Millstone River

Parts of the river demarks the border between Middlesex and Mercer Counties, which also forms the boundaries between the Second and Third Districts of the Federal Reserve.

It receives Royce Brook before flowing past the Somerset Christian College, one of the few structures built on the land between the D&R Canal and the Millstone River.

The Millstone River basin has suffered a number of severe flooding events over the past 200 years.

[4] The Millstone River provides drinking water to tens of thousands of households and businesses in Central New Jersey.

In general, the stage coach took a bee-line route, straight as the crow flies, between the Raritan Bay at South Amboy and the Delaware River at Bordentown.

As the country grew and its economy began to thrive, large buoyant barges supported by water on canals emerged as much more suitable for heavy shipping.

Hence the importance of the Millstone River which provides a north–south waterway through New Jersey connecting the two great cities of Philadelphia and New York.

The land between canal and river is a flood plain that generally consists of swamps, wooded areas and some farmland.

In Lawrenceville, New Jersey, at a site known as Bakers Basin today located along U.S. Route 1, the canal makes the few mile remaining connection into Trenton, the state capital, and then into the Delaware River.

Hence the Millstone and Raritan Rivers enabled the major shipping route between New York and Philadelphia in the early 19th century.

The Millstone River flowing in Millstone Township , where the headwaters for the river are located.
The Millstone River flowing in Plainsboro Township .
Carnegie Lake , with Princeton University 's Cleveland Tower in the background.
The Millstone River flowing in Rocky Hill .
Brown water floods a black pedestrian tunnel. Leafy trees form the backdrop.
During Hurricane Henri , the Millstone River overflowed and nearly submerged a nearby pedestrian tunnel in the D&R Canal State Park near Kingston .
Cars submerged in the Millstone River near Rocky Hill
During Hurricane Ida , the Millstone River, and much of the Raritan Basin at large, suffered from massive flooding. Pictured here, is the Georgetown Franklin Turnpike bridge connecting Rocky Hill and Franklin Township overflowed by the Millstone River, with abandoned cars submerged in the floodwaters.
The Millstone River's northern course near Griggstown .
The Mill at Griggstown was one of several mills situated on the D&R Canal in its largely parallel stretch with the Millstone River up to New Brunswick .
An example of what a millstone looked like.
Map of southern section of the Millstone River; see above for northern section