Trip to an 1870 Dam

Morning came stormy with long rolling thunder, some lightning and a few spells of heavy rain. By 10:00, it cleared up and looked like it would stay that way. I headed up to O'Sullivan's Island for a short trip at the top of the tidal section of the Housatonic and Naugutuck Rivers.

Shelton/Derby Dam

 

The water was high when I started and there was a good down stream current. The dams may have been spilling some water after the morning's heavy rains. From the put in, I turned upstream for a paddle up to the Shelton/Derby Dam. The Dam was built about 1870. I flushed two Black Crowned Night Herons from the overhanging trees along the way. There is a lot of wildflowers in bloom on the banks.

The Shelton/Derby Locks

I cut across the river to explore the opening to the old locks. The width is not much more than a canoe length. I wonder how far upstream one could get with a steamboat in 1870. All of the upstream dams came much later and before that the river had some fast and narrow sections. From what I can tell, the dam was built just as generators were being invented. There are numerous millrace exits along the bank, old stone arched tunnels. Eventually, the dam functioned as a diversion dam for direct water power and as a hydroelectric source. Now it just has a small hydro electric powerhouse, you can't get too much electricity out of a 25 ft tall dam.

 

Black Crowned Night Heron at the bottom of an old millrace

I headed back and rounded the bottom of the island to head up into the Naugatuck. It has been a few years since I'd been in the Naugatuck, and now I remember why. A good current was coming out of the Naugatuck, plus an impressive amount of plastic trash. The water was also quite silty, with a sharp line in the water when I paddled from the Housatonic into the Naugutuck. I paddled up to the third bridge, wher the current was almost too fast to beat. If I remember right, there is a minor rapids at this point in lower water. The other downer about the lower Naugatuck is that it is hemmed in by tall sterile crushed rock levees - not much to look at.