History of Human Activity in the Housatonic River Watershed
H.E.L.P.
Concept/Topic to Teach: How the relationship between humans and Housatonic River has changed over time.
Standards:
Discipline: History and Social Science
Strand: Grade 5, Concepts and Skills, History and Geography (2): Interpret timelines of events studied.
Discipline: History and Social Science
Strand: United States History, Geography, Economics, and Government: Early Exploration to Westward
Movement.
Topic: Pre-Columbian Civilizations of the New World and European Exploration, Colonization, and Settlement
to 1700, 5.6
Discipline: English Language Arts
Strand: Reading and Literature
Topic: Nonfiction 13.12
Grade Level: 5 - 6
Time Required: One or two 45 minute periods
General Goal: Students will understand how the Housatonic watershed, including the river, the plants, and animals,
has been changed by human activity.
Specific Objectives: Students will learn how the river was used for food, cooking, cleaning, drinking, power, transportation, recreation, and sanitation and how these uses impacted the native plants, animals, and the health of the river.
Vocabulary:
• aquifer • coolant
• legacy
• plume
• blast furnace
• forge
• lubricants
• remediate
• contaminate
• grist mill • marsh
• repositories
• conveyed
• headwaters
• nonpoint source pollution
• textile mill
* (Note: Vocabulary is underlined and defined in the “History of the Housatonic River” booklet ).
• tributary
Required Materials:
• Photocopies of the “History of the Housatonic River” student booklet (page 72).
• Photocopies of selected maps from A Canoeing Guide for the Upper Housatonic River in Berkshire County,
(available from HVA tel: 413-394-9796)
• Large map of the Housatonic Watershed (also available from HVA)
• Sticky notes or index cards and tape, pens or pencils
• Colored construction paper (7 large pieces) each labeled with one of the following centuries: 20,000
years ago, 10,000 years ago, 1600’s, 1700’s, 1800’s, 1900’s, 2000’s to create the basis of the timeline.
Anticipatory Set: Affix the construction paper time line to a wall or board. Discuss what Berkshire County and the
Housatonic River looked like 20,000 years ago. Use sticky notes or index cards to put the information about the
Wisconsin Glacial Age and the mile high glacier that covered this area onto the earliest time line sheet. Discuss
how each change in weather, plants and animals affect everything else in nature.
History
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History of Human Activity... continued
Step-by-Step Procedure:
Discuss with the class their ideas about the history of the river and get a feeling for what they know in
general about the history of Berkshire County. Depending on the reading and comprehension level of your
students, read the “History of the Housatonic River” booklet together as a class or in small groups.
Divide the class into groups. Each group will be responsible for summarizing one of the pages (depending on
where the paragraphs and sections start and end). Ask the students to write important dates and information
on sticky notes. These notes will be placed on the labeled construction paper affixed to the board or wall.
As groups finish their section, they can begin to look at the maps from the canoe guide. On the maps, students
may locate the various towns discussed in other lessons, or begin to identify places mentioned in the “History
of the Housatonic River” booklet.
When all the sticky notes are on the board, each group will report on their section. Any questions can be
answered regarding the various types of industry, what types of activities were taking place in each century,
and what were the impacts on the river.
An alternate way to proceed is to write the important dates, events and locations on small index cards and
assign the students in groups to place the pre-written cards on the time line.
Closure: For greater visual impact, the Post-it notes can then be taken from the time lines and stuck on the large
watershed map along the river in the various towns. Students can write their hopes and dreams or comments
about the river on sticky notes to stick on the 2000’s poster.
Extension Activity: Build a Water Wheel
Specific Objective: To help students understand how water can be a source of power.
Required Materials:
• Illustrations from Mills, by David Macaulay
• A bottle of water
• A model waterwheel that the instructor has made (see instructions below)
• Materials for construction of waterwheels
For each group of 2-3 students:
(Before starting the lesson, place the correct size hole in the center of the plates provided to the groups for the dowel or pencil to go through.)
• two coated 7” paper plates
• scissors
• 4-5 seven oz. coated paper cups
• bottle of water
• a dowel or a long pencil for the shaft of the wheel
• tub or sink to catch water
• a stapler
• tape (waterproof, such as duct tape) to hold the shaft to the plates as the wheel turns
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History of Human Activity... continued
H.E.L.P.
