HOME





Alewife Brook Reservation
Alewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park and urban wild located in Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The park is managed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and was established in 1900. It is named for Alewife Brook, which was also historically known as Menotomy River (the village of Menotomy is now Arlington), a tributary of the Mystic River. Description A large proportion of the park is wetland, including the Little River, though there is also a wooded upland and meadow area. The reservation serves as a habitat for numerous indigenous and migratory birds. Common species include osprey, great blue heron and the woodcock, whose unusual mating ritual may sometimes be observed by visitors. Additionally, the park's ponds (Little Pond, Perch Pond, and Blair Pond) provide spring spawning grounds for anadromous herring, which migrate from the Atlantic Ocean via the Mystic River and Alewife Brook, a tributary which, in turn, drains the Little Ri ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the most populous city in the county, the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, fourth-largest in Massachusetts behind Boston, Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, and Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield, and List of cities in New England by population, ninth-most populous in New England. The city was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, which was an important center of the Puritans, Puritan theology that was embraced by the town's founders. Harvard University, an Ivy League university founded in Cambridge in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lesley University, and Hult Inte ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fish Migration
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousands of kilometres. Such migrations are usually done for better feeding or to reproduce, but in other cases the reasons are unclear. Fish migrations involve movements of schools of fish on a scale and duration larger than those arising during normal daily activities. Some particular types of migration are ''anadromous'', in which adult fish live in the sea and migrate into fresh water to spawn; and ''catadromous'', in which adult fish live in fresh water and migrate into salt water to spawn. Marine forage fish often make large migrations between their spawning, feeding and nursery grounds. Their movements are associated with ocean currents and with the availability of food in different areas at different times of the year. The migratory ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Weir
A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. There are many weir designs, but commonly water flows freely over the top of the weir crest before cascading down to a lower level. There is no single definition as to what constitutes a weir. ''Weir'' can also refer to the skimmer found in most in-ground swimming pools, which controls the flow of water pulled into the filtering system. Etymology The word likely originated from Middle English ''were'', Old English ''wer'', a derivative of the root of the verb ''werian,'' meaning "to defend, dam". The German cognate is ''Wehr'', which means the same as English weir. Function Commonly, weirs are used to prevent flooding, measure water discharge, and help render rivers more Navigability, navigable by boat. In ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Alewife (fish)
The alewife (''Alosa pseudoharengus''; : alewives) is an anadromous species of herring found in North America. It is one of the "typical" North American shads, attributed to the subgenus ''Pomolobus'' of the genus ''Alosa''. As an adult it is a marine species found in the northern West Atlantic Ocean, moving into estuaries before swimming upstream to breed in freshwater habitats, but some populations live entirely in fresh water. It is best known for its invasion of the Great Lakes by using the Welland Canal to bypass Niagara Falls. Here, its population surged, peaking between the 1950s and 1980s to the detriment of many native species of fish. In an effort to control it biologically, Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon were introduced, only partially successfully. As a marine fish, the alewife is a US National Marine Fisheries Service "Species of Concern". Description Alewife reach a maximum standard length (SL) of about , but have a typical SL of about . The front of the body is de ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Tidal Wetland
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (service), a music streaming service * '' Tidal: Occupy Theory, Occupy Strategy'', a magazine associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement See also * Tidal flow (traffic), the flow of traffic thought of as an analogy with the flow of tides * Tidal force, a secondary effect of the force of gravity and is responsible for the tides * Tidal power, energy harnessed by converting energy from tides * Tide (other) A tide is the rise and fall of a sea level caused by the Moon's gravity and other factors. Tide(s) may also refer to: Media * The Tide (Nigeria), ''The Tide'' (Nigeria), a newspaper *Tide (TV series), ''Tide'' (TV series), 2019 Irish/Welsh/Scott ...
