The Mill River

The Mill River has long been part of New Haven’s natural life and industry. In most seasons, birds inhabit its banks or stop there during fall and spring migrations. A dam built by Whitney’s son in 1860 captured and supplied water to New Haven, replacing an earlier dam with a reservoir five times larger, and its turbines turned shafts that powered Whitney Jr’s machines. A stone wall once moored scows that brought charcoal and iron to Eli Whitney’s Armory on the high tides, and early portraits show small boats on the river, perhaps for pleasure or for efficient transport to the harbor and back. For a few years, Yale crews, the first great college sport, rowed on the river’s estuary and on Lake Whitney above the dam. Twice a day, rising tides now close gates to block the harbor’s salt water, and the river’s flow still slows there, two miles north of the harbor. In Whitney’s time, ice closed the river and stopped waterwheels for weeks during most winters, and ice was harvested and stored for summer. When Eli Whitney came to Yale in 1788, he saw New Haven as a harbor city with active water arteries, oyster boats, and ships ready to sail.

Hamden, Connecticut · United States