Step-by-Step Procedure:
Introduction:
Show illustrations of waterwheels from the book Mills, by David Macaulay. Show and discuss how water was
diverted from rivers to power waterwheels and larger factories. Explain the effects of dams and diverted
water on the river ecosystem. Be sure the class understands the distinctions between sawmills, gristmills, textile
and paper mills.
Ask the class “How do you get power from water? Does this container of water have power? (Hold up a
bottle of water) Yes, when the water is poured from a height.” Ask for a volunteer to hold his/her hand out
over a tub or sink (to catch water). Pour water over the student’s hand. Ask him/her to share with the class
what s/he felt. If possible, let additional students feel the force of water as it is poured over their hands. Help
the class conclude that water power is the result of a volume of water dropping from a height such as in a
waterfall. (The water pouring from a container may remind students of a waterfall.)
Ask the class where they think there is greater waterpower, at the top or the bottom of a waterfall? Ask one
student to hold his/her hands over the tub at different heights, one high and one low. Pour equal amounts
of water over each hand from the same height. Ask the student which hand felt more force from the water.
Greater force should be felt on the lower hand). Discuss where the best place would be to put a wheel that
takes advantage of the power of water to move machines – at the top or the bottom of a waterfall?
Demonstration:
Construct and demonstrate the model waterwheel in order to show student groups how to construct their own
(see photo for illustration).
Water Wheel Construction:
Each group has a tub with equipment and supplies. Students
cut the cups to the size they want to make the buckets or
paddles of the wheel. Staple the cups, facing the same direction, at equal distances around the edge of one plate. Staple
the other plate to the other side of the cups to make a double
wheel. Insert the shaft through the center of the wheel and
tape around the shaft so that as the wheel moves the shaft
turns. Pour water from the bottle over the wheel. Hold the
shaft gently in your hand to allow it to turn. Experiment with
different forces of water and discuss how people were able to
change the force of water at their mills.
Challenge:
Have each group figure out how their waterwheel can do
work. For a demonstration, tape a string to the shaft and
attach a cup to the other end of the string. As the waterwheel
turns, the string will pull the cup up.
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Resources:
Kirby, Ed. 1995. Exploring the Berkshire Hills: A Guide to Geology and Early Industry in the Housatonic
Watershed. Greenfield, MA: Valley Geology Publications.
McLaughlin, David J. 2007. The Unfolding History of the Berkshires. Scottsdale, AZ: Pentacle Press.
Skehan, James W. 2001. Roadside Geology of Massachusetts. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Co.
Macaulay, David. 1983. Mill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
David Macaulay: Mill Times DVD (Item No.: MILT601) Available from PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place,
Alexandria, VA 22314, or www.shopPBS.com/teachers, 1-703-739-5269
Mill Times DVD Description: This animated program centers on a small New England community similar to
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where Samuel Slater established America’s first textile mill. Live action hosted by
David Macaulay, takes viewers from Manchester, England, to Lowell, Massachusetts, explaining technological
changes that transformed the making of textiles, a key component of the Industrial Revolution sweeping across
Europe and America in the late 18th century.
A Canoeing Guide for the Housatonic River in Berkshire County. 1997. Berkshire County Regional Planning
Commission & Housatonic Valley Association. (Copies available from HVA.)
Goldberger, Nancy, et al. eds. Art and the River: Views and Visions of the Housatonic. Great Barrington, MA:
Sheffield Art League, 2004.
http://www.savethehousatonic.org - this website provides a summary of historical information including the
restoration of the first two miles. http://www.upperhousatonicheritage.org/uploaded_files/Thematic%20History%2012-9-09.pdf : Appendix C:
Thematic History of the Upper Housatonic Valley – beginning on page 22 – provides an excellent summary
of local Housatonic history. This appendix is part of the Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area
Management Plan.
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History of the Housatonic River - Student Booklet
H.E.L.P.
The River’s Past
The Housatonic River has three main branches in the headwaters. The East Branch rises from Muddy Pond in the
town of Washington, and winds its way northward through Hinsdale and Dalton to Pittsfield, past the paper mills
of the Crane Company. The West Branch, which once powered a series of textile mills, rises out of Pontoosuc
Lake, and collects the drainage from the southwest slopes of Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts.
The Southwest Branch flows northward out of Richmond Pond and through the western side of Pittsfield before
joining the West Branch at Clapp Park on West Housatonic Street. The main stem of the Housatonic River begins
in the city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and continues in a southerly direction into Connecticut where it empties into
the Long Island Sound.
