Brook cleanup has local spirit flowing

Built by early settlers in 1639 to power a grist mill downstream, the 3-mile waterway, which connects the Charles and Neponset rivers and is America’s first industrial canal, has been fouled by trash, obscured by shoreline vegetation, and buried under roads and parking lots.

“It is very confined in some places, and some of the banks are armored,’’ said Ian Cooke, executive director of the Neponset River Watershed Association. “There have been a lot of issues with regard to dumping. Historically, it has been neglected and has been the domain of teenagers.’’

But no longer - thanks to cleanup efforts that began with one man’s initiative early last year, after a faulty floodgate blocked water flow to the brook and caused water levels to drop.

For several days, neighborhood resident Charles Krueger watched with alarm as the receding water exposed shopping carts, tires, air conditioners, televisions, and other junk. Finally, he decided to take a stand. At the water’s edge on Bussey Street, the main thoroughfare in East Dedham, he wielded a grappling hook and began pulling things out.

That solitary action set in motion a communitywide cleanup of the canal and its banks, as well as construction of two walking trails, and plans for more extensive trails, a picnic area, and a canoe launch.

Krueger’s neighbors joined him on the bank, sometimes wading into the brook to bring out debris. The town provided a truck to haul away junk.

Several months later, the residents organized as the Mother Brook Community Group and began looking for other ways to improve the waterway. Volunteers have spent countless hours clearing brush and trees from the banks, and a pair of Eagle Scouts spearheaded construction of the wood-chip walking paths.

“People come here now and are just amazed by the beauty of what they find,’’ said Krueger. “We saw we had a valuable thing in Mother Brook, and we thought we could restore it.’’

The community group’s work in East Dedham was not the only effort taking place this year to improve the waterway. About a mile away, at the Dedham Mall, the general manager of Uno Chicago Grill, Arvik Ozcan, started her own Mother Brook beautification campaign.

This spring, Ozcan and workers from the restaurant cleared brush and pulled shopping carts and other debris from the brook, which flows largely hidden in a sea of asphalt next to the restaurant. She then renovated a little-used patio at Uno, where patrons now can dine overlooking the brook.

“It changes people’s attitudes when they come in here,’’ said Ozcan. “It’s calming. It’s beautiful.’’

In its short, winding journey from its headwaters at the Charles River near the Dedham Mall to the Neponset River in Hyde Park, Mother Brook morphs from narrow stream to expansive mill pond and back to stream. The waterway’s shifting shape is the result of five dams, which once powered factories along the brook.

The factories closed decades ago, but the dams remain, and in some places are picturesque additions to the landscape.

A 25-foot waterfall created by a dam is a striking feature of the Mother Brook Condominiums, a converted mill complex in East Dedham. Paul McMurtry, state representative from Dedham and owner of the Dedham Community Theatre, bought a condo there three years ago.

“I was embarrassingly unaware of the character of the area before I moved here,’’ said McMurtry, who had been living near Dedham Square. “It’s so tranquil and picturesque. I feel like I’m living in a resort.’’

The first European settlement in Dedham was on the Charles River, in a spot that had insufficient water flow to power mills. Town officials had a canal dug from the Charles to a small brook that flowed to the Neponset. In 1641, the first Mother Brook mill opened to grind corn.

The origin of Mother Brook’s name is unclear, but the claim that it is the oldest industrial canal in America requires some qualification. Before the Europeans arrived, Native Americans dug canals for irrigation; and a few years before Mother Brook was built, settlers in Plymouth built a navigation canal in the marshes of Duxbury. Mother Brook, though, was the first built for industrial purposes.

While Mother Brook no longer powers mills, it is used for flood control on the Charles. When flooding threatens upstream communities, including Wellesley and Needham, water is released into the canal.

“Mother Brook still performs a valuable function,’’ said Wendy Fox, spokeswoman for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Dedham’s economic development director, Karen O’Connell, says she believes development could be oriented around the brook in East Dedham, an area that has lagged behind the rest of Dedham in economic development. She envisions mixed-use residential and commercial projects replacing underused industrial and commercial properties along the waterway.

“We think that Mother Brook is a natural resource that could spur redevelopment,’’ O’Connell said.

The cleanup undertaken by the Mother Brook Community Group has opened more areas on the brook to fishing. On most warm afternoons, youngsters can be seen fishing along the banks or from a bridge. While Mother Brook has suffered some pollution, water quality is generally better there than in the Charles or Neponset, according to the Neponset River Watershed Association’s Cooke. He said it is probably safe to eat fish caught in Mother Brook in moderate amounts.

The Mother Brook Community Group is looking to extend the walking trails on both sides of the brook and is raising money to renovate Condon Park, a small but prominent municipal park and playground next to the waterway.

“We’re hoping that by increasing activities around Mother Brook, we can create heightened awareness of the resource,’’ said Dan Hart, a leader of the group.

Despite the recent improvements to the brook, significant problems remain. Just downstream from Uno’s, the canal vanishes behind a chain-link fence into Dedham’s trash transfer station and remains virtually invisible as it travels under busy Washington Street.

In East Dedham, litter and debris continue to appear, especially in parts of the brook where there is no walking trail. In a spot just below Bussey Street, a homeless man has set up a camp.

Krueger believes the brook’s revival will not be stopped.

“My proudest accomplishment is that you can’t look around now without seeing people using it - walking their dogs, fishing, or just going for a walk,’’ he said. “It is going to bring this neighborhood back.’’

Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com.