Throughout human history rivers have been a key factor where and how civilizations emerged. Although rivers vary immensely, the resources and opportunities they provide are nearly universal: drinking water and irrigation, transportation of goods, people and ideas, a source of energy and food, the disposal of waste, and recreation. Of course, humans have also extensively modified rivers and their surrounding ecosystems in the process of taking advantage of these opportunities and resources. Change in one location can impact people and communities both up and downstream. We can explore these ideas across the globe, but doing it in our own neighborhood makes it real in a way that is difficult to replicate through the more abstract use of media.
The rivers of Connecticut have long shaped settlement patterns and have been central to the development and growth of our cities. They have also been home to contentious debates surrounding their use, access, preservation, and restoration as well as drivers of social change. According to historian William Devlin, mill dams harnessed Connecticut’s rivers to power the state’s early industrialization.
“In the era of rapid urbanization that followed, population grew in the industrial towns, cities, and factory villages that crowded against the banks of its large rivers and many of its smaller ones as well.”3
By 1900, more than half of the state’s population lived in thirteen cities, each served by at least one important river.
The use of rivers shaped legal doctrine, with decisions regarding the building and maintenance of dams, and the regulation of industrial dumping as well as sewage disposal helping to establish environmental standards. According to Devlin,
“Connecticut’s courts “have taken no uncertain stand on the question of river pollution. In no other state of the union has there been such unequivocal judicial disapproval of the practice of destroying water resources.”4
Despite this stance, the rivers of Connecticut and New Haven continued to be damaged by industrial waste and sewage until public pressure and increased attention from the State resulted in the Connecticut Clean Water Bill, in 1967.
The Mill River itself allows us to observe these human-made changes to the physical landscape, judge their impact, and theorize about how we may better manage the challenges of water, greenspace, and habitat restoration in New Haven. What we see on the relatively small level with this river fits into a pattern we see around the world in terms of the utilization, degradation, and limited restoration of essential waterways. The intensely local nature of this study lends itself to personal experience through site visits in conjunction with more academic coursework. It also connects to the lived experience of many of our students who inhabit the neighborhoods along the banks of the Mill.
Physical and environmental context
The Mill River flows from North to South from Cheshire/Wallingford, through Hamden and New Haven and drains into New Haven harbor where it meets the Quinnipiac River. Moving south along the course of the river, the surrounding land become increasingly urban and industrial, with far more of the land covered by impermeable surfaces. Although the portion of the river that flows along the base of East Rock is preserved open space, much of the river has been altered by and for human use. The most notable of the man-made features of the river are the 160-year-old Eli Whitney Dam and associated Lake Whitney, which currently provides drinking water for the people of New Haven and surrounding towns and has since the inception of the New Haven Water Company in 1862, and the extensively industrialized waterfront between of the river’s intersection with Interstate-91 and the Quinnipiac River.
The Whitney dam itself occupies a space long utilized due to its unique topography. Mill Rock, to the west of the river closely abuts Whitney peak to the east. These Basalt outcroppings created a narrow channel through which the river flowed, a logical place to build a dam to harness the power of the river. For a dam to provide any significant power, the designer needs to also consider vertical drop in addition to the volume of water flowing. This site offered both.
Soon after the arrival of John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, and the establishment of the settlement of New Haven in the early 17th century, a dam was constructed at this location for the purpose of milling grain. Although this dam and associated mill were damaged by fire and rebuilt a number of times, we can say that this section of river has been exploited for industrial purposes for over 380 years. Since the late 19th century the site also has provided the city with a clean source of drinking water as wells became increasingly insufficient and contaminated as the population of the city increased. In an effort to reduce cases of water borne illnesses, such as cholera and typhoid, The New Haven Water Company was formed as a private venture to address the developing public health challenges.
We know, given the presence of the Quinnipiac people, the Mill River was also likely used as a source of food for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The harbor, into which the Mill, Quinnipiac, and West Rivers drain, was a rich source of food, including oysters, enjoyed by Native people, colonists, and city dwellers until industrial pollution, harbor dredging, and sewage from the city decimated their numbers and rendered them unsafe to consume. Despite the level of pollution still seen around the river’s southern terminus, some residents still fish its waters.
South of the Eli Whitney Dam, the Mill River is a tidal river. The brackish water of its estuary made it an important set of ecosystems for fish, shellfish, birds, insects, and mammals before widespread draining and filling of the associated wetlands.
Intact coastal wetlands also provide important ecosystem services. These can include; sequestration of carbon in their soils, filtering of water, and the ability to act as an essential buffer between the ocean and land during storms. By slowing down and absorbing a portion of storm surge and dissipating the energy of waves, coastal wetlands are an important protection for coastlines and coastal cities. In areas where coastal wetlands have been degraded, we see more significant damage in the wake of tropical storms and hurricanes.
Healthy coastal wetlands have an intimate relationship with the rivers that help form them. Sediment is carried downstream and deposited as the flow of the river slows, creating a meandering channel in many cases. Because coastlines are dynamic places, constantly shifting based on the direction and intensity of waves and other factors, the consistent deposition of sediment is essential for the continued health and survival of this ecosystem.
