Let Our Rivers Flow Mural at Hanover Crossing - North and South Rivers Watershed Association

1775 Washington St Unit 750, Hanover, MA 02339, USA

Owned By: Hanover Crossing

Directions

Stop by Hanover Crossing to view the Let Our Rivers Flow mural! In additional to the mural, this small park offers benches, interpretive signage, concrete walking paths and a large stretch of artificial turf. Selfies are encouraged!

The mural depicts the North River, the Washington Street Bridge, and the diverse, vibrant species that call our rivers home. To encourage visitors to look closely, it also includes a Scavenger Hunt! See if you can find all of the different plants and animals in the mural. For an extra challenge, try to identify at least one thing in the mural that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

Many of our local rivers and streams are impacted by dams that were built to support industries that no longer exist. As a result, we are left with fragmented habitats, barriers to migrating fish, and poor water quality. NSRWA and our partners are working to remove these barriers and restore the health of our rivers. Check out our Let the Rivers Flow video about the restoration of the Third Herring Brook located behind Hanover Crossing!

Curious about the fish you see in the mural? Check out NSRWA’s FISH School to learn more about river herring.

Features

The Let Our Rivers Flow mural involved six years of planning, plus 3 months of painting, with multiple community paint days. NSRWA took the lead to bring together the project partners to create an amazing art installation, a 40’ x 10’ mural, depicting the North River and the rich, diverse ecosystems it supports. Our goal is to showcase and connect people with our local natural heritage. The installation is educational and also an opportunity for engagement.

Local artists Sally Dean Mello and Cathy McCarthy are the creative forces behind this mural, but they also invited the community to be part of the process. Sculptor Kris Brennen repurposed grinding stones from a former mill site nearby to create benches for the park. Other project partners include NSRWA, Hanover Crossing, Mass Cultural Council, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration and Sign Design.

Hanover Crossing was formerly known as the Hanover Mall. This land is within the region of the Massachusett (or Massachuseuk). To learn more about local Native American tribes, we encourage you to interact with their members. The Massachusett tribe at Ponkapoag and the Mattakeeset band of the Massachusett share information on their websites.

Trail Description

The park features some short concrete trails.

Habitats and Wildlife

Hanover Crossing is situated within the watershed of Third Herring Brook, a major tributary to the North River. Its headwaters are located north of Jacobs Pond in Norwell, in the southern portion of Valley Swamp. Third Herring Brook exits the pond from the southern side, at the dam. (Watch for a fish ladder here in 2025!) The brook forms the border between Norwell and Hanover, and flows past Historic Sylvester Field, and into the North River downstream of the old stone bridge on Washington Street.

Since 2014, three obsolete dams have been removed from Third Herring Brook. All three dams were originally constructed to provide water power to sawmills. NSRWA worked with federal, state, and local officials to remove the dams. As a result, water quality has improved and wildlife habitat has been restored. We are watching closely with the hope of seeing brook trout and river herring return to their now-restored habitat.

Locations of the dam removals:

• The Mill Pond Dam, located behind today’s Hanover YMCA, was operated by the Clapp family. It was removed in 2014.

• The Tack Factory Pond (or Tiffany Pond) Dam, located on Cardinal Cushing School property, was established in the 1670s by Charles Stockbridge for a grist mill. Later Recompense Tiffany took over operations, and the mill pond was named for him. In 1834, Zephaniah Talbot and Samuel Salmond established a tack factory on site. The factory building remained in use into the 20th century. According to Joseph Merritt’s History of South Scituate-Norwell, Samuel Salmond Sylvester owned it in 1938. The factory burned down in 1983, and the dam was removed in 2016.

• The Peterson Pond Dam, located behind the former (1976-2016) site of the Hanover Mall Cinema, was established by the Curtis family c. 1692. According to John S. Barry’s History of Hanover, in later years it was owned by T. J. Gardner and then Samuel H. Church. It was removed in 2020.

• There was also a sawmill at Jacobs Pond, operated by the Jacobs family. The dam is still in place, and unlikely to be removed, but we are working with federal, state and local officials to install a fish ladder there.