The Rippowam River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Fairfield County, Connecticut

Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...

. It drains a watershed area of 37.5 mi2 and flows for 17 miles (27.4 km) from Ridgefield

Ridgefield, Connecticut

Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...

 to Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound

Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...

, which it enters in Stamford

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...

's harbor.

Streamflow in the Rippowam River is controlled by several small dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s. The Turn-of-River Bridge

Turn-of-River Bridge

The Turn-of-River Bridge, also known as Old North Stamford Road Bridge, is a lenticular pony truss bridge built by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company in 1892. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987....

, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, crosses it. The river has been dammed up to form both the North Stamford Reservoir in North Stamford, and the Laurel Reservoir on the Stamford/New Canaan border.

The lower eight miles of Rippowam River, from the North Stamford Reservoir to Stamford Harbor, are known as "Mill River".

Architect Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson

Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...

 built his Glass House

Glass House

The Glass House or Johnson house, built in 1949 in New Canaan, Connecticut, was designed by Philip Johnson as his own residence and is a masterpiece in the use of glass. It was an important and influential project for Johnson and for modern architecture. The building is an essay in minimal...

 on the eastern slope of the Rippowam River valley in New Canaan

New Canaan, Connecticut

New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...

 in the late 1940s to take advantage of the view of the valley formed by the river.

See also

• List of rivers in Connecticut
• Byram River
  Byram River
  The Byram River is a river approximately in length, in southeast New York and southwestern Connecticut in the United States.The river has an elevation of at its headwaters at Byram Lake in Westchester County, New York, and flows in a southward direction, crossing the New York-Connecticut border...
  
  
• Mianus River
  Mianus River
  The Mianus River is a river in Westchester County, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut, in the United States. It begins in the town of North Castle, New York in a series of ponds at about altitude...
  
  
• Norwalk River
  Norwalk River
  The Norwalk River is a river in southwestern Connecticut, approximately long. The word "Norwalk" comes from the Algonquian word "noyank" meaning "point of land".-Description:...