A quiet afternoon on the Mystic River, as seen from very close to Grandfather's House, Medford, Massachusetts

Mystic River and environs

The Mystic River is the name of a short river in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river", and it lies to the north of and flows approximately parallel to the Charles River. Mystic River can refer to in Literature: Mystic River (novel) – the original novel in Film: Mystic River (film) – movie based on the novel in Places: Mystic River – river in eastern Massachusetts Mystic River (Connecticut) -- river in southeastern Connecticut Category: ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 1009 KB) View of the Mystic River, taken right across the street from Grandfathers House, Medford, Massachusetts. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 1009 KB) View of the Mystic River, taken right across the street from Grandfathers House, Medford, Massachusetts. ... Grandfathers House, beside the Mystic River in Medford, Massachusetts. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1630 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Michael J. McGlynn Area  - City  8. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 364 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1700 × 2800 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 364 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1700 × 2800 pixel, file size: 2. ... This article is about U.S. States that designate themselves as Commonwealths. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The Wampanoag (Wôpanâak in the Wampanoag language) are a Native American people. ... The Charles River from the Boston side, facing Cambridge and the main campus of Harvard University. ...

Mystic River has a long history of industrial use and a continuing water quality problem. Encompassing 76 square miles (197 km²) of watershed, the river flows from the Lower Mystic Lake, and travels through the Boston, Massachusetts 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 (1.2 km²). Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water, characterized through the methods of hydrometry. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (blue outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (green lines) of a contiguous area. ... The Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes The Mystic Lakes, consisting of the Upper Mystic Lake and the Lower Mystic Lake, are closely-linked bodies of water in the northwestern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. ... Boston redirects here. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1635 Incorporated 1807 Government  - Type Representative town meeting  - Town Manager Brian Sullivan  - Board of    Selectmen Kevin F. Greeley Annie LaCourt Diane Mahon Clarissa Rowe John W. Hurd Area  - Town  5. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1630 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Michael J. McGlynn Area  - City  8. ... Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1630 Incorporated 1842 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone Area  - Total 4. ... Nickname: Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1630 Incorporated 1870 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Jr. ... Birdseye view of Boston, Charlestown, and Bunker Hill between 1890 and 1910. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: Country United States State Massachusetts County Suffolk County Settled 1624 Incorporated 1739 Government  - Type Council-manager city  - City Manager Jay Ash Area  - City  2. ... East Boston was annexed by the City of Boston in 1636 and is separated from the rest of the city by Boston Harbor and bordered by Winthrop, Revere, and the Chelsea Creek. ... The Charles River from the Boston side, facing Cambridge and the main campus of Harvard University. ... Categories: Stub | Massachusetts geography | Boston ... A cliff in the Fells. ...

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, 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. Binomial name (Wilson, 1811) The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of small shad. ... The Blessing of the Bay was the second seaworthy vessel built in what is now the United States, preceded only by the Virginia, a thirty-ton pinnace built by the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River, Maine, in 1607. ...

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 the largest supply of gunpowder in Massachusetts was kept, and after sunrise they removed all the gunpowder. In 1775, the British attacked via the river's beach for the Battle of Bunker Hill. John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For a list of numerous places and things that are named after this battle, see Bunker Hill. ...

In 1805 the Middlesex Canal linked the Mystic 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. In 1882, John Townsend Trowbridge's popular novel The Tinkham Brother's Tide-Mill took place along the river when saltwater still reached the Mystic Lakes, but by 1865 overfishing and pollution all but eliminated commercial fishing. The Middlesex Canal was built in the late 18th century to connect the Merrimack River with the port of Boston. ... Merrimack River watershed The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a -long river in the Northeastern United States. ... John Townsend Trowbridge circa 1904. ...

Nonetheless, extensive salt marsh still lined the banks of the Mystic until 1909, when the first dam was built across the river (Craddock Locks), converting salt marsh to freshwater marsh and enabling development. Today's dam was built in 1966 and named for Amelia Earhart, with three locks to allow passage of boats, and pumps to push fresh water out to the harbor even during high tide. Dam operators leave the locks open at times in an effort to allow passage of fish, most notably the native Alewife. There is a fish ladder but it has never functioned. The dam is closed to the public. The Maurice J. Tobin Bridge also spans the Mystic River, joining Charlestown and Chelsea. This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... This article is about structures for water impoundment. ... Amelia Mary Earhart (24 July 1897 – missing 2 July 1937, declared dead 5 January 1939) was a noted American aviation pioneer, author and womens rights advocate. ... Binomial name (Wilson, 1811) The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of small shad. ... Pool-and-weir fish ladder at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River Fishways, most commonly referred to as fish ladders but also known as fish passes, are structures placed on or around man-made barriers (such as dams and weirs) to assist the natural migration of diadromous fishes. ... Bostons North End and the Tobin Bridge The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge, operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority, carries U.S. Highway 1 over the Mystic River in Massachusetts between 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 the adjoining cities. 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. This can be attributed to the pollution and dams. Pollution has raised bacteria levels and turbidity, making it unfavorable for fish to live in. Dams have restricted the access of anadromous fish. Many types of fish undertake migrations on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annual, and with distances ranging from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. ...

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 Woods." (Grandfather's House, restored by Tufts University in 1976, still stands near the river on South Street in Medford.) Lydia Maria Child (February 11, 1802, Medford - July 7, 1880, Wayland) was an American abolitionist, novelist, and journalist. ... The song, written by Lydia Maria Child in 1844, celebrates her childhood memories of visiting her Grandfathers House at the Christmas holiday. ... Grandfathers House, beside the Mystic River in Medford, Massachusetts. ... Tufts redirects here. ...

The river gave its name to the well-known Dennis Lehane novel and the 2004 Academy Award winning Clint Eastwood film Mystic River. Dennis Lehane (born 1966) is an American author. ... Mystic River is a novel by Dennis Lehane that was published in 2001. ... 76th Academy Awards Sunday, February 29, 2004 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California Hosts Preshow: Billy Bush, Chris Connelly & Maria Menounos Show: Billy Crystal Crew Producer: Joe Roth Supervising Producer: Michael Seligman Director: Lou Horvitz Duration 3 hours, 40 minutes Network ABC The big contenders for the 76th Academy... For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation). ... Mystic River is an American film released in 2003, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. ...

In the poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere is riding along the banks of the Mystic River. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet whose works include Paul Reveres Ride, A Psalm of Life, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy and was one of the five members... This Paul Revere Statue in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, was made by Cyrus Dallin and unveiled on September 22, 1940. ...

References

• History of the Mystic. About the Mystic River Watershed. Retrieved on March 12, 2005.

• Paul Revere's Ride. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poem. Retrieved on January 03, 2008.

External links

• Mystic River Watershed association
• Water quality data