When rivers are dammed or channeled, this process is slowed, if not halted entirely, depriving the fragile coastal ecosystem of vital nutrients and the replacement of eroded soil. On top of this, the waterfront is often the site of extensive, essential infrastructure, often based on industry and/or trade. Sewers may discharge runoff from rainfall along with everything else that water picks up on its journey. In many cases cities have not designed sewer systems capable of handling increasingly intense rain events, or have been unable to effectively maintain their systems. Combined sewer pipes that mix rainwater and sewage can lead to flooding and/or the release of untreated sewage into waterways. The changes wrought over the course of the growth and development of New Haven have nearly, if not completely eliminated these ecosystem services and habitat.
In many cases wetlands drained for agricultural use are often developed for other purposes afterwards. As part of a pattern we see on the national level, many of these abandoned, former industrial areas, or even dumps established on former wetlands have become the site of public schools. New Haven’s Wilbur Cross Highschool is situated on the bank of the Mill River, a former tidal marsh, while John Martinez School further downstream occupies former wetlands filled for industrial use. Wetlands can be desirable locations for industry because of the water as a means to transport raw materials, provide cooling, and as a place to dispose of industrial waste.
In our progress through the teaching unit we follow the Mill River South, we also move forward in time. After exploring the Eli Whitney Armory and Dam site in person along with the surrounding East Rock Park, we will look at the industrialization of the waterfront at the confluence of the Mill and Quinnipiac Rivers
Industrialists selected these locations because of their proximity to water. Not only did this provide a way to bring finished products to market, it also allowed the flow of necessary raw materials. As steam engines, fired by coal boilers became the default, coal arrived in massive quantities by water and by railroads that served industries located near the rivers or the canal. Burning that coal had adverse impacts on the local environment and residents including the accumulation of heavy metals in soils, the release of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. These pollutants contribute to increased rates of asthma, neurological disorders, and cancer in surrounding residential areas.
By the late 19th century the shores of the Mill River were dominated by industry. Much of the land that was used by developing industries was actually created by draining and filling salt marshes along the river’s banks. Some of the major companies occupying the mouth of the Mill River were, New Haven Gas Light Company, Bigelow Boiler Company, National Pipe Bending Company, carriage makers, W.&E.T. Fitch Company and Holcomb Brothers, New Haven Saw Mill Company, and New Haven Pulp and Board. Although they provided jobs and contributed to the growth of the city, each of these facilities produced waste as well as consumer goods. Much of that waste was dumped directly into the river. This pollution, in conjunction with other industries created an environmental crisis, resulting in the elimination of the oyster as a viable food and economic force from the harbor as well as leaving us with the legacy of environmental toxins. Work to remediate these sites remains contentious and ongoing.
The creation of new land was also utilized during the development and expansion of the interstate highway system. New Haven was considered a national leader in “urban renewal” in which the integration of highways and city centers was central. Certainly, the city was fundamentally altered through large scale demolition, relocation of families and businesses and rebuilding with mixed results.
In the late 1950’s, community involvement in the planning of these urban renewal projects was minimal and the process of implementing a cold set of building projects through vibrant, diverse neighborhoods, with seeming complete disregard for the people living in these neighborhoods, was contentious across the country. The national fight over highway building is exemplified in New Haven with additional proposed roadways disrupting life for longtime residents who felt they were displaced by the concerns of economic development for city leaders and planners. The Route 34, or Oak Street, Connector and its proposed extension, serve as examples of the negative impacts of these policies and plans,
“Over 1,000 families stand to be displaced by the proposed extension of route 34 and by the still hypothetical inner circumferential loop road. Three entire residential neighborhoods and 45 small businesses would be destroyed at a cost of at least $25 million. City officials say the dislocation is justified”5
Many city residents were strongly opposed to the plan and felt excluded. As the American Independent Movement newsletter complained in 1967, "Another attempt at urban removal. Once again, the city is planning by highways, not by people.”6
Fortunately, not all the highway proposals were implemented. As communities more effectively mobilized to protect neighborhoods from demolition or division and additional regulation and oversight on the federal level emerged in the mid 1960’s, the pace of building slowed. Neighborhood residents in cities such as Baltimore, San Francisco, Chicago and New Haven saw varying degrees of success in stopping or changing planned sections of highway cutting through their neighborhoods. Again, the Mill River features prominently in this national trend, with the defeat of a proposed East Rock connector. This proposed project called for the channelization of a stretch of the Mill River along the base of East Rock and was adamantly opposed by local residents, media and politicians. According to one account,
“The New Haven Register led the charge that the state was trying to steamroll its wishes against those of the people the highway would harm” Critics like State Rep. Lawrence O'Brien argued that the connector would not relieve local traffic but instead would concentrate it around the proposed terminus on Whitney Avenue.7
By examining this stretch of the Mill River that travels under I-91 at exit 6 (Willow St/State St) and a map of the proposed route one can observe the relationship between waterways and current transportation infrastructure. Much as the Route 34 connector follows the path of a long since vanished waterway, the banks of the Mill provided what planners saw as an ideal opportunity to utilize “vacant” land.
Additionally, with careful observation students will visualize how this plan would have been executed. The sharp curves on the entrance and exit ramps link us to the southern portion of the connector, while Armory Street in Hamden anchor its northern terminus. Having already explored portions of this section of the river on foot, students will theorize what the possible impacts could have been if this proposed of roadway had been built.
