South Triangle Pond Southampton Southwick Spectacle Pond Springhill Lot Sputtermill Pond Squannacook River Stafford Hill Sudbury River Sunderland Islands Taconic Mountain Taunton River Taunton River Tekoa Mountain Thad Ellis Thayer Pond Three Mile Pond Townsend Townsend Hill Trapfall Brook Triangle Pond Tully Brook Tully Mountain Tully River Wakeby Pond Wales Walnut Hill Ware River Warwick Wendell West Meadows Westboro Westfield River Westfield Weymouth Back River Whately Great Swamp Whately Ponds Whately Wilbraham Game Farm William Forward Williams River Williamsburg Winimusset Wolf Swamp

Wildlife Sanctuaries	Billingsgate Island Carr Island E. Howe Forbush Egg Rock Grace A. Robson J.C. Phillips Knight Penikese Island Ram Island (Salisbury) Ram Island (Mattapoisett) Susan B. Minns Tarpaulin Cove Watatic Mountain

The Nature Conservancy

Black Pond Bog Boat Meadow Francis Newhall Woods Grassy Pond Greene Swamp Halfway Pond Island Hawley Bog Hockomock Swamp Hoft Farm Homer-Watcha Preserve Katama Plains McElwain-Olsen Miacomet Moors Reed Brook Drury Sandy Neck David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail Stacy Mountain Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuaries

Arcadia Broad Meadow Brook Broadmoor Daniel Webster Drumlin Farm High Ledges Ipswich River Moose Hill North River Pleasant Valley Stony Brook Wachussett Meadow Wellfleet Bay

Other

Concord Land Conservation Trust Harvard Forest Lincoln Land Conservation Trust Lloyd Center for the Environment Lynn Woods Reservation Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

Category
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Commons

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