| Millstone River | |
|---|---|
 Millstone River at Rocky Hill | |
 Map of northern section of Millstone River; see below for map of southern section | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| Counties | Hunterdon,Mercer,MiddlesexMonmouth,Somerset |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • coordinates | 40°11′58″N74°24′48″W / 40.19944°N 74.41333°W /40.19944; -74.41333[1] |
| Mouth | |
• coordinates | 40°32′33″N74°34′0″W / 40.54250°N 74.56667°W /40.54250; -74.56667[1] |
• elevation | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Length | 38.6 mi (62.1 km)[2] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Raritan River,Atlantic Ocean |
| River system | Raritan River system |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Rocky Brook,Bear Brook,Stony Brook,Harrys Brook,Beden Brook,Royce Brook |
| • right | Cranbury Brook,Devils Brook,Heathcote Brook,Simonson Brook,Ten Mile Run,Six Mile Run |
TheMillstone River is a 38.6-mile-long (62.1 km)tributary of theRaritan River incentral New Jersey in theUnited States.[3]
The Millstone River begins in westernMonmouth County and flows westward through northernMercer County / southernMiddlesex County, and northward through southernSomerset County, before draining into the Raritan River atManville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by theDelaware and Raritan Canal.[3] Both the Millstone River and parallel canal provide drinking water to large portions of central New Jersey and provide recreational uses as well.
Parts of the river demarks the border betweenMiddlesex andMercer Counties, which also forms the boundaries between theSecond andThird Districts of the Federal Reserve.
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The Millstone River starts in western Monmouth County at40°11′58″N74°24′37″W / 40.19944°N 74.41028°W /40.19944; -74.41028, near CR-524 (Stage Coach Road). It flows northeast and turns north before picking up a tributary and crossing CR-1, Sweetmans Lane. It then crosses Baird Road before crossing SR-33 and flowing past the watershed of theCranbury Brook.
It turns west, crossing Perrineville Road and Applegarth Road. Meanwhile, it receives many small tributaries. It crosses theNew Jersey Turnpike, before flowing through the East Windsor Open Space Acquisition. It then crosses CR-639 andRoute 130 before picking up a tributary and flowing into Fischer Acres Associates. It crosses Old Cranbury Road and turns southwest before receivingRocky Brook and making a turn to the northwest.
It then turns west and crosses Old Trenton Road, John White Road, and Southfield Road before flowing alongside the West Windsor Planning Incentive and crossing Cranbury Road. It receivesCranbury Brook andBear Brook before receiving Devils Brook and crossing US-1 (Brunswick Pike). It then flows intoCarnegie Lake and crosses theD&R Canal, which it closely parallels the rest of its downstream journey.
It turns northeast, receivingStony Brook from the southwest before turning north again. It receivesHarrys Brook and exits the Carnegie Lake. It then enters the D&R Canal State Park before crossing NJ27. It receivesBeden Brook before crossing the Griggstown Causeway and receiving theSimonson Brook directly afterward. By the time it receives Beden Brook, it is paralleled by CR-533, River Road.
It then receives theTen Mile Run andSix Mile Run before crossing Blackwells Mills Road. It receives a tributary from Colonial Park and crosses Weston Causeway. It receivesRoyce Brook before flowing past the Somerset Christian College, one of the few structures built on the land between the D&R Canal and the Millstone River. By the time it crosses Royce Brook, CR-533 has separated from it and turned into Manville. It joins the Raritan River at40°32′33″N74°34′0″W / 40.54250°N 74.56667°W /40.54250; -74.56667.
The Millstone River basin has suffered a number of severe flooding events over the past 200 years.Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 produced a particularly severe flood in the basin, especially in the Lost Valley section ofManville, which sits on a flood plain between the Millstone River and theRaritan River. Severe flooding once again occurred afterHurricane Irene swept through the area in 2011.
In 2016 theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers andNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection jointly conducted aflood risk management feasibility study on the Millstone River Basin to determine if flooding can be mitigated or controlled. The study focused on Manville, determined to be at highest risk from flooding, but concluded that none of the suggested improvements were economically feasible and therefore recommended no federal action to reduce flood risk.[4]
The Millstone River provides drinking water to tens of thousands of households and businesses in Central New Jersey. A water intake pumping station is located where the Millstone River and Raritan River meet. The water is purified and distributed by theNew Jersey American Water.
In earliest colonial times as land routes began to supplant sea shipping, commerce between the emerging centersNew York City andPhiladelphia was carried bystage coach along a direct route fromSouth Amboy toBordentown. Much later that route became a railroad.
A series of New Jersey towns still extant sprouted up along the stage coach route, including South Amboy,Sayreville,South River,Spotswood,Helmetta,Jamesburg,Cranbury,Hightstown,Windsor,Robbinsville, and Bordentown. In general, the stage coach took a bee-line route, straight as the crow flies, between theRaritan Bay at South Amboy and theDelaware River at Bordentown.
As the country grew and its economy began to thrive, large buoyantbarges supported by water on canals emerged as much more suitable for heavy shipping. Unlike the stage coaches, however, routes for canals were obliged to follow the most level land — riverbeds. Hence the importance of the Millstone River which provides a north–south waterway through New Jersey connecting the two great cities of Philadelphia and New York.
The Millstone River is an important tributary of theRaritan River. The Raritan River empties into theRaritan Bay, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The Raritan Bay is contiguous to New York Harbor and separates the New York City Borough ofStaten Island (Richmond County) from Central New Jersey along with theArthur Kill a more narrow channel of water between Staten Island and New Jersey.
As the Raritan River flows eastward towards Raritan Bay, it joins the Millstone River flowing north in the vicinity ofBound Brook, New Jersey. The Millstone River traces an arc through several New Jersey Counties, originating inMonmouth County and flowing more-or-less west throughMercer County, then northwest throughSomerset County, then northward towards Bound Brook.
TheDelaware and Raritan Canal runs along east side of the Millstone River for much of its length, fromLake Carnegie near the border betweenWest Windsor Township andPrinceton to the location where the Millstone River empties into the main course of theRaritan River inFranklin Township.
There the canal continues along the right (south) bank of the Raritan. The land betweencanal and river is aflood plain that generally consists ofswamps, wooded areas and some farmland. A number ofspillways allow water to run off from the canal into the Millstone River during periods of heavy water flow.
InLawrenceville, New Jersey, at a site known as Bakers Basin today located alongU.S. Route 1, the canal makes the few mile remaining connection intoTrenton, the state capital, and then into theDelaware River.
Hence the Millstone and Raritan Rivers enabled the major shipping route between New York and Philadelphia in the early 19th century. From New York, of course, goods could be shipped north along theHudson River andErie Canal to upstate New York, and thence toWestern Pennsylvania,Ohio, and otherGreat Lakes States upstream ofNiagara Falls.
{{cite web}}:Check|url= value (help)Raritan Valley | |||||
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