Gerritsen Creek
Gerritsen Creek is a short watercourse in Brooklyn that empties into Jamaica Bay.[1][2] The creek currently starts near Avenue U, but its original headwaters lay eight streets farther north.[3] That part of the creek was buried in a storm sewer in 1920. The creek's mouth, and much of its remaining length is part of a nature conservation area. The creek has been described as one of the "fingers" that formed the original shoreline of Jamaica Bay.[4]
In recent decades have been made to restore parts of the creek, particularly the salt march near its mouth to a state closer to its natural state, before modern settlement.[4][5] In 2012 the US Army Corps of Engineers, a body with a responsibility for many US waterways, had $8.3 million budgeted for the restoration.
The creek lies just beyond the maximum extent of the Wisconsin Glacier.[6] Archeological investigation have determined that Native American people started to settle permanently in the creek's watershed as early as 5,000 BC.
The creek's name comes from a historic grist mill built on the creeks shore in the 17th Century.[7] The mill, a tide mill, the first to be built in North America, was built when the area was colonized by the Dutch.
References
- ↑ "History of Marine Park". Archived from the original on 2013-11-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20131118171035/http://www.marineparkcivic.com/history.htm. Retrieved 2014-08-07. "Around 1920 the creek north of Avenue U was converted into an underground storm drain."
- ↑ Leslie Day, Mark A. Klingler, Michael R. Bloomberg (2013). Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City. JHU Press. pp. 48-50. ISBN 9781421411491. http://books.google.ca/books?id=-BoOGYeaQ64C&pg=PT23&lpg=PT23&dq=%22Gerritsen+Mill%22&source=bl&ots=DayXa2te3X&sig=UH8tmoxnD6HhcwN675DUmULtUL4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fCvkU6G2GZH9yQS45YGoCw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Gerritsen%20Mill%22&f=false. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
- ↑ Josephine Axt (2003). "Ecosystem restoration promotes understanding". US Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20130225013135/http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsStories/StoryArticleView/tabid/5250/Article/3084/officials-celebrate-the-gerritsen-creek-ecosystem-restoration-project-in-marine.aspx. Retrieved 2014-08-07. "The more recent research showed the various stages of the modern history of Gerritsen’s Creek, including how it used to extend approximately eight blocks further north than its current ending point at Avenue U in Brooklyn, N.Y."
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Officials Celebrate the Gerritsen Creek Ecosystem Restoration Project in Marine Park". US Army Corps of Engineers. 2012-08-14. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20130225013135/http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Media/NewsStories/StoryArticleView/tabid/5250/Article/3084/officials-celebrate-the-gerritsen-creek-ecosystem-restoration-project-in-marine.aspx. Retrieved 2014-08-07. "“Gerritsen Creek is one of the original “fingers” of the great “hand” of Jamaica Bay, and over the last century it has been the victim of human intrusions that have damaged its ecological functioning,” said Parks Commissioner Benepe."
- ↑ "FACT SHEET-Gerritsen Creek–MARINE PARK, NY: Ecosystem Restoration Project". US Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20130218183835/http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Media/FactSheets/FactSheetArticleView/tabid/11241/Article/8100/fact-sheet-gerritsen-creekmarine-park-ny.aspx. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
- ↑ H. Arthur Bankoff, Christopher Ricciardi, Alyssa Loorya (1997). "Gerritsen’s Creek: 1997 Archaeological Field Excavations". New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203450/http://nytelecom.vo.llnwd.net/o15/agencies/lpc/arch_reports/870.pdf. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
- ↑ "The remains of Gerritsen’s mill". 2013-06-14. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808040442/http://imjustwalkin.com/2013/06/14/. Retrieved 2014-08-07. "According to the Parks Department, the first tide-powered mill in North America, built in the mid-1600s by Hugh Gerritsen, once sat just across Gerritsen Creek from where I'm standing, and the wooden pilings you see crossing the creek supported the mill's dam."
