Pequabuck River

Pequabuck River
Pequabuck River
	Early 20th-century postcard portraying the Pequabuck River in Forestville, Connecticut
Location
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Counties	Litchfield County, Hartford County
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Harwinton, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States
Mouth	Confluence with Farmington River
• location	Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States
Length	19 mi (31 km)
Basin size	58.4 sq mi (151 km2)
Discharge
• location	Farmington, Connecticut
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	Poland River

The Pequabuck River is a river, approximately 19 miles (30.6 km) in length, which rises in Litchfield County, Connecticut, and courses through neighboring Hartford County before emptying into the Farmington River in Farmington. The river has played a crucial role in the development of Plainville, Connecticut, in particular.^[1] The river's lower drainage basin consists of industrial and urban areas, and effluents from these areas pollute the river's waters.^[2] The Pequabuck drove a water wheel that provided 8 horsepower to the Upper Lock Shop in Plymouth, Connecticut, a facility which would eventually become the Lewis Lock Company in 1851 and, finally, the once-renowned Eagle Lock Company.^[3]^: 55 The river banks were historically the site of one of United States' first malleable iron-producing units, known as Malleable Iron Works (later Andrew Terry and Company).^[3]^: 88^[4]

Etymology

The name Pequabuck was derived from an indigenous Algonquin phrase meaning "clear pond" or "open pond". It is believed that this term originally referred to a pond or wetland at the headwaters of the Pequabuck River.^[5]

References

^ Lynda J. Russell (11 April 2007). Plainville. Arcadia Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7385-4959-0. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
^ Geological Survey (U.S.) (1993). National water summary. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey. p. 209. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b Judy Giguere (12 September 2011). Plymouth Revisited. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-7591-9. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
^ Lani B. Johnson (6 January 1996). Plymouth Connecticut. Arcadia Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7385-6410-4. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
^ John Trumbull (1881). Indian Names of Places, Etc., in and on the Borders of Connecticut: With Interpretations of Some of Them. Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company. p. 47. Retrieved 21 January 2016. pequabuck.