Merrimack River

The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a 110-mile-long (177-kilometer-long) river in the Northeastern United States. It rises in central New Hampshire at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast, near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border, until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport.

Related Topics:
United States - New Hampshire - Pemigewasset - Winnipesaukee - Massachusetts - Atlantic Ocean - Newburyport

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Several U.S. naval ships have been named the USS Merrimack and USS Merrimac in honor of this river.

Related Topics:
USS Merrimack - USS Merrimac

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Prior to glaciation, the Merrimack continued its southward course far beyond the present day New Hampshire-Massachusetts border to enter the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. Upon the glacier's retreat, debris deposited north of Boston filled the lower Merrimack Valley, redirecting the river into its current northeast bend at Lowell.

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The total watershed of the river is approximately 5,000 square miles (13,000 km²), covering much of southern New Hampshire and a portion of northeastern Massachusetts. On its banks are a number of cities built to take advantage of water power in the 19th-century, when textile mills dominated the New England economy: Concord (the state capital), Manchester, and Nashua in New Hampshire, and Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill in Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Square mile - Concord - Manchester - Nashua - Lowell - Lawrence - Haverhill

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The river is perhaps best known for the early American literary classic A Week on the Concord and Merrimac River by Henry David Thoreau. Among its tributaries are the Souhegan River, which extends west from the town of Merrimack, New Hampshire, and the Concord River.

Related Topics:
Henry David Thoreau - Souhegan River - Merrimack, New Hampshire - Concord River

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