The Normans Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 3, 2011

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

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

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

located in

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

and Albany counties. It flows southeasterly from its source in the town of Duanesburg near Delanson to its mouth at the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

in the town of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. In the town of Guilderland, the stream is dammed to create the Watervliet Reservoir, a drinking water source for the city of Watervliet and the Town of Guilderland. A one megawatt hydrolectric plant at the dam provides power to pump water to the filtration plant. The Normans Kill has a drainage area of over , and includes portions of

Schoharie County Schoharie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,714, making it the state's fifth-least populous county. The county seat is Schoharie. "Schoharie" comes from a Mohawk word meaning " ...

along with the counties in which the Normans Kill itself flows through. The Normans Kill has been used historically as a source of

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...

during colonial times, during which many

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...

sprung up along its banks. Prior to the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, blocks of ice were cut out of the creek for shipment to the city of

as a form of early refrigeration. Its name is derived from the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

word for a Norwegian, who the Dutch called "North Men or Normans", hence North Man's Stream/Creek" the ethnicity of

Albert Andriessen Bradt Albert Andriessen Bradt (1607 – June 7, 1686) was one of the earliest Norwegian settlers in New Netherland. In the early records he is often referred to as Albert Noorman ('Norwegian'). Biography Albert Andriessen Bradt (spelled "Bratt" during ...

(originally spelled "Bratt"), an early settler who owned sawmills near the first waterfall of the creek in the early 17th century, and the word ''

kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Other common uses include: *Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek *Kill (command), a computing command *K ...

'', Dutch for creek. Earlier names of the stream include Godyns Kil, Norman's Kill, Normans Kil, and the indigenous place name Ta-wa-sen-tha, Ta-wal-sou-tha, or Tawalsontha. Locals call and spell it Normanskill (one word) Creek

Geography

The Normans Kill is over long with a basin that is over . The last is tidal.

History

Originally called "Tawasentha" (a place of the many dead), the Normans Kill is named for

, a Norwegian immigrant to

Rensselaerswyck Rensselaerswyck was a Dutch colonial patroonship and later an English manor owned by the van Rensselaer family located in the present-day Capital District of New York in the United States. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West In ...

. The creek is named for his Norwegian (Norman) heritage. He was one of the first

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

ns to the

colony of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

. He was a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

planter and as such came to the area of the Normans Kill for that purpose. He proceeded to construct two sawmills along the Normans Kill.

Tributaries

Vly Creek Vly Creek is a river in Delaware County and Greene County in New York. It flows into Bush Kill by Fleischmanns, New York Fleischmanns is a village within the town of Middletown in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population ...

- ''

Vlaie In the Hudson Valley of eastern United States, a vlaie, vly or fly is a swamp or marsh. It also applies to creeks and areas in the vicinities. The term appears in place names in areas of Dutch influence, formerly New Netherland. Etymology The ...

'' meaning "swamp" in Dutch. * Krum Kill * Hunger Kill ** East Branch Hunger Kill ** Blockhouse Creek *** Kaikout Kill *

Bozen Kill Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The g ...

** Wolf Creek *

Bonny Brook The Bonny Brook flows into the Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New Yo ...

* Indian House Creek ''I-os-co'' is the historical Native American name for a tributary of Normans Kill in Guilderland, but its current name is not known.

References

External links

*
The Norman of the Normanskill
{{Hudson River Rivers of Albany County, New York Rivers of Schenectady County, New York Rivers of New York (state) Tributaries of the Hudson River

Geography

History

Tributaries

See also

References

External links