Canoe River

The Canoe River is a river in southeastern Massachusetts. It is 16 miles long, and a tributary of the Taunton River.

The Canoe River arises from headwaters near Lake Massapoag in Sharon, and meanders generally southwards through the towns of Sharon, Foxborough, Mansfield, and Easton to empty into Winnecunnet Pond in Norton. The pond is in turn drained by the Mill River which joins the Taunton River and ultimately empties into Narragansett Bay.

The river provides drinking water for about 50,000 people in the region who receive their water from its aquifer. It has been designated a a Sole Source Aquifer and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

History

The river has a number of earlier names. The section near the headwaters in Sharon were once called Massapoag Brook, and the section in that town alone powered six industrial mills in the nineteenth century. (Diana Muir, Reflections in Bullough's Pond, 2000, p. 167, ff.)

References

* [http://home.comcast.net/~nrtma/html/committee.html Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee]
* [http://www.mass.gov/agr/waterwellbeing/canoe_river_facts.htm Massachusetts Canoe River Facts]