Seven Mile River (East Brookfield River)
Information
The Seven Mile River drains Spencer and surrounding communities. Modern mapping shows it to be nearly ten miles long. Its mouth is at an elevation of about 600 feet (180 m) above sea level, and its head is at about 745 feet (227 m). This 145-foot (44 m) fall was once used to provide waterpower for industry. There exists the remnants of several dams, two of which were taken out during a flood in the 1950s and never repaired. They remain as evidence of a forgone era when Spencer was a major manufacturing center. In addition to small local brooks and streams, the Seven Mile River is fed from Turkey Hill Brook north of town and Cranberry River to the south. This river is part of the Chicopee River Watershed.
The seven mile name starts from the length of the river, the bridge is not really 7 miles.
History
In the 1800s, the Seven Mile River furnished waterpower to industry in Spencer. There were many factories along this river. Now a sewage treatment plant stands alone. At the head of Turkey Hill Brook, a major tributary to the Seven Mile River is Sugden Reservoir. The reservoir was part of Spencer's wire drawing industry and fed the Lower Wire Village Mill, which made card wire. This mill originally belonged to the Prouty Brothers. When sold to Richard Sugden, he improved it by building the Sugden Reservoir on the top of Turkey Hill. The new company's name became Wickwire-Spencer. It remained until after World War II.
See also
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sevenmile River
- Fiske, Jeffrey H. History of Spencer, Massachusetts, 1875-1975. Spencer Historical Commission, Spencer, MA. 1990.
- Seven Mile River head, factories
- Stream flow data