| Normans Kill Normanskill Creek | |
|---|---|
 Normanskill Creek in Duanesburg | |
.svg) The Normans Kill basin encompasses parts of three counties. | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  New York |
| Region | Upstate New York |
| Metropolitan area | Capital District |
| Counties | Albany County Schenectady County, Schoharie County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Darby Hill |
| • location | Duanesburg, nearDelanson,Schenectady County,New York |
| Mouth | Hudson River |
• location | Bethlehem,Albany County,New York |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 45 mi (72 km) |
| Basin size | 170 sq mi (440 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 150 cu ft/s (4.2 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Hudson River Watershed |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Hunger Kill, Krum Kill |
| • right | Bozen Kill, Vly Creek[citation needed] |
| Basin [1] Discharge [2] | |
TheNormans Kill is a 45.4-mile-long (73.1 km)[3]creek inNew York'sCapital District located inSchenectady andAlbany counties. It flows southeasterly from its source in the town ofDuanesburg nearDelanson to its mouth at theHudson River in the town ofBethlehem. In the town ofGuilderland, the stream is dammed to create the Watervliet Reservoir, a drinking water source for the city ofWatervliet and the Town of Guilderland. A one megawatt hydrolectric plant at the dam provides power to pump water to the filtration plant.[4]
The Normans Kill has a drainage area of over 170 square miles (440 km2),[5] and includes portions ofSchoharie County along with the counties in which the Normans Kill itself flows through.
The Normans Kill has been used historically as a source ofwater power during colonial times, during which manymills sprung up along its banks. Prior to theIndustrial Revolution, blocks of ice were cut out of the creek for shipment to the city ofNew York as a form of early refrigeration. Its name is derived from theDutch word for aNorwegian, who the Dutch called "North Men or Normans", hence North Man's Stream/Creek" the ethnicity ofAlbert Andriessen Bradt (originally spelled "Bratt"), an early settler who owned sawmills near the first waterfall of the creek in the early 17th century, and the wordkill, Dutch for creek. Earlier names of the stream include[6] 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
The Normans Kill is over 45 miles (72 km) long[3] with a basin that is over 170 square miles (440 km2).[1] The last 1-mile (1.6 km) is tidal.[7]
Originally called "Tawasentha" (a place of the many dead), the Normans Kill is named forAlbert Andriessen Bradt, aNorwegian immigrant toRensselaerswyck. The creek is named for his Norwegian (Norman) heritage. He was one of the firstScandinavians to theDutch colony ofNew Netherland. He was atobacco 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.[8]
I-os-co is the historical Native American name for a tributary of Normans Kill inGuilderland, but its current name is not known.[9]
andriessen.
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Media related toNormans Kill at Wikimedia Commons