Everything about Wallkill River totally explained
The
Wallkill River, a
tributary of the
Hudson, drains
Lake Mohawk in
Sparta,
New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly 94 miles (151 km) into
New York, where it drains into
Rondout Creek near
Rosendale, with the combined flows reaching the Hudson at
Kingston.
The river is often said to be unusual because it flows north between two major south-flowing rivers, the
Hudson and the
Delaware River. It also has the unusual distinction of being a river that drains into a
creek, due to being
impounded shortly before the Rondout
confluence into a small body of water called
Sturgeon Pool near
Rifton, and what reaches the Rondout from there's the lesser flow.
Course
Its broad valley nestles between the main
Appalachian Mountains and the
New York-New Jersey Highlands, supporting much local
agriculture. During its course it first drains most of
Sussex County, New Jersey, then flows through the
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge at the New Jersey/New York state line. Most of the New Jersey portion is navigable by canoe.
Then it's heavily diverted as it flows through the rich
Black Dirt Region of
Warwick. Until drainage projects were built here, this region was known as the
Drowned Lands. After lending its name to the
Town of Wallkill, in northern
Orange County, it begins to regain its volume as it passes by
Orange County Airport,
Montgomery and through
Walden, where
dams have been built in the past to provide power for local
industry. The largest, in Walden, still is used by
New York State Electric and Gas today.
After briefly serving as the line between Orange and
Ulster counties, it passes by
Wallkill, the second community to take its name from the river, and then the striking scenery of the
Shawangunk Ridge is visible as it winds past the
Ulster County Fairgrounds and
New Paltz, where its
flood plain becomes more noticeable, on the way to its mouth at the Rondout.
Also somewhat unusually, the Wallkill tends to cross political borders much more often than it forms them, at least in New York (in New Jersey it divides several townships). Other than the brief segment that follows the Orange-Ulster line, there's only southern Orange County, where it divides the towns of
Minisink,
Wawayanda and
Wallkill on its west from
Warwick and
Goshen to the east. Two villages, Montgomery and New Paltz, are also bounded by the river in part.
In addition to the
town and
hamlet in New York, two school districts take their name from the river:
Wallkill Valley Regional School District, in New Jersey and
Wallkill Central in New York (
Valley Central also derives its name indirectly from the river).
History
Native Americans knew the river as
Twischsawkin, meaning "the land where
plums abound". At least three prehistoric rock shelters have been found in
archaelogical digs in the region. For the indigenous peoples, it wasn't only important for its
arable land but for its
geological resources. The river and its valley are abundant in
flint and
chert, from which they made
spear points and
arrowheads.
European settlers of the region named it first the Palse River, after New Paltz. Later, when it was clear that the river continued well beyond the original New Paltz patent, it took after the
Waal river in their native
Netherlands. They worked their way down it from the Hudson Valley in the
17th century, and were followed by the British after the colony changed hands.
Settlers recognized the agricultural possibilities of the Drowned Lands almost as soon as they moved in. Efforts to divert the river and create more farmland appear to have begun as early as 1760. It would take 66 years, however, before a
canal succeeded in draining the land and making enough available to profitably cultivate.
By that time industry was beginning to harness the river, too, as Jacob Walden established his
mill in the village downriver that would later take his name. Millers in the Black Dirt Region clashed heavily with farmers in what were known as the Muskrat and Beaver Wars for decades afterwards, since the millers needed the water to flow freely while the farmers depended on keeping it diverted. In 1871 the farmers finally won. What industry there was would be confined to Montgomery and Walden where the
railroad ran nearby.
In 1955 the river experienced the most serious flooding in its history, when two
hurricanes pounded the
Northeast after a dry summer. Heavy flooding of the river and its smaller tributaries from the
April 2007 nor'easter forced a number of road closures and evacuations of homes in its
flood plain in central Orange County.
Tributaries
The Wallkill has 69 total tributaries in New York alone. Thirty are named.
Moving downriver (south to north)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wallkill River'.
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