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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD The hundreds of residents who live near it and the thousands of motorists who drive by it probably never consider the history of the Mill River. Last Wednesday evening, though, about 20 residents not only learned about the past of the river, but considered its future as well. A tour group led by Scott Hanson of the "X" Main Street Corporation and the city's Office of Housing and Neighborhoods, walked a route that started at the Armory complex on Allen Street and proceeded down Rifle Street to Locust Street and ended at the Tavern Inn on Mill Street. Dodging poison ivy, broken bottles and assorted trash, the group, primarily residents from the Forest Park and Maple High Six Corners neighborhoods, had the opportunity to see the river in a way most residents don't. "What a waste that no one has noticed it," one woman murmured as she looked at a stretch of the river as it ran alongside Rifle Street. Although trash was abundant on the Rifle Street side of the river, the other side owned by the city was untouched, giving a sense of a forest deep in the heart of the city. The Mill River had been dubbed "The Miracle Mile" in the 19th Century as its rushing waters provided the power for a number of industries. While the Armory building on Allen Street might be for many people today the most obvious example of use of the river's waterpower, as early as 1794 there were already three sawmills, two gristmills, and a paper mill along the river. Woolen mills were also established along the river . Hanson took the group first around the back of the Armory complex to show them the dam that controlled the water for the turbines. He noted that the occupancy of the complex, which is owned by two different companies, is quite high. It houses a wide variety of businesses from metal finishing to printing to an organ company. The Armory first built workshops here in 1817 to capitalize on the three waterfalls on the river. Hanson noted that the oldest of the existing buildings was built in 1857. The train bridge that can be seen crossing Lake Massasoit from the Armory is part of a planned rail trail, Hanson noted. Following the river down Rifle Street, the group could see the red stone retaining wall built to channel the rushing waters as they flow to the Connecticut River. As the river crossed under the bridge on Rifle Street and through Johnny Appleseed Park, the river returned to a natural edge. The group cut through the park and walked along a trail that brought them to Cherry Street, the location of a burying ground established in 1826 and the resting place for both Revolutionary and Civil War veterans. Crossing Mill Street to Locust Street, Hanson noted that there are several Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) drains that can bring polluted water into the river. Springfield, along with several other cities in Hampden County, has been mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate CSOs. At the nearby intersection of Mill and Maple Streets is a monument dedicated to the Ames family who established the first paper factory in the region in 1760. Also nearby at 258 Mill St. is the oldest home in the city, although most in the group expressed how they could have never recognized it as such. Built in 1790, the home was modernized in the 1920s, obscuring its Federal style features. As the group continued down Locust Street, the river took several sharp turns. At the collection of former mill buildings on lower Mill Street, the remains of a dam can be seen and one of the buildings was constructed over the river. Even though the area has been used as a dumping spot there was a large pile of asphalt chunks and concrete slabs in one area wild violets were flowering. Ending the tour at the former Mill Street Fire Station that now houses the Tavern Inn, the group was shown the placid mill pond and dam behind the restaurant. From here the river is directed into a culvert which carries it underground to the Connecticut River. Hanson told Reminder Publications that he wanted to call attention to the river and show it could be "an asset instead of something to avoid" and that the area around the river has development potential. He added that the city could use some "funkier living spaces" and should develop "older buildings to attract people back to the city." |
