The Hoosic River, also known as the Hoosac, the Hoosick (primarily in New York) and the Hoosuck (mostly archaic), is a 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).
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 Petersburgh 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 above the city of Troy.
Tributaries
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
References
External links
Hoosic River Watershed Association
Hoosuck Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Hoosic River Nature Trail in Williamstown
Tributaries of the Hudson River
Rivers of New York (state) Rivers of Vermont Rivers of Berkshire County, Massachusetts Rivers of Washington County, New York Rivers of Rensselaer County, New York Rivers of Bennington County, Vermont Rivers of Massachusetts New York placenames of Native American origin Vermont placenames of Native American origin