Mianus River

41°02′20″N 73°35′24″W / 41.039°N 73.590°W / 41.039; -73.590

Mianus River
Low dam upriver on Mianus River in Mianus River Park near Old Mill Lane in Stamford, Connecticut.
Mianus River is located in Connecticut
Mianus River
Location of the mouth in Connecticut
Location
CountryUnited States
StatesNew York and Connecticut
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationTown of North Castle, New York
Mouth 
 • location
Long Island Sound, Connecticut
 • elevation
Sea level
Length20.3 miles (32.7 km)

The Mianus River is a 20.3-mile-long (32.7 km) river in Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. It begins in the town of North Castle, New York (east of Armonk) in a series of ponds at about 600 feet (180 m) altitude. Flowing northeast into the town of Bedford, it abruptly turns south and passes through the Mianus River Gorge, a nature preserve, before entering Stamford, Connecticut, where it is dammed into the Mianus Reservoir, officially known as the Samuel J. Bargh Reservoir (256-foot (78 m) altitude) of the Greenwich Water Company. From there, it flows south through Stamford and Greenwich into Long Island Sound, at sea level.

The river flows under the Mianus River Bridge, which is part of Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1, and the Mianus River Railroad Bridge which carries the New Haven Line of Metro-North Railroad. The Mianus flows through parks including the Mianus River State Park (straddling the Stamford/Greenwich border) and Mianus Glen, just to the north in Stamford, as well as Newman Mills Park in North Stamford.

The Mianus Fault runs near the river, pushing rock on the east side down, relative to the west side.[1]

Mianus is a corruption of Mayanno, an Indian chieftain.[2] Mianus has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[3]

Mianus river in the Mianus River Gorge Preserve in Bedford, New York.
  1. ^ Skehan, James W., Roadside Geology of Connecticut and Rhode Island, p 227, Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 2008, ISBN 978-0-8784-2547-1
  2. ^ The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly. Connecticut Magazine Company. 1903. p. 333. Archived from the original on 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  3. ^ Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. xi. ISBN 9781440507397.[permanent dead link]