Willimantic River

The Willimantic River is a tributary of the Shetucket River, approximately 25 miles (40 km) long in northeastern Connecticut in the New England region of the United States.

Willimantic River
The Willimantic River flows past the old American Thread Company mill in Willimantic.
Location
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Counties	Tolland, Windham, New London
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of Middle River and Furnace Brook
• location	Stafford Springs, Tolland County, Connecticut, United States
• coordinates	41°57′09″N 72°18′07″W[1]
Mouth	Confluence with Natchaug River to form Shetucket River
• location	Willimantic, Windham County, Connecticut, United States
• coordinates	41°42′46″N 72°11′30″W[2]
Length	25 mi (40 km)
Basin size	225 sq mi (580 km2)
Discharge
• location	Coventry, CT
• average	216 cu ft/s (6.1 m3/s)Average, 1931-2005
• minimum	97.9 cu ft/s (2.77 m3/s)Annual mean, 1965
• maximum	370 cu ft/s (10 m3/s)Annual mean, 1938

It is formed in northern Tolland County, near Stafford Springs by the confluence of Middle River and Furnace Brook. It flows south to the city of Willimantic, where it joins the Natchaug River to form the Shetucket. It is joined by the Hop River on the Coventry, Columbia, and Windham town border.^[3] The river is also designated as a National Recreation Trail.^[4]

Name

The word Willimantic is of Algonquian origin, either Mohegan-Pequot or Narragansett. It is commonly translated as "land of the swift running water", but the word more likely originally meant "place near the evergreen swamp".^[5] The word was first attested in English writing as Waramanticut in 1684,^[6] and later as Wallamanticuk, Wewemantic and Weammantuck before being standardized as Willimantic.^[7]

Geography

Shortly upstream from its confluence with the Natchaug, the Willimantic experiences a drop of ninety feet in one mile. The river powered textile mills from Stafford Springs to Willimantic, including the American Thread Company mill. None of these mills are operating as of 2007, having all been destroyed or converted to other uses such as apartment space.^[8]

A popular long paddling route begins south of Stafford Springs along Route 32 where the river is mostly quickwater all of the way to the flatwater of Eagleville Pond. The remainder is fairly easy going to the take-out at Route 66. Beware of the dam at the Route 275 bridge. Other access points may be at the N. River Road bridge, the Route 74 bridge, the Depot Rd bridge, the Route 195 bridge, the Jones Crossing bridge, the Merrow Road bridge, the U.S. Route 44 bridge, Brigham bridge, near the Route 275 dam, the Depot Rd bridge, the Route 31 bridge, and the Flanders Rd bridge.^[8]

Crossings

County	Town	Carrying
Windham	Windham	Closed Bridge (Connected to ATC Mill 04.)
		The Garden Bridge (Former Jillson Bridge)
		South St. (Frog Bridge)
		New England Central Railroad Providence and Worcester Railroad
		Willimantic Footbridge
		Route 32
Windham/Tolland	Windham/Columbia	Air Line State Park Trail
		Route 66
	Windham/Coventry	US 6 (Willimantic Bypass)
Tolland	Mansfield/Coventry	Flanders Rd.
		Route 31
		New England Central Railroad
		Depot Rd.
		New England Central Railroad
		Route 275
		Plains Rd.
		Merrow Rd.
	Mansfield/Tolland	Route 195
	Willington/ Tolland	New England Central Railroad
		S. River Rd./Depot Rd.
		Route 74
		I-84
		New England Central Railroad
		Route 32
	Ellington/Willington	New England Central Railroad
	Stafford	Private Dr.

See also

• Connecticut portal

• List of Connecticut rivers

References

1. Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (September 12, 1979). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Willimantic River". Retrieved 2007-06-04.
2. Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (September 12, 1979). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Natchaug River". Retrieved 2007-06-04.
3. "Meet the Willimantic River Watershed". www.willimanticriver.org. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
4. "Willimantic River Water Trail". NRT Database. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
5. Eves, Jamie H.; Eves, Katherine L. S. "Swift Waters or Cedar Swamp? Native American Placenames in Connecticut and the Meaning of "Willimantic"". Windham Textile and History Museum. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
6. Trumbull, J. Hammond (1859). The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, May, 1678 - June, 1689. Case, Lockwood & Co. p. 202. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
7. Douglas-Lithgow, Robert Alexander (1909). Dictionary of American-Indian place and proper names in New England: with many interpretations, etc. Salem Press. p. 296. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
8. "Meet the Willimantic River". www.willimanticriver.org. Retrieved 2017-03-04.

External links

• Meet the Willimantic River
• Connecticut Explorer's Guide Online paddling map of the Willimantic River.