Irondequoit Bay is a large

body of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such a ...

located in northeastern

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: *Monroe County, Alabama * Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida *Monroe County, Georgia * Monroe County, Illinois * Monroe County, Indi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The bay, roughly wide and in length, is fed by Irondequoit Creek to the south and flows into

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

at its northern end. On average, the surface of Irondequoit Bay rests at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

and is deep at its deepest point a short distance north of the Irondequoit Bay Bridge carrying the six-lane

New York State Route 104 New York State Route 104 (NY 104) is a east–west state highway in Upstate New York in the United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it follow ...

over the bay. The center of the bay acts as the eastern border for the town of

Irondequoit Irondequoit is a town (and census-designated place) in Monroe County, New York, United States. As of 2019, the coterminous town-CDP had a total population of 50,055. Irondequoit is a suburb of the city of Rochester, lying just north and east ...

and the western border of the towns of Penfield and

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta * Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United Stat ...

. The Irondequoit–Penfield boundary continues along the center of Irondequoit Creek south of the New York State Route 404 float bridge. During the past million years there were four glacial ages that covered the

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

area with ice and impacted the geography of the area. The most recent glacier that left evidence here was about 100,000 years ago and it caused compression of the earth by as much as . About 12,000 years ago, the area underwent massive changes, which included the rerouting of the

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

and other water bodies. Since the earth rebounded from the melting glaciers more rapidly in Canada than in New York, water from Lake Ontario was spilled over New York due to its lower elevation. During this time, the original outlet of the Genesee River was flooded out, creating Irondequoit Bay. On a French map of the area from 1688 titled "Le Lac Ontario" Irondequoit Bay was referred to as the "swamp of the

Senecas The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west ...

". Prior to the 1840s, the bay was known as "Teoronto Bay." Seven parks abut the bay: *Devil's Cove Park, Webster *Ellison Park, Penfield * Irondequoit Bay Marine Park, Irondequoit *Abraham Lincoln Park (formerly Irondequoit Bay Park East), Penfield *Irondequoit Bay Park West, Irondequoit *LaSalle's Landing Park, Penfield *Sandbar Park, Webster

References

External links

{{Commons category, Irondequoit Bay
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation page
Bays of New York (state) Bays of Lake Ontario Bodies of water of Monroe County, New York

See also

References

External links