The Upper Housatonic Valley was referred to by the Mahican (also referred to as Mohican) as “Usiadienuk”
which may translate to “beyond the mountain place” or “river of the mountain place”. It is from “Usiadienuk” that
the river’s name, Housatonic, is derived. Nestled between the Connecticut and the Hudson Rivers, this clean and
sparkling waterway was used by bands of Native Americans for eight to ten thousand years before Europeans
came to the area. Flint and stone artifacts from this time are still occasionally found in protected areas near the
river. Their use of the Housatonic included fishing, transportation, drinking, cooking and washing. Fish and fresh
water mussels were smoked for winter stores. Ducks and geese, plentiful in the spring and fall, were hunted in the
marshes. Garden plots were maintained in the flood plain where they were fertilized by the annual spring flood.
European Settlers Arrive
In 1624, the Dutch established Fort Orange, now called Albany in New York. Competition between the Mahican
and Mohawk tribes for the fur trade at the fort began a series of wars between the two tribes. As a result, the
Mahican were driven from the west bank of the Hudson and settled in the Berkshires along the Housatonic River.
In 1690, many Mahicans died in a smallpox epidemic. Surviving Mahicans sold some of their lands to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1722. English settlement began in 1725 at Sheffield. Because of the fear of Indian raids,
settlement of the headwaters of the Housatonic did not really begin until the end of the French and Indian wars in
1759. The remaining Mahicans eventually migrated to live with the Oneida tribe in upstate New York in 1784.
Using Water Power for Industry
At Great Barrington, the fall of water below the Great Bridge was harnessed in 1739 for a saw mill to cut lumber
and a grist mill to grind grain. A forge was built the same year to make crude iron bars with a water powered
triphammer. Later, blast furnaces utilizing the Housatonic’s water power were built at Lenoxdale and Glendale.
After 1800, the expansion of manufacturing began to increase reliance upon the river’s water power. Soon there
were saw mills and grist mills, dye works, and factories for paper-making, weaving and spinning. Water was
power, and water drove industrial development. 1801 saw the beginning of paper making in the Upper Housatonic Valley with the Crane & Company paper mill. The Crane mill continues to operate today and produces,
among other products, paper for U.S. currency.
The mills became more sophisticated, and what began as small businesses providing simple tools grew into larger
enterprises for the export trade. One of Pittsfield’s first claims to fame came in 1804, when the combination of
machinery made by Arthur Scholfield and fleece from the Berkshires’ merino sheep produced America’s first fine
broadcloth. During the next 30 years, there was a small explosion of cotton mills, and people moved to live near
the mills that clustered about the river. At the height of industrial activity in the Upper Housatonic Valley, there were
60 paper mills along the Housatonic River. Today there are only two; Crane & Company in Dalton and the Onyx
company in Lee. As of 2010, there is one dam, located in Glendale, being used in the Massachusetts section of
the river to produce hydroelectric power.
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Pontoosuc woolen mills - Smith’s History of Pittsfield, 1876
Water Power for Electricity
In 1883, William Stanley, employed by George Westinghouse, devised a system of alternating current distribution. After his work was rejected by Westinghouse, Stanley returned to his hometown of Great Barrington and
constructed the first power transformer.
Great Barrington was the first town to be illuminated with electricity distributed by Stanley’s system. Power from
the hydroelectric station at Alger’s furnace supplied electricity to motors at the Monument Mills, the first industrial
application of Stanley’s theories, and to a high voltage line that stretched the 7-1/2 miles to Great Barrington –
the first such line in the world in 1894.
Dams Impact the Environment
The expansion of manufacturing and their reliance on water for power caused a great increase in the number of
dams along the Housatonic River and its tributaries. At the peak of the industrial era, there were more than 30
dams on the river from the East Branch between Dalton and Hinsdale into Pittsfield and south on the main stem in
Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and Sheffield. Still more dams were on the many tributaries including
the Williams, Green, and Konkapot Rivers. Although most of the dams have been removed, many of the larger
ones still exist along with prominent mill buildings. At the present time, there are four Crane and Company dams
on the East Branch, while the West Branch has the Bel Air and Nash Dams. The main stem has five dams; Woods
Pond Dam in Lenoxdale, Columbia Mill Dam in Lee, Willow Mill Dam in South Lee, Glendale Dam in Stockbridge,
and the Rising Pond Dam in Great Barrington.
