Mother Brook - Origins

Origins

Dedham was first settled in 1635. The settlers needed a mill where corn could be ground. Although the initial settlement was adjacent to the Charles River, the Charles in this vicinity is slow-moving, with little elevation change that could provide power for a water wheel. But a small stream, then called East Brook, had an elevation change of more than 40 ft (12 m) on its run from near the early Dedham settlement to the Neponset River. Someone in the Town recognized that water could be diverted from the Charles to East Brook to provide the needed water flow. Construction of the ditch was ordered by town officials in March 1639. Thus a ditch, approximately 4,000 ft (1,200 m) long, was dug from the Charles River to East Brook, creating what is called Mother Brook today.

Town officials also offered an incentive of a 60 acres (24 ha) of land to whoever would construct a corn mill. The first corn mill was erected in 1641 by John Elderkin, at a dam on East Brook in what is now considered East Dedham. The mill operated for about 250 years. Other mills erected on the Mother Brook by 1800 included a second corn mill, a fulling mill, a saw mill, and a leather mill.