Connecticut (river)

Connecticut (river), river, northeastern United States, longest in New England. It rises in the Connecticut Lakes of northern New Hampshire and flows southwest and south; it forms the boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire, crosses western Massachusetts and central Connecticut, and empties into Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook. The area of the basin drained by the river is 28,500 sq km (11,000 sq mi). The river is 655 km (407 mi) long and varies in width from 230 to 790 m (750 to 2,590 ft). The largest of its numerous tributaries is the Farmington River in Connecticut. Throughout much of its course, the Connecticut River is used for producing electric power. Important manufacturing cities on its banks include Chicopee, Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts; and Hartford, Connecticut. It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels as far inland as Holyoke in southern Massachusetts. Located in 1614 by the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block, the Connecticut River was a prominent early inland waterway.