The Great Works River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 30, 2011 river in southwestern

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It rises in central York County and flows generally south past

North Berwick North Berwick (; ) is a seaside resort, seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holi ...

and joins the tidal part of the

Salmon Falls River The Salmon Falls River is a tributary of the Piscataqua River in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. It rises at Great East Lake, Newichawannock Canal, and Horn Pond and flows south-southeast for approximately , forming the border b ...

at South Berwick. The native Newichawannock band of

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

called it the ''Asbenbedick''. In July 1634, William Chadbourne, James Wall and John Goddard arrived from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

aboard the ship ''Pied Cow'' with a commission to build a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

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 ...

at the river's Assabumbadoc Falls. The sawmill they built, thought to be the first over-shot water-powered site in America, was located in the "Rocky Gorge" below today's Brattle Street bridge.Bacon, Elaine C. ''The Chadbourne Family in America: A Genealogy,'' 1994. Their sawmill was rebuilt with up to 20 saws on what was then the "Little River" in 1651 by

Richard Leader Richard Leader (1609–1661) was an English businessman who was the first manager of the Saugus Iron Works, the first integrated ironworks in North America. He later engaged in business in Maine and Barbados. Early life Leader was born in 1609. On ...

, an engineer granted exclusive right to the

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...

. It was thereafter called the "Great mill workes," from which the Great Works River derives its present name.

References

History of the Great Works Mills -- Old Berwick Historical Society

External links

Great Works River Watershed Coalition
{{Authority control Rivers of York County, Maine South Berwick, Maine North Berwick, Maine