Muddy River (Massachusetts)

Muddy River Muddy Brook
The Muddy River during spring in Olmsted Park
Data
Water code	US :  617431
location	United States
River system	Charles River
Drain over	Charles River  → Atlantic
source	Jamaica Pond 42 ° 19 ′ 20 ″  N , 71 ° 7 ′ 6 ″  W.
muzzle	Charles River Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '5 "  N , 71 ° 5' 33"  W 42 ° 21 '5 "  N , 71 ° 5' 33"  W.
length	approx 6.4 km
Flowing lakes	Wards Pond, Leverett Pond
Big cities	Boston

The Muddy River is an artificially created river and actually consists of a series of interconnected streams and ponds in parts of the Emerald Necklace in Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . In its course it also grazes the southern end of Brookline , which was named Muddy River Hamlet until it was incorporated in 1705 . The river, which is managed as such despite its small size, forms with the adjacent parks and parkways a protected recreation area with many hiking trails managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation .

geography

course

The Muddy River rises in the Jamaica Pond in Boston and follows an artificial river bed, largely determined by Frederick Law Olmsted , which winds with a few turns through a large part of the Emerald Necklace from Jamaica Pond via Olmsted Park along the Riverway and Fenway through Back Bay Fens meanders to its confluence with the Charles River .

Tributaries

Due to its short length and the artificial course, there are no tributaries.

Localities

The river rises in and runs completely through Boston.

history

When Boston was settled in the early 17th century, the Shawmut Peninsula on which the city was built was connected to Roxbury by a thin, sandy stretch of land called the Boston Neck . The marshland to the west was a mudflat area of the Charles River . The area began to smell increasingly bad over time, as the sewage from the growing settlement was led into it.

To serve the dual purpose of eliminating health and aesthetic problems from the contaminated water and reclaiming new and valuable land for Boston real estate, a series of land reclamation projects were initiated in 1820 and continued for the remainder of the century. The filling in of what is now Back Bay was finished in 1882, Kenmore Square was reached in 1890 and the construction of the Back Bay Fens was completed in 1900. These projects have more than doubled the size of the peninsula.

For Olmsted it was a great challenge to restore the marshland in such a way that it could become an ecologically healthy place and that could also be used as a recreational area. These combined Olmsted his talents as a landscape architect with the plumbing equipment to the then state of the art "scene of a winding, slightly salty Bach with wooded banks, the interest with and turned a putrid smelly tidal creek and marsh a meandering wakes course of the water." - today's Muddy River was created.

environment

The river is currently being extensively restored by the Muddy River Restoration Project , primarily to improve control over floods and water quality. The work will also significantly support the parks of the Emerald Necklace and the river's ecosystem , restore landscape features and historical resources, and implement improved management methods. The project aims in particular to contain the devastating floods that have been caused by the Muddy River and make them more manageable.

Sights and buildings

Many sights of the Emerald Necklace can be seen along the river , but the surrounding facilities and buildings of the city of Boston (such as the Longwood Medical and Academic Area ) and Commonwealth Avenue are also worth a look.

literature

• Robert F. Breault; Peter K. Weiskel; Timothy D. McCobb et al .: Channel morphology and streambed-sediment quality in the Muddy River, Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, October, 1997 . In: Water-resources investigations report . tape 98 , no. 4027 . The Survey, Marlborough, Reston 1998, OCLC 39064457 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Back Bay Fens. In: The Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011 ; accessed on December 5, 2011 . 
2. ^ Website of the Muddy River Restoration project

Web links

Commons : Muddy River  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Emerald Necklace Conservancy page about the history of the Riverway