The Cochichewick River, also known as Cochichewick Brook, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed October 3, 2011 stream in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

, that drains water from

Lake Cochichewick Lake Cochichewick is a lake in North Andover, Massachusetts that collects water from Weir Hill and other local uplands. Its overflow drains into the Cochichewick River, which joins the Merrimack River, Merrimack. Brooks School, a private co-educ ...

into the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

Early history

The river's first

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an record dates from March 4, 1634-5, when "It is ordered that the land aboute Cochichowicke, shall be reserved for an inland plantacon, & that whosoever will goe to inhabite there, shall have three yeares immunity from all

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

es, levyes, publique charges & services whatsoever, (military dissipline onely excepted), etc." The Massachusetts Colony Records later note the sale of land thereabouts to the English:

At a general Court at Boston 6th of 3d month, 1646, Cutshamache, Sagamore of Massachusetts, came into the court and acknowledged that, for the sum of L6 and a coat which he had already received, he had sold to Mr. John Woodbridge, in behalf of the inhabitants of Cochichewick, now called Andover, all the right, interest and privilege in the land six miles southward from the town, two miles eastward to Rowley bounds, be the same more or less; northward to Merrimack river, provided that the Indian called Roger, and his company, may have liberty to take alewives in Cochichewick river for their own eating; but if they either spoil or steal any
corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
or other
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
to any considerable value of the inhabitants, the liberty of taking
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
shall forever cease, and the said Roger is still to enjoy four acres of ground where now he plants.

Settlement and early industry

Andover's (now called North Andover) first settlements were made about Cochichewick Brook, a "fair springe of sweet water." By 1835, North Andover had two

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

districts (Sutton Mills and Stevens Mills) on the river. In the 18th and 19th centuries,

milldam A mill dam (International English) or milldam (US) is a dam constructed on a waterway to create a mill pond. Water passing through a dam's spillway is used to turn a water wheel and provide energy to the many varieties of watermill. By raising t ...

s were built along the brook to power

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

- and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

s, creating Stevens Pond. The Weir Hill reservation, now owned by

The Trustees of Reservations ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, was originally the Stevens country estate above Lake Cochichewick and Stevens Pond.

References

History of Andover, Massachusetts

Helen Campbell, "Anne Bradstreet and Her Time"
{{authority control Rivers of Essex County, Massachusetts Tributaries of the Merrimack River North Andover, Massachusetts Rivers of Massachusetts