North Entrance to Park River Conduit (Hartford, Connecticut)
| interesting place
USA /
Connecticut /
Hartford /
Hartford, Connecticut
World
/ USA
/ Connecticut
/ Hartford
World / United States / Connecticut
park, river, interesting place
A little-known fact among most Connecticut residents, there is actually a real river flowing through Hartford directly beneath the city's streets; it wasn't always that way, though.
Originally used by early settlers to power mills and dispose of livestock waste, the Park River (also known as the Hog River) was important to the early economy of the Hartford area.
Unfortunately, the river eventually became dirtied & filled with waste; by the late 1800's it brought water-borne disease to nearby residents during the summer months. The health risks associated with the river became an accepted part of life and the river continued to flow through Hartford, but that all changed in the late 1930's.
When the great flood of 1936 inflicted millions of dollars of damage upon the city, lawmakers and residents saw first hand the destructive power of the Park River. But the event that finally sealed the river's fate was a second major flood just two years later, in 1938. This tragedy coupled with the other problems caused by the river convinced the local and state government to take action to protect Hartford from another disaster.
The plan was to build a giant underground conduit system composed of twin reinforced concrete tubes 30 feet wide and 19.5 feet tall that would redirect the river underneath Hartford, in addition to serving as a flood control measure. The Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1940, and by the end of 1943 the original mile-long (approx.) section of the conduit was finished. Since then, the conduit has been expanded and now has North and South entrances. The outlet of the system is about 4000 feet upstream from the Charter Oak bridge.
The underground river is still accessible to those who know where to look, and several people have ventured into its pitch-black caverns with canoes, only armed with headlamps to light the way...
www.bushnellpark.org/parkriver.html
Originally used by early settlers to power mills and dispose of livestock waste, the Park River (also known as the Hog River) was important to the early economy of the Hartford area.
Unfortunately, the river eventually became dirtied & filled with waste; by the late 1800's it brought water-borne disease to nearby residents during the summer months. The health risks associated with the river became an accepted part of life and the river continued to flow through Hartford, but that all changed in the late 1930's.
When the great flood of 1936 inflicted millions of dollars of damage upon the city, lawmakers and residents saw first hand the destructive power of the Park River. But the event that finally sealed the river's fate was a second major flood just two years later, in 1938. This tragedy coupled with the other problems caused by the river convinced the local and state government to take action to protect Hartford from another disaster.
The plan was to build a giant underground conduit system composed of twin reinforced concrete tubes 30 feet wide and 19.5 feet tall that would redirect the river underneath Hartford, in addition to serving as a flood control measure. The Army Corps of Engineers began construction in 1940, and by the end of 1943 the original mile-long (approx.) section of the conduit was finished. Since then, the conduit has been expanded and now has North and South entrances. The outlet of the system is about 4000 feet upstream from the Charter Oak bridge.
The underground river is still accessible to those who know where to look, and several people have ventured into its pitch-black caverns with canoes, only armed with headlamps to light the way...
www.bushnellpark.org/parkriver.html
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 41°46'4"N 72°42'12"W
- MDC West Hartford & Bloomfield Reservoirs 10 km
- Meshomasic State Forest 16 km
- Cockaponset State Forest 36 km
- Naugatuck State Forest - West Block 46 km
- West Rock Ridge State Park 46 km
- New Haven Regional Water Company Property 52 km
- Pachaug State Forest 69 km
- Orient Beach State Park 76 km
- Arcadia Managment Area 78 km
- Mashomack Preserve 84 km
- Asylum Hill 1 km
- West End 1.1 km
- Behind The Rocks 2.7 km
- Hartford County, Connecticut 2.9 km
- Barry Square 3.2 km
- Southwest 3.9 km
- South End / Little Italy 4.2 km
- West Hartford, Connecticut 4.5 km
- New Britain, Connecticut 12 km
- Farmington, Connecticut 12 km