Spillway Dam at Neponset Street - Canton, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 09.522 W 071° 09.252
19T E 322034 N 4669642
The dam at Neponset Street is a dam, shrouded with brush, that has a nice setting at the base of the Canton Viaduct.
Waymark Code: WMD5Z8
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2011
Views: 5
In Canton, along Neponset Street and at the base of the Canton Viaduct, the Canton River with a dam across it. This dam is identified by a page generated from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management information that this is the Canton Viaduct Spillway at Neponset Street.
A summary of dam inforation is as follows:
Hydro Height: 15 ft.
Structure Height: 16 ft
Drain Area: .5 square miles
Normal Storage: 24 Acre-feet
Max. Storage: 32 Acre-feet
Crest Length: 90 ft
Spillway Length: 80 ft
Spillway Type: U-Free Overfall
Year Completed: 1900
Neither the owner, Emerson and Cumming, nor the caretaker, Plymouth Rubber, exist, at this location, today, so I'm not sure who is the owner now.
The Canton River is also known as the East Branch of the Neponset River. The dam was for a mill downstream (across the street). Later the property became a manufacturing plant of the Emerson and Cumming Company, which made products using composite materials, until about 2008. The plant was razed and a condominium complex was erected, which is there today.
Upstream was Plymouth Rubber, which left also around 2008. This was also the location of the Revere copper rolling mill, which was run by Paul Revere - the same who was made famous by Longfellow's poem.
The dam is in fair to good shape. There is a lot of brush and small trees on either side of the dam and other plants along the bridge that helps to obscure the dam from Neponset Street. There is a small park to the right of the dam, where you can walk to one side.
Source:
members.cox.net (Canton Viaduct Spillway):
(
visit link)