Isinglass River
Encyclopedia
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is about 15 miles (24 km) long. It rises at Bow Lake
Bow Lake (New Hampshire)
Bow Lake is a water body located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States, in the towns of Strafford and Northwood. Its outlet is the Isinglass River, flowing east to the Atlantic Ocean via the Cocheco and Piscataqua rivers....
in Strafford
Strafford, New Hampshire
Strafford is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,991 at the 2010 census. The two main settlements in town are the villages of Center Strafford and Bow Lake Village.- History :...
, but is also fed through its tributaries by Ayer's, Nippo, Round and Long Ponds in Barrington
Barrington, New Hampshire
Barrington is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,576 at the 2010 census. The town is a woodland, farm and bedroom community.-History:...
. The Isinglass flows east to meet the Cochecho River
Cochecho River
The Cochecho River or Cocheco River is a tributary of the Piscataqua River, 38.3 miles long, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It rises in northern Strafford County and runs southeastward, through the town of Farmington and the cities of Rochester and Dover, where it provides hydroelectric power...
below Rochester
Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 29,752. The city includes the villages of East Rochester and Gonic. Rochester is home to Skyhaven Airport and the annual Rochester Fair....
. The river is part of the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
.
In History of the Town of Rochester, N.H., published 1892, author Franklin McDuffee remarks that the Isinglass River is "probably named from the mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
in its bed or along its banks." Isinglass is a synonym for mica, an abundance of which makes rock at the Isinglass River sparkle.