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Anadromous fish, such as Atlantic salmon and shad, were greatly affected by industrialization. The known historic
range of Atlantic salmon in U.S. rivers was from the Housatonic River in the south to the St. Croix River in the
north (Kendall 1935; Scott and Crossman 1973). Atlantic salmon begin life as young fry growing in a river or its
tributaries for the first two years. Then as smolts they venture to the sea returning a couple of years later as mature
salmon. After spawning, the Atlantic salmon do not die as do Pacific salmon, but migrate back to the sea. By the
early 1800’s, the Atlantic salmon runs in New England had been severely depleted. Fish habitat was severely
damaged as a result of dams, which are barriers to fish migration, and the decreased quality of water as rivers
were used for waste disposal. What Atlantic salmon population there was in the Housatonic River was most likely
extirpated by human activity sometime in the 1800s. It is unclear if and what species of anadromous fish managed to migrate to the upper Housatonic River because of the Great Falls in Canaan, Connecticut.
The dams also tended to form pools of pollution that was produced from the many industries along the river. As
coal and oil replaced water power as the driving force behind industrial growth, the mill ponds became repositories of municipal and industrial wastes. With heavy industry came toxic wastes. With the automobile came
pavement, the spread of development and accompanying storm water runoff and nonpoint source pollution. By
the 1950’s, most Berkshire residents and visitors no longer thought of the river as a vital and invaluable resource.
The river had become fouled with waste which people looked away from and ignored. In Lee, people would comment that the way to know which dyes the paper mills were using was to check the color of the river. In Pittsfield,
despite 30 miles of river corridor along the three branches, most residents were oblivious to the river’s presence.
In essence, the “beautiful Berkshires” encompassed the mountains, lakes and meadows, but did not include the
Housatonic River.
Help for the River
A new era of environmental consciousness and action blossomed in the 1960’s and 70’s. River clean ups were
organized and the Housatonic River Watershed Association was founded in 1962. The passage of the federal
Clean Water Act in 1972 required wastes to be monitored and treated. Municipal and industrial water treatment
plants were built. As a result of all of these efforts, the water quality of the Housatonic River, as well as many of
our nation’s rivers, greatly improved. Massachusetts also enacted the Wetlands Protection Act in 1972 which
required cities and towns to establish conservation commissions to protect wetlands. In 1996, the Massachusetts
Rivers Protection Act created a 200 foot riverfront protection buffer that extends on both sides of a river, except in
urban areas where it is reduced to 25 feet. This Act was established to further protect water supplies and wildlife
habitat and reduce pollution entering the river due to stormwater runoff.
Although the Housatonic is certainly cleaner now, a great deal of work still needs to be done before the river
becomes fishable and swimmable. Efforts are underway to establish a greenway along the entire length of the
Housatonic. This protective buffer will not only make the river more attractive, but will also help to absorb
nonpoint source pollution and provide for needed wildlife habitat.
PCBs and the Housatonic River
Efforts are also underway to remove PCBs (polychlorinated byphenyls) from the river corridor, a legacy of the
Transformer Division of the General Electric plant in Pittsfield.
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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of human-made chemicals that includes 209 different variations.
There are no known natural sources of PCBs. PCBs are typically oily liquids, ranging from colorless to light yellow
in color. They have no smell or taste. Because they do not burn easily and are a good insulating material, PCBs
have been widely used as coolants and lubricants in the manufacturing of transformers, capacitors, and other
electrical equipment. Consumer products that may contain PCBs include old fluorescent lighting fixtures, hydraulic
fluids and electrical devices or appliances made before PCB use was stopped. The manufacturing of PCBs was
stopped in the United States in 1977 because of evidence that PCBs bioaccumulate in wildlife and cause harmful
effects to both humans and wildlife. PCBs do not quickly breakdown and degrade, but persist in the environment
unchanged for hundreds of years. The PCBs released into the river have attached to the sediment of the river bottom and spread into the floodplain during periods of flooding.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the 254-acre GE plant in Pittsfield has
historically been the major handler of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in western Massachusetts, and is the only
known source of PCBs found in the Housatonic River sediments and floodplain soils in Massachusetts. According
to GE’s reports, from 1932 through 1977, releases of PCBs reached the waste and storm water systems associated with the facility and were subsequently drained into the East Branch of the Housatonic River and to Silver Lake.
During the 1940s, efforts by the City of Pittsfield and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to straighten
the Pittsfield reach of the Housatonic River resulted in 11 former oxbows being isolated from the river channel.
The oxbows were filled with material that was later discovered to contain PCBs and other hazardous substances.
