THE RIVER

Every day a great many people - representing both town and gown and both Hanover and Norwich - cross back and forth over what we call "the river," whether for work or trade or play or any possible combination of these duties. And "the river," of course, to all of us in the long valley which unites New Hampshire and Vermont is none other than the Connecticut. From the earliest days of white settlement in these parts the Connecticut has been a mainstream of life and activity - more prominent in some periods than in others — but always there and always a factor to be reckoned with.

It has been both a divisive and uniting force between Hanover and Norwich with the divisive aspect sometimes increased by the fact that the river is also a state boundary. Yet in general the unifying force has been dominant. In the earliest days, when the Connecticut was to so great a degree the main avenue of trade and settlement, it was in the summertime easily crossed by canoe or boat or ferry, particularly at one or two narrow spots near Hanover; and in the wintertime crossing on the ice was even easier for a team which could drive right over. Springtime with thawing ice and flood waters made crossing difficult but after the completion of the first bridge in 1796 this difficulty was largely eliminated. And by the time that drives of logs or later pulpwood jammed the river in spring some sort of bridge was in operation and transportation on the river largely a thing of the past.

As one crosses over the present steel and concrete bridge, constructed in 1935, it is interesting to recall the four old structures that preceded it, particularly that unique first bridge of a single span, 1,344 feet in length, so arched that the center was some twenty feet higher than the ends, and which collapsed of its own weight in 1804. And many of us remember the long covered bridge which preceded the present structure — the first and only covered bridge on this site - named by Dr. Crosby the "Ledyard Bridge" and serving, with minor repairs, from 1859 to 1935.

Sometimes on a foggy morning one can in mind's eye see an old flatboat laden with store goods poling upstream, having locked through the falls at Wilder, or perhaps the little steamboat John Ledyard making its puffing way on its single trip up to Wells River, and we can with the Haverhill bard "hail the day when Captain Nutt sailed up our fair Connecticut." But this is all a dream for actually this sort of business has long since disappeared from the river, driven off first by the turnpikes and then by the railroad which arrived at the junction of the White River with the Connecticut in 1847. We have almost turned the circle again in matters of transportation, for the Norwich-Hanover railroad station was closed up completely December 1, 1959 and today even the White River station stands almost deserted; but we have not turned back to the river for transportation but rather to automobiles and buses and trucks over ever-faster highways.

Throughout the 19th century, however, "the river" was widely used for various types of recreation - swimming and canoeing and fishing and boating and skating and picnicking. This rather general use of the river for purposes of pleasure tended to decrease in the 20th century — particularly with the advent of the automobile and other forms of modern diversion, and with the increasing measure of pollution and its dangers. Now, in our day, the Hanover-Norwich area is becoming river-minded again and the number of small river-craft is on the increase.

This new and increased use of the Connecticut all began when the New England Electric System constructed its power dam at the "lower bar" or rapids a little way downstream from the old Wilder dam. This dam, when completed in 1950 with top elevation of gates and flash boards at 385 feet above sea level, raised the level of the river at the dam by almost 16 feet and backed it up for about 40 miles to Newbury, thus creating a pond of this length which is locally known as Wilder Lake. Promotional literature of the electric company now advertises our Connecticut Valley as "Happy Valley" and even a few marinas for the sale and rental of boats have begun to appear. A recreation area has been developed just above the dam at Wilder and outboard watercraft are more and more common. The river has been much improved for use by the Dartmouth crew and the Canoe Club has been refurbished and reactivated. Even small sails have appeared, and the "Squire of Norwich" can sit on his lawn high above the river and be regularly entertained by all sorts of activity ranging from water-skiing to "canoedling."

A few years ago an amusing topic of conversation over the Hanover coffee cups was the wild scheme for a Hanover Yacht Club to own and operate excursion boats simulating the old John Ledyard, and perpetuating that name, which might offer regular cruises from a landing near the bridge. Regular trips might go down river to the dam and upstream to Lyme or Orford, with a scheduled stop at Stilwell's landing - Lew Stilwell's island - for refreshments and other entertainment. Needless to say nothing ever came of this imaginative project, though it is still a good subject for consideration when the "wolfwind is wailing at the doorways, and the snow drifts deep along the road."

The river as a state boundary has been mentioned and one aspect of this deserves a further word. A river boundary is usually in mid-stream but after arguments that go back to Revolutionary times and litigations that began in 1831 the controversy at long last reached its conclusion in a decree by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1934 that New Hampshire's legitimate claim extends to the low-water mark on the west bank. As a result of that decision New Hampshire has to build and maintain 95% of any Connecticut River bridge while Vermont gets off easy with the western abutment. And Norwich residents heading home over the bridge are not able to take that first deep breath of free Vermont air until they reach the further shore.

And still our "old man river" keeps flowing to the sea. It is, in the Hanover area, badly polluted but under pressure from the state and an increasingly aroused populace sewage disposal plants and other improvements are the order of the day. And the Wilder Dam, along with others upstream, has made it in many of its reaches even more lovely to look at and ride along and ride upon. The flatboats and the rafts and the ferries and the log-drives have gone forever, but the river remains for town and gown a beautiful historic boundary between Hanover and Norwich and a part of every Dartmouth man's cargo as he shares with Richard Hovey "a never-ending remembrance of thee and the hills and the river."