Stony Brook is a stream largely running through

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, then forming the Weston/ Waltham boundary, and emptying into the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

across from the Waltham/ Newton boundary. It has two tributaries, Cherry Brook and Hobbs Brook, and its watershed includes about half of Lincoln and Weston as well as parts of Lexington and Waltham. Since 1887, it has been the

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, along with the Hobbs Brook Reservoir.

History

As early as 1662, water flowing into the Charles River helped spark business enterprise. Various

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

s have been erected at the mouth of Stony Brook. A corn mill was built in January of 1679-80. A paper mill was built in about 1780 that was later purchased by the Boston Manufacturing Company in 1798 and converted into a cotton mill. In about 1802, another mill was built on Stony Brook to manufacture wrapping paper In the late 19th century,

Eben Norton Horsford Eben Norton Horsford (27 July 1818 – 1 January 1893) was an American scientist who taught agricultural chemistry in the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard from 1847 to 1863. Later he was known for his reformulation of baking powder, his int ...

identified the mouth of Stony Brook as the location of a supposed Norse city,

Norumbega Norumbega, or Nurembega, is a legendary settlement in northeastern North America which was featured on many early maps from the 16th century until European colonization of the region. It was alleged that the houses had pillars of gold and the inh ...

, and commissioned the

Norumbega Tower The Norumbega Tower is a stone tower erected by Eben Norton Horsford in 1889 to mark the supposed location of Fort Norumbega, a legendary Norse fort and city. It is located in Weston, Massachusetts at the confluence of Stony Brook and the C ...

, which carries a long inscription describing the supposed city. There are three large ponds, all artificial, in the Stony Brook watershed: the Cambridge Reservoir (Hobbs Pond), the Stony Brook Reservoir (Turtle Pond), and Flint's Pond (also known as Sandy Pond). In 1887, on the site of Turtle Pond, the city of Cambridge completed construction of the Stony Brook Reservoir Dam, where Stony Brook joins the Charles, as part of its water supply. Stony Brook Reservoir has a drainage area of and an available storage capacity of (1087 acre-feet). In 1910, Hobbs Pond was dammed to become the Cambridge Reservoir. Its drainage area is and its storage capacity is (7178 acre-feet).Division of Sanitary Engineering, "Advice to Cities, Towns and Others relative to Water supply, Drainage and Sewerage", in State Department of Health of Massachusetts, "Second Annual Report", Public Document No. 34 (1917
p. 384
/ref> Flint's Pond (also known as Sandy Pond) was dammed to become the reservoir for the town of Lincoln; the DeCordova Museum is on its southeast bank.

External links

Map of Stony Brook watershed

References

{{authority control Reservoirs in Massachusetts Rivers of Middlesex County, Massachusetts Weston, Massachusetts Lakes of Middlesex County, Massachusetts

History

External links

See also

References