Mystic River

American Indians and colonists used weirs to catch alewives and fertilize their crops. In 1631, the first ship built in Massachusetts was the Blessing of the Bay, launched from the river's shores. The first bridge was built in 1637; neighboring towns squabbled about the costs for more than a hundred years. The Mystic River played a role in the American Revolution on September 1, 1774 when a force of roughly 260 British regulars rowed from Boston up the river to a landing point near Winter Hill. From there, they marched about a mile (1.6 km) to the Powder House where a large supply of American gunpowder was kept; they removed all the powder, sparking a popular uprising known as the Powder Alarm. The Battle of Chelsea Creek took place in the river's watershed in May 1775, and the British attacked via the river's beach in the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. In 1805, the Middlesex Canal linked the Charles and Mystic Rivers to the Merrimack River in Lowell. Ten shipyards along the Mystic River built more than 500 clipper ships during the 19th Century. Shipbuilding peaked in the 1840s, as schooners and sloops transported timber and molasses for rum distilleries between Medford and the West Indies. Extensive salt marshes lined the banks of the Mystic River until 1909, when the first Craddock Locks was built across the river, converting salt marsh to freshwater marsh and enabling development. The Amelia Earhart Dam was built in 1966, named for Amelia Earhart. In 1950, construction was completed on the Maurice J. Tobin Bridge which spans the Mystic River, joining Charlestown and Chelsea. == Wildlife ==

At one time, the Mystic River was home to many species of fish, including salmon, alewife, blueback herring, striped bass, bluefish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, carp and more. Although most of these species still live in the Mystic River, pollution and dam building have severely damaged the populations. Pollution came from various mills and a small ship building yard in the past. The main source of pollution in the 20th century and into the present is from drainage from cities and towns in the watershed. Many of the records of nearby drainage pipes have been lost, or have undocumented changes and diversions. Once described as having so many herring that one could cross the river on their backs, the Mystic River herring run is much smaller than it was in historic times. Pollution has raised bacteria levels and turbidity, making it unfavorable for fish to live in. == In popular culture ==

In 1844, Medford abolitionist and writer Lydia Maria Child described her journey across the Mystic to her grandfather's house in the poem "Over the River and Through the Wood." (Grandfather's House, restored by Tufts University in 1976, still stands near the river on South Street in Medford.) John Townsend Trowbridge's popular 1882 novel, ''The Tinkham Brothers' Tide-Mill'', had its setting along the river at a time when saltwater still reached the Mystic Lakes. In Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name, Boston-area Mystic River holds a pivotal narrative development in the mystery. Later, Clint Eastwood directed the acclaimed film adaptation. In the 1861 poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere rides along the banks of the Mystic River. == Crossings ==