The Casperkill (also known as Jan Casper's Kill and shown on federal maps as Casper Creek
) is a creek in both the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an o ...
and city of
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...
,
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...
. It flows
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed October 3, 2011 from Peach Hill Park to the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
. Combined with its only major
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
, the
Fonteyn Kill, it forms a
subwatershed
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
. It lies entirely within the British royal grant of 1685 known as the
Rombout Patent
The Rombout Patent was a Colonial era land patent issued by King James II of England in 1685 sanctioning the right of Francis Rombouts and his partners Stephanus Van Cortlandt and Jacobus Kip to own some of land they had purchased from Native ...
.
Casperkill Assessment Project
Since the spring of 2006, the Casperkill Assessment Project —a partnership between the
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
Environmental Research Institute and local organizations and individuals – has been conducting research on the Casperkill creek and its watershed. Students and faculty at Vassar have studied the biology, geology, and chemistry of the creek, as well as the land use and policy decisions that affect it. The results of this research have been made available to the public through the Casperkill Assessment Document, which can be accessed below.
Casperkill Watershed Alliance
Shortly after the Casperkill Assessment Project began, a citizens group - The Casperkill Watershed Alliance - was formed to promote awareness, foster appreciation, and work towards improving the ecological health of Casperkill watershed. The alliance is a partnership between the Vassar Environmental Research Institute, Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County, Casperkill Watershed residents, civic officials, and other interested parties. The group meets monthly and organizes various community watershed events such as
streamside plantings, storm drain marking projects, creek cleanups,
natural lawn care workshops,
rain barrel
A rainwater tank (sometimes called a rain barrel in North America in reference to smaller tanks, or a water butt in the UK) is a water tank used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via pipes. Rainwater tanks are device ...
workshops, bike rides, and more. More information about the Casperkill Watershed Alliance can be found on the dutchesswatersheds.org website below.
Casperkill Oral History Project
The Casperkill Oral History Project was initiated in the summer of 2010. Several Vassar students have been interviewing professors and local residents about the Casperkill creek and about the changes that have taken place within the surrounding watershed. Among the topics that the Casperkill Oral History team covers are: sites of historical interest; wildlife and ecological changes; residents' personal experiences living near the creek; and the history of human development and land use in the watershed, especially the transitions brought about by the expansion of
IBM in Poughkeepsie in the mid-20th century. The information and memories collected by the team are made available to the public on a blog, which can be accessed below.
See also
*
List of rivers of New York
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented by order of confluence with their main stem, from mouth to source.
Long I ...
References
External links
The Casperkill Oral History Project blogThe Casperkill Assessment DocumentCasperkill Watershed on dutchesswatersheds.orgManagement plan
{{authority control
Poughkeepsie, New York
Rivers of New York (state)
Tributaries of the Hudson River
Rivers of Dutchess County, New York
Oral history