[20][14] 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.

[45][37][29] 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.

[20] 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.

Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse were then given permission by the town in 1664 to erect a new grist mill on the brook above Whiting's, at the intersection of present-day Maverick and High Streets, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665.

[83] Mother Brook provided water power at various times for industrial mills of several types, including the manufacture of cotton, wool, paper, wire, and carpets.

"[82] These artists viewed them as "picturesque artifacts of a simpler and more peaceful past," in contrast to the more modern mills that were spewing smoke and dumping pollutants into the water.

[95] The compound would grow to include a three-story spinning factory, four two-family homes, and other buildings for picking, dyeing, and bleaching, a machine shop, and one for weavers and foot-pedal looms.

[76][101] From 1808 through the next decade, the company advertised for labor in local newspapers, as the work required more manpower than the part-time grist and saw mills that had previously operated along the brook.

[113] He set up a one stop shop in which everything the carding and combing of the raw materials to the weaving, fulling, and dyeing of the finished product would be done at a single location and under common management.

[124] The fourth privilege was used for a variety of purposes, especially in the 19th century, including copper cents, paper, cotton, wool, carpets, and handkerchiefs.

[136] Farmers and landowners were also upset that manufacturers were exempt from taxation, as the Commonwealth sought to encourage industry and reduce dependence on British goods.

[139][140] They argued that diverting the flow of the Charles "from its natural course" into Mother Brook violated their rights and that the river, as a public resource, deserved state protection.

[105] The Mother Brook Mill-Owners Association and their counterparts on the Charles petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court in March 1809, requesting the appointment of Commissioners of Sewers.

[143][144][138] In 1825, after another court battle, it was determined that the previous agreement was no longer viable due to the long delay in filing the report and the failure to consider new evidence.

The bold pirates built a canal from the headwaters of the Charles across to the Neponset River, and by widening and deepening this 'Mother Brook' they were gradually robbing their neighboring town of its beautiful waterway.

[9][ad] The growth of the industrial part of the town was so great that it was said that the factories, dye houses, dwellings, and other buildings associated with the operation of just one privilege "of themselves constitute a little village.

[163] When Josiah Quincy III visited a similar mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, he reported "a dull dejection in the countenances of all" the children working there and thought that they should instead be given "air, space, and sports.

In the late 1800s, they began "losing ground in the national economic picture, inexorably sliding into an increasingly marginal sort of operation, and finally succumbing entirely to the slump which followed the First World War.

[9] They cleaned up a junkyard, dredged out silt and fill, rebuilt the dam, and published a plan to promote boating, hiking, and other outdoor activities on the site.

[9] Unlike most waterways in the Neponset watershed, Mother Brook is less polluted during heavy rains than during drier times, due to the abundance of clean Charles River water flowing into it.

[188] Today along the banks of the brook are walking trails, a picnic area, a canoe launch,[30] Condon Park, a handicapped accessible playground, and more.

The Mother Brook Community Group won a grant from Dedham Savings to turn the old Town Beach at the intersection of Bussey and Colburn Street into a passive park with an observation deck, benches, landscaping, and a stone path.

Serving on it were Dan Hart, Nicole Keane, Brian Keaney, Vicky L. Krukeberg, Charlie Krueger, Gerri Roberts, and Jean Ford Webb.

[44] They include: The consultants' research was submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which will determine whether Mother Brook qualifies for the National Register listing.

[199] Later that year, during the worst floods in New England's history, 150 people in Hyde Park had to evacuate their homes after floodwaters from Mother Brook and the Neponset River collapsed preventative embankments.

[209] In 1938, while much of the Charles and Neponset Rivers were flooding their banks and causing $3,000,000 in damage,[210] the area around Mother Brook was unharmed in the early days of the surge.

[230] A WHDH radio traffic helicopter broke the ice with its pontoons, allowing Boston firefighters to spot and recover David Tundidor's body.

[244] A similar incident occurred in 1837 when a thirsty horse brought himself, the teamster driving him, and the load of paper he was carrying from the mills in Dedham to Braintree into the brook.

"[317] De Las Casas agreed with Brandeis, but the mill owners in the area threatened to sue to prevent the action, and the costs of taking it by eminent domain were high.

[19][20] In 1968, the Metropolitan Park Commission applied for an "Open Spaces Grant" from the federal government, during which time part of the area near the headwaters was being drained to build the Dedham Mall.