Vine Brook
| Vine Brook | |
| River | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Massachusetts |
| District | Middlesex County |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | Upper Vine Brook, Long Meadow Brook |
| Cities | Lexington, Burlington, Bedford |
| Source | Spring near the "Old Reservoir" |
| - location | Old Reservoir Park, Marrett Road, Lexington |
| Mouth | Shawsheen River |
| - location | Bedford |
Vine Brook is a brook in Middlesex County, United States. According to the History of Bedford, Vine Brook is "an important tributary of Shawsheen River." The book also states it as an excellent source of water-power in the 17th to 19th Centuries.
Vine Brook flows from the "Old Reservoir," at a public park off Marrett Road in Lexington, then meets Upper Vine Brook (one of its tributaries), then continues northward through Lexington Centre, through Butterfield's Pond on the Lexington-Burlington border, underneath the Middlesex Mall and Burlington Mall (in a culvert), remaining northward and parallel to the Middlesex Turnpike for a ways, then meets Long Meadow Brook (one of its tributaries), then part of it branches off to form Sandy Brook, then continues to flow northwesterly over the Burlington-Bedford border, to Route 3 at Burlington Road, then crosses over Rte. 3 to an old millpond, and empties into the Shawsheen River. (The Shawsheen, in turn, empties into the Merrimack River, which then empties into the Atlantic Ocean.)
Vine Brook is one of the best-known water features in Lexington, and is closely identified with the histories of Lexington and Burlington, due to the several mills which once operated on its banks. The brook lends its name to many local streets and developments. Several segments of the brook, in all three towns it passes through, are parts of town-owned conservation land parks.
Vine Brook has two major tributaries.
Vine Brook has one secondary branch.
Before the first white settlers came around the 1630s, the Indians had formed no permanent settlement near Vine Brook in Lexington, as the water supply was not great enough for an entire tribe. However, towards the Shawsheen River there were settlements, as that was certainly a greater body of water. (While Vine Brook was small in those days, though, it did have fish.)
When the first settlement was made at Lexington circa 1642, it was near Vine Brook.
As can be seen in the next section, there was a great use of the Brook for mills, from the 17th to 19th Centuries.
In the early 20th Century, however, the practical use of the Brook switched to irrigation for neighboring farms, as Lexington was still very much a farming community up to around the 1950s. In the 1930s, as part of a WPA project, the Brook was widened and deepened from its original shallow, narrow bed from Hayes Lane to Emerson Road, all in Lexington. This was to better use it for irrigation purposes. (Today, much of the brook bed is reverting to its natural size, gradually filling back in with silt.) In addition, it was culverted from Hayes Lane back upstream to Vine Brook Road in Lexington.
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Wikipedia