Millstone River
2966784
212204562
2008-05-13T21:19:44Z
Jim.henderson
2255048
/* Delaware and Raritan Canal */ Link [[U.S. Route 1 in New Jersey]]
The '''Millstone River''' is a [[tributary]] of the [[Raritan River]] in central [[New Jersey]] in the [[United States]].
The Millstone River begins in western [[Monmouth County, New Jersey|Monmouth County]] and flows northward through southern [[Somerset County, New Jersey|Somerset County]] into the Raritan River at [[Manville, New Jersey|Manville]]. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by the [[Delaware and Raritan Canal]]. Both the Millstone River and parallel canal provide drinking water to portions of central New Jersey and provide recreational uses as well.
==Flooding==
The Millstone River basin has suffered a number of severe flooding events over the past 200 years. [[Hurricane Floyd]] in September 1999 produced a particularly severe flood in the basin, especially in the Lost Valley section of [[Manville, New Jersey|Manville]], which sits on a flood plain between the Millstone River and the [[Raritan River]].
Two Millstone River basin flood control and mitigation studies are currently underway by separate governmental bodies to determine if future flooding can be mitigated or controlled:
*[http://www.raritanbasin.org/NRCS_Millstone/MillstoneRiverReportNoFigures.pdf Millstone River Watershed Flood Damage and Mitigation Analysis Report] - USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
*[http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/business/prjlinks/flooding/stone/pdf/study.pdf Flood Control Feasibility Study for Manville, NJ] - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
== Water Supply ==
The Millstone River provides drinking water to 10,000s of households and businesses in Central New Jersey. A water intake pumping station is located where the Millstone River and Raritan River meet. The water is purified and distributed by the [http://www.illinoisamerican.com/awpr1/njaw/default.html New Jersey American Water].
==Commercial History==
In earliest colonial times as land routes began to supplant sea shipping, commerce between the emerging centers [[New York]] and [[Philadelphia]] was carried by [[stage coach]] along a direct route from [[South Amboy, New Jersey|South Amboy]] to [[Bordentown, New Jersey|Bordentown]]. Much later that route became a railroad. A series of New Jersey towns still extant sprouted up along the stage coach route, including South Amboy, [[Sayreville, New Jersey|Sayreville]], [[South River, New Jersey|South River]], [[Spotswood, New Jersey|Spotswood]], [[Helmetta, New Jersey|Helmetta]], [[Jamesburg, New Jersey|Jamesburg]], [[Cranbury Township, New Jersey|Cranbury]], [[Hightstown, New Jersey|Hightstown]], [[Windsor, New Jersey|Windsor]], [[Robbinsville, New Jersey|Robbinsville]], and Bordentown. In general, the stage coach took a bee-line route, straight as the crow flies, between the [[Raritan Bay]] at South Amboy and the [[Delaware River]] at Bordentown.
As the country grew and its economy began to thrive, large buoyant [[barge]]s supported by water on canals emerged as much more suitable for heavy shipping. Unlike the stage coaches, however, routes for canals were obliged to follow the most level land — riverbeds. Hence the importance of the Millstone River which provides a north-south waterway through New Jersey connecting the two great cities of Philadelphia and New York.
The Millstone River is an important tributary of the Raritan River. The Raritan River empties into the Raritan Bay, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The Raritan Bay is contiguous to New York Harbor and separates the New York City Borough of [[Staten Island]] (Richmond County) from Central New Jersey along with the [[Arthur Kill]] a more narrow channel of water between Staten Island and New Jersey.
As the Raritan River flows eastward towards Raritan Bay, it joins the Millstone River flowing north in the vicinity of [[Bound Brook, New Jersey]]. The Millstone River traces an arc through several New Jersey Counties, originating in [[Monmouth County, New Jersey|Monmouth County]] and flowing more-or-less west through [[Mercer County, New Jersey|Mercer County]], then northwest through [[Somerset County, New Jersey|Somerset County]], then northward towards Bound Brook.
The uniqueness of the Millstone River is highlighted by the following geographical fact: There are no natural waterways that approach the Delaware river basin south of the Millstone River which flow from a northerly direction. This is evidenced by the bend taken by the Delaware river at [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] and Bordentown. At Trenton, the [[Crosswicks Creek]] flows westward into the Delaware River from New Jersey. There are several other creeks which, similarly, flow westward from New Jersey into the Delaware River farther south of Trenton.
== Delaware and Raritan Canal ==
The [[Delaware and Raritan Canal]] runs along east side of the Millstone River for much of its length, from [[Lake Carnegie (New Jersey)|Lake Carnegie]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey]] to the location where the Millstone River empties into the [[Raritan River]] in [[Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey]]. There the canal continues along the right (south) bank of the Raritan. The land between [[canal]] and river is a [[flood plain]] that generally consists of [[swamps]], wooded areas and some farmland. A number of [[spillway|spillways]] allow water to run off from the canal into the Millstone River during periods of heavy water flow.
In [[Lawrenceville, New Jersey]], at a site known as Bakers Basin today located along [[U.S. Route 1 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 1]], the canal makes the few mile remaining connection into Trenton, the state capital, and then to the Delaware River.
Hence the Millstone and Raritan Rivers enabled the major shipping route between New York and Philadelphia in the early 19th century. From New York, of course, goods could be shipped north along the [[Hudson River]] and [[Erie Canal]] to upstate New York, and thence to [[Western Pennsylvania]], [[Ohio]], and other [[Great Lakes]] States upstream of [[Niagara Falls]].
==Tributaries==
*[[Beden Brook]]
*Big Bear Brook
*Cranbury Brook
*Devils Brook
*Harry's Brook
*Heathcote Brook
*Indian Run Brook
*Little Bear Brook
*Millstone Brook
*Peace Brook
*[[Rocky Brook]]
*[[Royce Brook River]]
*Simonson Brook
*Six Mile Run
*[[Stony Brook (Millstone River)|Stony Brook]]
*Ten Mile Run
*Van Horn Brook
==See also==
*[[List of New Jersey rivers]]
*[[Kingston, New Jersey]]
*[[Millstone River Photonickers]]
==External links==
*[http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/current/?type=flow U.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stations]
[[Category:Monmouth County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Mercer County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Middlesex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Somerset County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Rivers of New Jersey]]
[[de:Millstone River]]