Sawkill

Remnant of the Sawkill in Central Park

The Sawkill or Saw-kill (the Dutch place-name for Saw Mill Creek) was the largest hydrological network on Manhattan island in New York City before the Dutch colony of New Netherland was founded in 1624.[1]: 557  This 44,980-foot-long (13,710 m) stream began "within four blocks of the Hudson River":[1]: 95 

A rill flowing east from the rocky ridge overlooking Bloomingdale Village, which rose near Ninth Avenue and 85th Street, flowed in a southerly direction through Manhattan Square, where it spread into a little pond, and then turned east, crossing Central Park to Fifth Avenue, receiving three tributaries within its limits, two from the north and one from the south. At 75th Street near Third Avenue it was joined by another stream. Near this junction the old Boston Post Road crossed it, and then from this point, the stream ran due east to its outlet near the foot of 75th Street[2]

emptying into the East River between two rocky points.[3][4]: 132  Along its route the stream separated into two branches, with the name 'Sawkill' reserved for the southern arm of the creek.[4]: 32  The name for the smaller, northern stream is undocumented, but is recorded by the Randel Map (1870) as entering the East River at 79th Street.[4]: 32 [a]

  1. ^ a b Sanderson, Eric W.; Brown, Marianne (November 1, 2007). "Mannahatta: An Ecological First Look at the Manhattan Landscape Prior to Henry Hudson". Northeastern Naturalist. 14 (4): 545–570. doi:10.1656/1092-6194(2007)14[545:MAEFLA]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1938-5307. S2CID 56460899. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  2. ^ G. E. Hill and G. E. Waring Jr, "Old wells and watercourses on the isle of Manhattan, part I" in M. W. Goodwin et al., eds., 1897. Historic New York: Being the First Series of the Half Moon Papers, quoted in Sanderson & Brown 2007, p. 254
  3. ^ Gerard T. Koeppel 2000 Water for Gotham: A History. New Jersey: Princeton University Press: 10
  4. ^ a b c Stokes, I.N. Phelps (1998). The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909 : compiled from original sources and illustrated by photo-intaglio reproductions of important maps, plans, views, and documents in public and private collections. Mansfield Centre, Conn. Union, N.J: Martino Fine Books Lawbook Exchange. ISBN 978-1-886363-30-4. OCLC 37341474.
  5. ^ "Welikia 1609 Map". Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "Google Maps". Retrieved March 13, 2016.


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