Merrimack River
The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a 117-mile-long (188 km) river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport. From Pawtucket Falls in Lowell, Massachusetts, onward, the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border is roughly calculated as the line three miles north of the river.
| Merrimack River Merrimac River | |
|---|---|
Mouth of Merrimack River in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 2021 | |
The Merrimack River and its major tributaries | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Hampshire Massachusetts |
| Region | New England |
| Cities | Concord, NH, Manchester, NH, Nashua, NH, Lowell, MA, Lawrence, MA, Haverhill, MA, Newburyport, MA |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Pemigewasset River-Winnipesaukee River juncture |
| • location | Franklin, Merrimack County, New Hampshire |
| • coordinates | 43°26′11″N 71°38′53″W |
| • elevation | 280 ft (85 m) |
| Mouth | Gulf of Maine |
• location | Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts |
• coordinates | 42°49′10″N 70°48′43″W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 117 mi (188 km) |
| Basin size | 5,010 sq mi (13,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Newburyport, Massachusetts |
| • average | 7,562 cu ft/s (214.1 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Soucook River, Suncook River, Beaver Brook, Powwow River |
| • right | Contoocook River, Piscataquog River, Souhegan River, Nashua River, Concord River, Shawsheen River |
The Merrimack is an important regional focus in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The central-southern part of New Hampshire and most of northeast Massachusetts is known as the Merrimack Valley.
Several U.S. naval ships have been named USS Merrimack and USS Merrimac in honor of this river. The river is also known for the early American literary classic A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau.