Hoosac River

The Hoosic River, also known as the Hoosac, the Hoosick (primarily in New York) and the Hoosuck (mostly archaic), is a 76.3-mile-long (122.8 km) tributary of the Hudson River in the northeastern United States. The different spellings are the result of varying transliterations of the river's original Algonquian name. It can be translated either as "the beyond place" (as in beyond, or east of, the Hudson) or as "the stony place" (perhaps because the river's stony bottom is usually exposed except in spring, or perhaps because local soils are so stony).

Hoosic River Hoos-ick
Hoosic River in North Adams, Massachusetts
Location
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts, Vermont, New York
Region	Hudson Valley
Physical characteristics
Source	Cheshire Reservoir
• location	Cheshire, Massachusetts
• coordinates	42°33′14″N 73°9′56″W / 42.55389°N 73.16556°W / 42.55389; -73.16556
• elevation	970 ft (300 m)
Mouth	Hudson River
• location	Schaghticoke, New York
• coordinates	42°55′40″N 73°39′29″W / 42.92778°N 73.65806°W / 42.92778; -73.65806
• elevation	65 ft (20 m)
Length	76 mi (122 km)
Basin size	720 mi^2 (1,900 km^2)
Discharge
• location	Eagle Bridge, New York
• minimum	160 cu ft/s (4.5 m^3/s)
• maximum	3,300 cu ft/s (93 m^3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Green River, Little Hoosic River
• right	North Branch Hoosic River, Walloomsac River

Watershed

The Hoosic River watershed is formed from tributaries originating in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the Taconic Mountains. The main (South) Branch of the river begins on the west slope of North Mountain and almost immediately fills the man-made Cheshire Reservoir in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. From there, the river flows north, west, and northwest, through the towns of Cheshire and Adams, the city of North Adams, and the town of Williamstown. It then travels through Pownal in the southwest corner of Vermont, after which it enters Rensselaer County, New York. There, it flows through the towns of North Petersburg and Hoosick, where it passes over a hydroelectric power dam in the village of Hoosick Falls. (There are also dams in Johnsonville, Valley Falls, and Schaghticoke.) The river provides the northwest border of the town of Pittstown, then flows through the town of Schaghticoke with its villages of Valley Falls and Schaghticoke before it terminates at its confluence with the Hudson 14 miles (23 km) above the city of Troy.

Tributaries

 

Map of the Hoosic River Watershed

• North Branch Hoosic River
• Green River
• Little Hoosick River
• Walloomsac River - Native American name, also Wal-loom-sac
• Owl Kill
• Wampecack Creek - Native American name, also Po-quam-pa-cak
• Tomhannock - Native American name, also Tom-he-nack
  • Sunkouissa Creek - Native American name, also Sank-an-is-sick

See also

• List of rivers of Massachusetts
• List of rivers of New York
• List of rivers of Vermont
• Hudson–Hoosic Watershed