Ten Mile River – North Attleborough MA

Description

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted substantial improvement work along Ten Mile River in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin:

Ten Mile River at North Attleboro
Construction work that is eliminating a serious health menace, reclaiming hundreds of acres of swampland, safeguarding scores of homes against flood damage, and transforming an unsightly and malodorous watercourse into a source of civic pride, is going steadily forward under WPA on the Ten Mile River in North Attleboro.
The pitch of the river bed, in the two-and-one-half miles between Whiting’s Pond at the north end of the town and Falls Pond at the south end, was little more than two feet. The river’s course was clogged with debris, muck and peat.
Hundreds of acres of what should have been profitable grass land, and in some instances land suitable for buildings, was bogged. Many stagnant pools, where mosquitoes bred, were formed. Health officials have frowned upon Ten Mile, home-owners along its course have suffered from flooded cellars and dooryards.
Today, for two-thirds of its length. Ten Mile is a beautiful stream.
Its course has been straightened, the river bed generally has been cleaned of muck and peat and, where necessary, has been filled to establish a gravel base. Between Whiting’s and Falls Pond a stretch of 9,200 feet has been so treated, and both sides of the river have been walled-up.
The land alongside the new walls has all been filled. Seven hundred acres of swampland have already been reclaimed; upon this there is a luxuriant growth of grass. And while Ten Mile River is still not a swiftly flowing stream, there is sufficient flowage to insure clear water.