The Piscassic River is a 15.3 mile long (24.6 km) river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 located in southeastern New Hampshire

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...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Lamprey River

Lamprey River

The Lamprey River is a 50.2 mile long river in southeastern New Hampshire, the United States. It rises in Meadow Lake in Northwood, and flows south, then generally east past Raymond, Epping, Lee and finally Newmarket...

, part of the Great Bay

Great Bay (New Hampshire)

Great Bay is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States. The bay occupies over , not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua...

 and 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...

 leading to the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

.

The river rises in the northeast corner of Fremont

Fremont, New Hampshire

Fremont is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,283 at the 2010 census. Fremont is crossed by the Rockingham Recreation Trail and NH Route 107.-History:...

 and flows east across flat, swampy terrain through the town of Epping

Epping, New Hampshire

Epping is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,411 at the 2010 census. Epping includes the area known as Camp Hedding....

. Upon reaching the town of Newfields

Newfields, New Hampshire

Newfields is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,680 at the 2010 census. The primary village in town, where 301 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Newfields census-designated place , and is located along New Hampshire Route 85 and the...

, where it is joined by the Fresh River

Fresh River (New Hampshire)

The Fresh River is a 3.2 mile long stream in southeastern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Piscassic River, which flows into the Lamprey River and is part of the Great Bay and Piscataqua River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean.Nearly the entire course of the...

, the river turns northeast and winds through rolling terrain to Newmarket

Newmarket, New Hampshire

Newmarket is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,936 at the 2010 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire in Durham....

, where it reaches the Lamprey River. The Fresh River

Fresh River (New Hampshire)

The Fresh River is a 3.2 mile long stream in southeastern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Piscassic River, which flows into the Lamprey River and is part of the Great Bay and Piscataqua River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean.Nearly the entire course of the...

joins the Piscassic just upstream from the Piscassic Ice Pond in a marshy area of beaver ponds.

History

The lower part of the Piscassic River was once used as a canal between Neal's Mills in Newfields and the mouth of the Piscassic at the Lamprey River. A small pond which was used to unload and turn barges is located at the base of a rapids just downstream from the ruins of Neal's Mills, between Piscassic Road bridge and the B&M railroad bridge in Newfields. A mule track runs along the northwest bank of the Piscassic downstream from the turning pond.

A small dam just upstream from the Piscassic Road Bridge forms the Piscassic Ice Pond. A wooden icehouse once stood adjacent to the ice pond, just east of the dam. It had a wooden and iron conveyor leading from the pond to a point a door about 15 feet above the ground. In the early 1900s the ice on the pond was often 18 inches thick. Harvesting crews used large saws to cut ice into 3-4 foot swaths. Teams of horses shod with ice shoes were used to extract and haul the ice to the conveyor. The icehouse had about 2-3 feet inner walls filled with insulating sawdust. The icehouse rotted and fell down in the 1950s and little if anything remains of it today.