Pequonnock River
| Pequonnock River | |
 Upriver view from the Daniels Farm Road bridge in Trumbull, CT.
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Connecticut |
| Counties | Fairfield |
| Source | Pequonnock River Watershed |
| - location | Lantern Drive & CT Route 25, Monroe, Connecticut, United States |
| Mouth | Bridgeport Harbor Light on Long Island Sound |
| - location | Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| - coordinates | 41°09′24″N 73°10′48″W / 41.15667°N 73.18000°WCoordinates: 41°09′24″N 73°10′48″W / 41.15667°N 73.18000°W |
| Length | 16.7 mi (27 km) |
| Basin | 0.125 sq mi (0 km2) |
The Pequonnock River is a 16.7-mile-long (26.9 km) waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among historians as to just what the Indian word Pequonnock signifies. Some insist it meant cleared field or open ground; others are sure it meant broken ground; while a third group is certain it meant place of slaughter or place of destruction.
The eastern branch river flows southerly from Monroe through Trumbull past the Old Mine Park Archeological Site and continues to the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, merging at the mouth of Bridgeport Harbor with Long Island Sound at the Bridgeport Harbor Light. The river is dammed in Bridgeport by the Bunnell's Pond Dam (41°12′29″N 73°11′13″W / 41.208°N 73.187°W) near the Beardsley Zoo.
The western branch of the river flows southeasterly in a wide "S" pattern from near the Monroe border with Newtown, Connecticut. The two branches link in Monroe east of the intersection of Route 25 and Purdy Hill Road (41°18′01″N 73°14′45″W / 41.3004°N 73.2458°W). Less than a mile south of that point in Trumbull, a tributary called North Farrars Brook joins the Pequonnock. Hedgehog Creek and Belden Brook in Trumbull flow into the river southwest of the intersection of Route 25 and Daniels Farm Road. The fourth tributary is Booth Hill Brook, also in Trumbull. It merges northeast of the Route 25 interchange with Route 15 (41°14′23″N 73°11′09″W / 41.2396°N 73.1858°W). The fifth and final tributary is Island Brook, which joins the river in Bridgeport south of Bunnell Pond and north of the River Street Bridge (41°11′49″N 73°11′12″W / 41.1970°N 73.1867°W). Island Brook is dammed in Bridgeport by the Forest Lake Dam. (41°13′12″N 73°12′25″W / 41.220°N 73.207°W)
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Wikipedia