A fish consumption advisory for the Housatonic River was issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health (MADPH) in 1982 due to the PCB contamination. This advisory extended from Dalton, Massachusetts to
the Connecticut border and was later amended to include frogs and turtles. The State of Connecticut has also
posted a fish consumption advisory for most of the Connecticut section of the river. MADPH updated their advisory in 1995 to include a recommendation that fish taken from feeder streams to the Housatonic River should
be trimmed of fatty tissue prior to cooking (MA DPH 1999). In addition, in 1999, MADPH issued a waterfowl
consumption advisory from Pittsfield to Great Barrington due to PCB concentrations in wood ducks and mallards
collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the river. Although this stretch of the river is safe for
canoeing, paddlers are urged to avoid prolonged contact with river sediments. Anglers and hunters should also
take notice of the posted fish and waterfowl advisory warning of PCB contamination.
In September 1998, after years of scientific investigations and regulatory actions, a comprehensive agreement was
reached between GE and various governmental entities, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP), and the City of Pittsfield. The agreement provides for the
investigation and cleanup of the Housatonic River and associated areas. Although the contaminated area qualified
as a federally designated Superfund site, a compromise agreement called a Consent Decree was established to
restore the river. There are three main phases of the river restoration, two of which have been completed.
Phase One:
Remediated and restored the first ½ mile PCB-contaminated section of the East Branch beginning at the GE facility.
Completed in September 2002, approximately 11,800 cubic yards of sediment and 6,400 cubic yards of bank
soils were removed.
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Phase Two:
Restored the next 1.5 miles along the East Branch to the confluence of the West and East Branches. Completed
in December 2006, this restoration involved removing approximately 91,700 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and riverbank material.
Phase Three:
How to restore the remainder of the river, which is referred to as the “Rest of the River,” is still being negotiated.
This stretch begins at the confluence of the West and East Branches of the Housatonic River in Pittsfield and
extends south into Connecticut. However, it is estimated that 90% of the remaining PCB contamination occurs
between where the main stem forms in Pittsfield to the Woods Pond dam in Lenoxdale. It will be this section of the
river where restoration efforts will be concentrated.
At the time of compiling this booklet, negotiations are underway for how the “Rest of River” will be remediated
and restored. For additional and recent information on the “Rest of the River” visit: http://www.epa.gov/NE/
ge/thesite/restofriver-reports.html.
Vocabulary:
bioaccumulate - the buildup of chemicals (such as mercury and PCBs) in the fatty tissue of animals either through
eating animals that have PCBs within their bodies or through contact with the chemical in the sediment.
blast furnace - a type of furnace used to produce industrial metals, usually iron. Fuel and ore are supplied at the
top of the furnace while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber so chemical reactions take place as the material moves downward.
buffer - an area of land where activity is limited (such as logging or development) thereby providing protection
to a natural resource such as a wetland, lake or river.
contaminate/contamination - to make impure or corrupt by contact or mixture.
coolant - an agent that produces cooling or draws off heat.
extirpated species - a species that has become extinct in a certain area.
forge - a furnace or hearth where metals are heated and formed into shape by beating or hammering.
grist mill - a mill where grain is ground into flour.
headwaters - the area from which a river rises.
legacy - something handed down from the past.
lubricants - a usually oily substance such as grease, graphite or oil used to reduce friction.
marsh - an area of low lying wetland, a bog or swamp.
nonpoint source pollution - pollution that cannot be traced to its place of origin.
remediate - to fix or cure.
textile mill - a factory for weaving or knitting yarn or fibers into cloth.
tributary - a stream or river flowing into a larger stream or river.
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References:
Goldberger, Nancy, et al. eds. 2004. Art and the River: Views and Visions of the Housatonic. Great Barrington,
MA: Sheffield Art League.
A Canoeing Guide for the Housatonic River in Berkshire County. 1997. Berkshire County Regional Planning
Commission & Housatonic Valley Association. (Copies available from HVA.)
http://www.savethehousatonic.org - this website provides a summary of historical information including the PCB
cleanup of the first two miles. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. New College Edition. 1980. Houghton Mifflin
Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
http://mohican-nsn.gov/Departments/Library-Museum/Mohican_History/index.htm - a source of history about
the Mohican tribe.
http://www.mass.gov/dph/fishadvisories - provides information about the fish advisories in Massachusetts.
http://www.upperhousatonicheritage.org/uploaded_files/Thematic%20History%2012-9-09.pdf : Appendix C:
Thematic History of the Upper Housatonic Valley – beginning on page 22.
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