{{disambiguation ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Spy Pond
Spy Pond, also known as Spie Pond in the 17th and 18th centuries, is a kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, United States, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway. History Geological history Fifty thousand years ago, the area of Arlington where Spy Pond now sits was covered a mile deep in ice by the Wisconsin Glacier. Fifteen thousand years ago, the ice began to Holocene glacial retreat, recede, leaving depressions or "Kettle (geology), kettle holes" in its wake. Initially filled with water from the receding glacier itself and then by natural runoff, the kettle holes eventually formed small lakes and ponds throughout the area. Spy Pond is now fed by a combination of groundwater and surface runoff from the surrounding area. Spy Pond currently has an average depth of 12 feet (3.7 m) and a maximum depth of 36 feet (11 m). The pond has a two-acre (0.8 ha) island, Elizabeth Island, which was privately owned (but undeveloped) until 2010, when Arlington Land ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fresh Pond (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world.Weightman, Gavin, ''The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story'', New York, Hyperion, 2003. Fresh Pond is bordered by Fresh Pond Parkway, Huron Avenue, Grove Street, Blanchard Road, and Concord Avenue. The neighborhoods surrounding it are Cambridge Highlands to the north, West Cambridge to the east, and Strawberry Hill to the south. The town of Belmont lies to the west. Fresh Pond Reservation consists of a 155-acre (627,000 m²) kettle hole lake, and 162 acres (656,000 m²) of surrounding land, with a 2.25 mile (3.6 km) perimeter road popular with walkers, runners and cyclists, and a nine-hole golf course. Part of the Watertown–Cambridge Greenway, a rail trail on the alignment of the forme ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northern Massachusetts, United States, in the 1840s. Winter weekend service includes a specially equipped seasonal "ski train" to Wachusett Mountain. At long, the Fitchburg Line is the third-longest line in the system (and was the longest until the Providence/Stoughton Line's 2010 extension to T. F. Green Airport and later to Wickford Junction), and ranked as one of the worst lines in terms of on-time performance. The Fitchburg Line had the oldest infrastructure in the system, and commuter trains must share trackage with freight trains on the outer segment of the line. A $150 million project completed in 2017 included adding nine miles of double track, an extension to Wachusett, rebuilding two stations, and building a new layover yard. O ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Alewife Brook Parkway
Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It begins at Fresh Pond in Cambridge (linking to Fresh Pond Parkway via Concord Avenue), and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook, crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River on the Medford town line, where it becomes Mystic Valley Parkway. The entire length of Alewife Brook Parkway is designated as part of Massachusetts Route 16 (Route 16), while the southernmost sections are also designated as part of Route 2 and U.S. Route 3 (US 3). It is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation responsible for bridge maintenance. Route description Cambridge The southern terminus of the parkway is the westernmost of the two Fresh Pond rotaries, with Concord Avenue connecting the parkway to Fresh Pond Parkway at the easte ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fitchburg Cutoff Path
The Fitchburg Cutoff (also called the Freight Cutoff) was a rail line running from Brighton Street (Hills Crossing station) in Belmont, Massachusetts, to Somerville Junction in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was constructed in two segments in 1870 and 1881 to connect the Lexington Branch and Massachusetts Central Railroad to the Boston and Lowell Railroad. Passenger service lasted until 1927. Freight service ended in 1979–80 to allow construction of the Red Line Northwest Extension; the line was abandoned in three sections in 1979, 1983, and 2007. All of the right-of-way, except a short section near Alewife station, has been reused for three connecting rail trails: the Fitchburg Cutoff Path from Brighton Street to Alewife station, the Alewife Linear Park from Alewife to Massachusetts Avenue, and the Somerville Community Path east of Massachusetts Avenue. The paths are part of the Mass Central Rail Trail. Route The line was long, running approximately east–west. The west ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Minuteman Bikeway
The Minuteman Bikeway, also known as the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, is a 10-mile (16-kilometre) paved multi-use rail trail located in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. It runs from Bedford to Alewife station, at the northern end of the Red Line in Cambridge, passing through the towns of Lexington and Arlington along the way. Also along the route are several notable regional sites, including Alewife Brook Reservation, the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, Spy Pond, " Arlington’s Great Meadows" (actually located in Lexington), the Battle Green in Lexington, and Hanscom Air Force Base. At its Cambridge terminus, the bikeway connects with four other bike paths: *the Fitchburg Cutoff Path going west *the Alewife Linear Park which, in turn, leads east to the Somerville Community Path. *the Alewife Brook Greenway going northwest, a connection to the Mystic River bike path following Alewife Brook. The Alewife Brook extension received $4M from the American Recovery an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

MBTA Red Line
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge through Somerville and Cambridge, surfacing to cross the Longfellow Bridge then returning to tunnels under Downtown Boston. It continues underground through South Boston, splitting into two branches on the surface at JFK/UMass station. The Ashmont branch runs southwest through Dorchester to Ashmont station, where the connecting light rail Mattapan Line (shown as part of the Red Line on maps, but operated separately) continues to Mattapan station. The Braintree branch runs southeast through Quincy and Braintree to Braintree station. The Red Line operates during normal MBTA service hours (all times except late nights) with six-car trains. The 218-car active fleet consists of three orders of cars built in 1969–70, 1987–89, and 1993–94. A 252-car or ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]