Merrimack River

Merrimack River
Merrimac River
Mouth of Merrimack River in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 2021
The Merrimack River and its major tributaries
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew Hampshire
Massachusetts
RegionNew England
CitiesConcord, NH, Manchester, NH, Nashua, NH, Lowell, MA, Lawrence, MA, Haverhill, MA, Newburyport, MA
Physical characteristics
SourcePemigewasset River-Winnipesaukee River juncture
 • locationFranklin, Merrimack County, New Hampshire
 • coordinates43°26′11″N 71°38′53″W / 43.43639°N 71.64806°W / 43.43639; -71.64806
 • elevation280 ft (85 m)
MouthGulf of Maine
 • location
Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts
 • coordinates
42°49′10″N 70°48′43″W / 42.81944°N 70.81194°W / 42.81944; -70.81194
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)
Length117 mi (188 km)
Basin size5,010 sq mi (13,000 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationNewburyport, Massachusetts
 • average7,562 cu ft/s (214.1 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftSoucook River, Suncook River, Beaver Brook, Powwow River
 • rightContoocook River, Piscataquog River, Souhegan River, Nashua River, Concord River, Shawsheen River
Merrimack River
Franklin
US 4 square.svg US 4 Boscawen
Contoocook River
I-93.svg I-93
I-393.svg I-393
NH Route 9.svg NH 9 Concord
US 3 square.svg US 3
Turkey River
Soucook River
Suncook River
Hooksett
I-93.svg I-93
Black Brook
Amoskeag Falls
Manchester
Pan Am Railways
Piscataquog River
I-293.svg I-293
Pan Am Railways
Cohas Brook
Souhegan River
Pennichuck Brook
Nashua River
NH Route 111.svg NH 111 Nashua
Salmon Brook
Circumferential Highway
enters Massachusetts
MA Route 113.svg Route 113 Tyngsborough
Stony Brook
Pawtucket Falls
Mammoth Road
Lowell
Beaver Brook
Concord River
I-93.svg I-93
Great Stone Dam
MA Route 28.svg Route 28 Lawrence
Spicket River
I-495.svg I-495
Shawsheen River
I-495.svg I-495
I-495.svg I-495
Haverhill
Haverhill Line
Little River
MA Route 125.svg Route 125
MA Route 97.svg Route 97
West Newbury
Artichoke River
Maudslay State Park
Powwow River
I-95.svg I-95
Newburyport
US 1.svg US 1
Salisbury Beach

The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling[1]) is a 117-mile-long (188 km) river[2] in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire,[3] flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport. From Pawtucket Falls in Lowell, Massachusetts, onward, the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border is roughly calculated as the line three miles north of the river.

The Merrimack is an important regional focus in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The central-southern part of New Hampshire and most of northeast Massachusetts is known as the Merrimack Valley.

Several U.S. naval ships have been named USS Merrimack and USS Merrimac in honor of this river. The river is also known for the early American literary classic A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau.

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Merrimac" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 173.
  2. ^ "National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data". The National Map. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "The Voice of the Merrimack". Merrimack River Watershed Council. 2007.