History

Historical Societies

Historical Uses of Land and Water Resources in the Mill River Watershed

As the last continental glaciers retreated (~12,000 years before present), the first Paleo-Indians invaded southern New England. Camping along the shores of Glacial Lake Hitchcock and hunting game like caribou and woolly mammoth in the young spruce forests, populations of these hunters and gatherers began to thrive. As the climate warmed, individual groups established distinct tribes. In this watershed, the Pocumtucks, part of the Algonquin nation, claimed the land. Annually they burned the lowland portion of the Mill River watershed, reducing the forest underbrush, which provided better habitat for game and kept the rich floodplain soils cleared for farming. But beyond these changes, their impacts on the land were relatively minor. In contrast, within two centuries of their arrival, European colonists had cleared 75-90% of the forest, the beaver population had been extirpated, and nearly three dozen dams had been constructed on the Mill River and its tributaries.

European settlement began in the late 1600's. The first town to be incorporated was Hatfield (inc. 1670). Its establishment came just five years before the King Phillips War and the famous massacre of colonists by Native Americans in Deerfield (then known as Pocumtuck) that gave Bloody Brook its name. In 1704, the year of another famous raid in Deerfield, the town of Deerfield was incorporated. Nearly 70 yearly later, the northern part of Hatfield split off and became Whately, and a handful of villagers from the southern end of moved west and established the town of Conway (est. 1767).

The settlement patterns and past and present land use in large part reflect the region's topography. For several centuries, the fertile lowlands on the eastern portion of the watershed were farmed by Native Americans (this rich agricultural land was the source for much of the warfare between tribes, and later between Native Americans and the colonists). Colonists and Native Amerians continued to burn the forests and agricultural fields annually. But this burning was so effective that as early as 1671 timber was at a premium in Hatfield. So much so, that Hatfield's settlers prohibited the sale of any Hatfield timber to outside towns.

Meanwhile, these early settlers, like the Native Americans before them, recognized the tremendous fertility of the floodplain soils. They planted corn, wheat, oats, flax, squash, onions, broomcorn and potatoes. By the end of the Civil War, nearly every farmer in Hatfield and Whately also grew tobacco. And although many of today's farmers now grow a variety of vegetables, tobacco remains the most valuable row crop in the watershed. Mill River Farms

In contrast to the flat, fertile agricultural lowlands, the western portion of the watershed is rugged and largely forested. Although much of the area was cleared by the early 1800's for pasture and agriculture, during the latter part of that century, many of the farms were abandoned. Precipitating this was the collapse in the wool market, the opening of the western plains, and pull of factory jobs in the cities. By the end of WWI, most of the hilltown farms were gone; today cellar holes and stonewalls stand silent testimony to this earlier time.

The Mills of the Mill River

Many of the Mill River's tributary streams, especially those in the western portion of the watershed, have small waterfalls. Historically known as "privileges", these waterfalls were a measure of a stream's industrial importance and the most powerful privileges were given to those men responsible for constructing the watershed's first grist and sawmills. In general, the operation of these privileges was tax-free and included ownership of a substantial tract of nearby land. Each privilege owner was obligated to respect the rights of other owners, and no single industry was allowed to alter the path of the stream in such a way that it reduced the flows to those downstream.

The most essential mill industry for the establishment of a town was a gristmill, which grinds grains (primarily corn) into meal for livestock feed and flour. Of secondary importance was the sawmil, where timber was cut into planks for houses, fences or furniture. Other important mills were:

Fulling mills: These cleaned the woolen cloth worn by early settlers by removing excess grease and oils and by shrinking the fibers.

Ironworks: These mills smelted the iron ore and steel that was used by local blacksmiths to manufacture tools, screws, nails, etc.

Woolen Mills/Carding Mills: These shops processed raw wool into woolen yarn, first by straightening and untangling the woolen fibers (also known as carding) and then by twisting the wool into threads. Many of these mills also had looms to create cloth.

Blacksmith Shops: Large amounts of water power was key for those blacksmiths who operated heavy, mechanical sledge hammers to make axes, knives and other building hardware.

"General jobbing" mills: These outfits made machine parts and a wide variety of other articles for trade, such as cider mill machinery, cheese presses, coffins, broom handles, basket rims, etc.

In addition, waterpower in the Mill River Watershed fueled distilleries for making alcohol, cider mills, pottery mills (clay was ground into a finer consistency and the water spun the potter's wheels), bark mills and tanneries (where hemlock bark was ground and then used to soften and color leathers), cornhusk mills (where husks were chopped and ground for mattress stuffing), and linseed oil mills (which ground flax seed to make linseed oil for use in paint and stain manufacturing).

All told, at least 34 mills were located along the waterways in the Mill River. The earliest known mill in the watershed was built on the mainstem in 1689, not far from the Conway/Deerfield border. As more settlers arrived, the number of mills quickly increased. Bloody Brook [link to Bloody Brook], given its gentle gradient, had only a single mill-a tannery, which was constructed in its northern portion. Running Gutter Brook [link to Running Gutter Brook] in Hatfield had just two dams, one of which provided power for the first linseed mill in Massachusetts. By far the best streams in the watershed for waterpower were Roaring Brook, which supported six mills, and West Brook, which was considered one of the most powerful streams for its size and length in Massachusetts. At least sixteen good privileges, each with an average 17-foot drop, occur on West Brook. During the 18th and 19th centuries, at least 19 dams powered nearly every type of mill (gristmill, sawmill, etc.) along this tributary stream.

During that time, rainstorms destroyed many of the dams. But most of them were rebuilt-either immediately or many years later. The final demise for the West Brook and Roaring Brook mills came in the early 1900's when the towns of Deerfield and Northampton received permission to construct larger dams for public drinking water supplies. South Deerfield's public drinking water supply reservoirs are located on Roaring Brook in Whately, Northampton's on West Brook. When the City of Northampton constructed a 25-million gallon reservoir on West Brook in 1901, the flow of water in the brook decreased so significantly that the remaining water-operated mills were forced out of business. In 1969, Northampton built a 750-million gallon reservoir above the old reservoir and today, during dry conditions, all the water in West Brook below the reservoirs is from ground water and other smaller tributaries.

In addition to the five drinking water dams, two other dams still stand in the watershed: the Advocate Dam in Hatfield is located on the mainstem and the Fitzgerald Lake Dam in Northampton is located on a tributary to Running Gutter Brook. The Advocate Dam no longer functions to provide water power; the Fitzgerald Lake Dam was constructed during the 1960's for recreational purposes.

The construction of these dams over the course of the last 300 years has caused changes, a few of which have had obvious negative consequences either by reducing water quantity or because of pollution released by the mills. Although few of these dams remain and none of the mills are active, some of these historic diversions continue to affect the ecosystem, such as preventing fish passage and trapping sediments.