Blow-me-down Brook


Blow-me-down Brook is a long stream located in western New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.
Blow-me-down Brook begins in the village of Cornish Flat, located in the northeastern part of the town of Cornish, New Hampshire. It flows northwest into the town of Plainfield, then takes a zig-zag course generally west to the Connecticut River, reentering Cornish shortly before its end. In Plainfield, it passes the villages of Hell Hollow and Mill Village and runs just east of Plainfield's town center. In its lower course in Cornish, the brook passes the village of Squag City and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. The Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge crosses the brook at Squag City. The section of brook which passes alongside or through the St. Gaudens property was humorously called "Blow-me-up Brook" by St. Gaudens himself.
The watershed of Blow-me-down Brook extends to Croydon Mountain in the northwestern corner of the town of Croydon, just east of the town's boundary with Cornish. The brook was dredged from a small dam at the northeastern edge of Cornish Flat to the bridge that crosses State Route 120. This was done sometime before 1945 in order to avoid flooding. However, at least once, when a cloudburst occurred on Spruce Ball, the brook did overflow its banks and flooded part of State Route 120 but without severe damage to property.