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Mother Brook is a stream that flows from the Charles River in Dedham, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River in the Hyde Park section of Boston, Massachusetts. Mother Brook was also known variously as East Brook and Mill Creek in earlier times. Digging the brook made Boston and some surrounding communities an island, accessible only by crossing over water, making Mother Brook "Massachusetts' Panama Canal." Dug by English settlers in 1639 to power a grist mill, it is the oldest such canal in North America. Mother Brook was important to Dedham as its only source of water power for mills, from 1639 into the early 20th century. Today, Mother Brook is part of a flood-control system that diverts water from the Charles River to the Neponset River. The brook's flow is under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and is used for flood control on the Charles. There are three remaining dams on the stream, plus a movable floodgate that controls flow from the Charles into Mother Brook. The brook has given its name to the modern day Mother Brook Community Group, the Mother Brook Arts and Community Center, Riverside Theatre Works, and the erstwhile Mother Brook Club and Mother Brook Coalition. Early history Origins Dedham, Massachusetts was first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1636. The settlers needed a mill for grinding corn as hand mills took too much effort. Wind mills had been tried, but the wind was too unreliable and the North End, where a windmill was moved to in 1632, was too far away. In 1633, the first water powered grist mill was established in Dorchester along the Neponset River at a dam he erected just about the tidal basin. By the late 1630s, the closest watermill was in Watertown, some distance away. Abraham Shaw who, like many other Dedhamites, came from Watertown, arrived in Dedham in 1637. He was granted 60 acres (24 ha) of land as long as he erected a watermill, which he intended to build on the Charles River near the present day Needham Street bridge. Every man in the town was required to bring the millstone to Dedham from Watertown. Shaw died in 1638 before he could complete his mill, however, and his heirs were not interested in building the mill. Although the initial settlement was adjacent to the Charles, in this vicinity it is slow-moving, with little elevation change that could provide power for a water wheel. A small stream, then called East Brook, ran close by the Charles River, about 100 rods (1,600 feet; 500 metres) from present day Washington Street behind Brookdale Cemetery, and emptied into the Neponset River. In the spring, the Charles would occasionally flood into a swamp at Purchase Meadow between its banks and East Brook. Additionally, East Brook had an elevation change of more than 40 feet on its 3.5 mile run from near the early Dedham settlement to the Neponset River, which was sufficient to drive a water mill. However, East Brook had a low water flow insufficient to power a mill. The drop in the first mile alone is 45 ft (14 m). A year after Shaw's death the town was still without a mill. A committee was formed and "an audacious plan" was devised to "divert some of the plentiful water from the placid Charles into the steep but scarce East Brook. The 4,000 foot ditch was ordered to be dug at public expense by the town on March 25, 1639, and a tax was levied on settlers to pay for it. The settlers may have been influenced by the draining of the Fens in The Wash, an area in England near many of their hometowns. The town was so confident in this course of action that the work began before they found a new miller to replace Shaw. There is no record of who dug it or how long it took, although Whiting family history claims it was done by Nathaniel Whiting. The labor pool would be confined to the 30 men who headed households in the town at the time, plus various servants and other male relatives. While it is unknown when exactly it was completed, there was water running through it by July 14, 1641, and has been known as Mother Brook since at least 1678. There is no record of any celebration that may have taken place upon its completion. The work was completed amidst all the other work being done to establish a town out of the wilderness: felling trees, building homes, planting crops, clearing fields, and more. Early mills The town also offered an incentive of 60 acres of land to whoever would construct and maintain a corn mill, as long as the mill was ready to grind corn by "the first of the 10th month"[i.e. December]. The first corn mill was erected in 1641 by John Elderkin, a recent arrival from Lynn, at a dam on East Brook next to the present day Condon Park and near the intersection of Bussey St and Colburn St. He was given a tract of land in return. Elderkin had previously built a mill in Lynn and, in 1642, only months after opening the mill, moved out of town. This was the first public utility in the nation. Early settlers could grind their corn at the mill, and in return paid a tithe to help maintain the mill. The town relinquished rights to the brook in 1682 and placed an historical marker on the site in 1886. In 1642, Elderkin sold half of his rights to Whiting and the other half to John Allin, Nathan Aldis, and John Dwight. They operated the mill "in a rather stormy partnership" until 1649 when Nathaniel Whiting became the sole owner. The town was displeased with the "insufficient performance" of the mill under Whiting's management. In 1652, Whiting sold his mill and all his town rights to John Dwight, Francis Chickering, Joshua Fisher, and John Morse for 250 pounds, but purchased it back the following year. Whiting and five generations of his descendants ran their mill from 1641 until 1823, when it was sold. In January 1653 the town offered land to Robert Crossman if he would build a mill on the Charles where Shaw had originally intended. Crossman refused, but Whiting was so displeased by the prospect of a second mill that he offered to sell his mill back to the town for 250 pounds. Whiting's performance did not improve, however, and the town wanted an alternative. Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse were then given permission by the town to erect a new corn mill on the brook above Whiting's, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665. Whiting was upset by the competition for both water and customers and, "never one to forgive and forget, Whiting made something of a crusade of opposition" to the new mill. Records show that the town spent "considerable time" trying to resolve the issue. After meeting with the Selectmen, both agreed to live in peace and not interfere with the business of the other. Two years later Morse was instructed to not hinder the water flow to such an extent that it would make milling difficult for Whiting. The town resolved that "in time of drought or want of water, the water shall in no such time be raised so high by the occasion of the new mill, that the water be thereb.... Discover the Richard Adams Jabez Burns Charles H Spur popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Richard Adams Jabez Burns Charles H Spur books.