Project Description
The Bartlett Rod Shop Company Dam was a 20-foot-tall stone masonry dam on Amethyst Brook, a tributary of the Fort River in western Massachusetts. Located in Pelham, the dam was originally built in 1820 to power a gristmill. In 1864, the Bartlett Rod Shop Company purchased the mill and used it to manufacture split bamboo fly and bait rods for recreational anglers. The mill later became a woodworking shop, machine shop, and a facility that manufactured boiler tube cleaning equipment before it was purchased by Human Resource Development (HRD) Press, Inc. and converted into office space. Having outlived its original purpose, the dam fell into disrepair and became a public safety hazard. In 2009, HRD Press received a dam safety order from the MA Department of Conservation & Recreation (MassDCR) due to the dam's poor condition.
In cooperation with the landowner, the Holyoke Natural Resource Trustees partnered with American Rivers, FishAmerica Foundation, Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET), Clean Water Action, and the Towns of Amherst and Pelham to remove the Bartlett Rod Shop Company Dam. The ceremonial removal of the first stone occurred on October 17, 2012, and it look about five weeks to remove the dam. Remnant portions consisting of stepped stones on each side of the brook were left to commemorate the dam's history and a wayside exhibit was also installed. Throughout the winter and spring following the dam removal, sand and pebbles were flushed downstream from the mill pond, improving benthic habitat for a variety of fish species. Sea lampreys were found nesting upstream of the dam site the following spring, and Atlantic salmon, longnose dace and slimy sculpin were also observed. During post-restoration monitoring of the site in May 2013, a previously unknown timber dam that had long been buried by fine sediment in the mill pond was discovered about 400 feet upstream of where the Bartlett Dam once stood. The timber dam was estimated to have been built between 1739 and 1820 to power a small mill. After an archeological survey, the timber dam was removed in 2015. This was largely funded by the MA Department of Fish and Game (MassDFG) through Clean Water Action grants. The removal of these dams allowed fish and other aquatic species to access seven miles of coldwater habitat upstream that had been blocked for almost 200 years.
Parties Implementing Restoration
American Rivers; Clean Water Action; FishAmerica Foundation; Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration; NOAA; Town of Amherst, Massachusetts; Town of Pelham, Massachusetts; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service