Tin Brook
| Tin Brook | |
|---|---|
 Tin Brook inWalden's Wooster Memorial Grove | |
| Etymology | Early settler known as John Tinne or Tinbrook, variousDutchwords |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Orange |
| Municipality | Town of New Windsor, Town of Montgomery, Village of Walden |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | S of Coldenham |
| • coordinates | 41°30′42″N74°09′07″W/ 41.5118°N 74.1520°W |
| • elevation | 420 ft (130 m) |
| Mouth | Wallkill River |
• coordinates | 41°34′31″N74°11′26″W/ 41.5753°N 74.1905°W |
• elevation | 260 ft (79 m) |
| Length | 9 mi (14 km) |
| Basin size | 19.2 sq mi (50 km2) |
Tin Brookis a 9-mile-long (14 km)[1]tributaryof theWallkill Riveralmost entirely located in the town ofMontgomeryinOrange County,New York,United States,where it drains 19.2 square miles (50 km2).[2]Near its mouth it flows through the village ofWalden.It is one of the few named tributaries of the Wallkill that drain into it from the lowlands between it and theHudson Riverto the east, rather than theShawangunk Ridgeto the west.
Several possible origins have been proposed for the name, which appeared on local maps as early as 1774.[3]The most likely points to an early landowner along the midlands of the stream variously named John Tinne, Thinne or even John Tinbrook. Another theory suggests that it was named by theDutch settlerswho were the first European inhabitants of theHudson Valleyand that it comes from the words meaning "thin breeches" inthat language.Supposedly one of them had reconnoitered south fromNew Paltzand found the soils around the brook to be thin, or insufficiently deep for the kind of farming they preferred.[4]
Course
[edit]Tin Brook rises in a 535-acre (217 ha) complex ofwetlandsandvernal poolson the northern edge ofStewart State Forest,nearInterstate 84.[5]Almost immediately afterwards it crosses the Montgomery town line fromNew Windsor,and then reachesNY 17K.It continues flowing north through rural, mostly wooded land, veering slightly eastward and receiving an unnamed right tributary, until it reachesNY 52.There it receives another tributary, turns south, and crosses the highway again.
It loops again very quickly, turning north after passing atrailer park.Now wider, it crosses 52 again between Berea and St. Andrew's roads. It then turns west and runs roughly parallel to the highway until it reaches the Walden village limit, where it turns south and crosses 52 for a third time in the midst of a residential neighborhood. Here it makes a long loop around the village's Wooster Memorial Grove park and comes so close to its upper course that it can be found on both sides of the main entrance road near 52. It meanders south again through some light industrial neighborhoods, then crosses 52 for the last time a short distance east of the park.
Then it turns west, running aside 52 (now West Main Street) for a block, then north to divide a residential neighborhood and a commercial property. In the woodlands north of the village, Tin Brook turns west for the last time, crosses underNY 208and then drains into the Wallkill.
History
[edit]In 1724Cadwallader Colden,a future colonial official whose 3,000-acre (1,200 ha)estateincluded much of the brook's headlands, proposed that the many rivers and streams of New York be tapped forcanalsto improve transportation across the colony. He decided to use his own land as a demonstration project, diverting some of the brook's waters into a pond which fed a short canal, the first in New York. Its rafts carriedpeatfor fuel and stone to build his house, and whatever other freight was needed around the estate.[6]
In 1892, the brook provided water for Walden's first municipal electric utility, acoal-fired power planton Elm Street. At the time only the mills on the Wallkill generated power, and that was used mostly for the mills themselves. The Elm Street plant, which still stands although it is used for other purposes, began providing power for the village in 1893. Within 15 years demand outstripped supply, and as the knifemaking plants along the Wallkill river went into decline, they began providing power to the village, supplanting the Elm Street plant.[7]
After heavy rains, Tin Brook sometimes floods near its mouth, particularly at Wooster Grove. FollowingHurricane Irenein August 2011, the creek rose to such a height that not only was most of the park flooded, some nearby areas were as well, forcing the village of Walden to close some streets. Further upstream, the intersection of Route 52 and St. Andrew's Road also had to be closed.
Ecology
[edit]Several New York Statespecies of concern— theblue-spotted,Jefferson'sandmarbledsalamanders— have foundhabitatdependent on the brook.Indiana bats,a federalendangered species,use trees near it asroostingsites and have been found toforagein it. TheEastern box,woodandspottedturtlesalso make their homes in and near the brook.[5]
References
[edit]- ^"Stream Trace Summary Report".U.S. Geological Survey.February 2, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 2,2016.
- ^"Wallkill River Watershed Conservation and Management Plan"(PDF).Orange County Water Authority. p. 10.RetrievedFebruary 2,2016.
- ^Eager, Samuel Watkins (1846).An Outline History of Orange County: Together with Local Tradition and Short Biographical Sketches of Early Settlers, Etc.T. E. Henderson. p. 274.
- ^"Town of Montgomery".History of Orange County.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-09-30.Retrieved2007-07-20.at American Genealogy and History Project.
- ^abUlster County Soil and Water Conservation District, 2005,Draft Wallkill Watershed Conservation and Management PlanArchived2007-07-15 at theWayback Machine,24, retrieved February 12, 2008.
- ^Wallace, Margaret V.S. (c. 1969)."The Erie Canal began in Little Britain, no, not in location, but in vision".Orange County Post.Retrieved2008-02-12.
- ^"History of Walden, New York".Retrieved2008-02-11.[permanent dead link]
External links
[edit]
Media related toTin Brookat Wikimedia Commons
