| Tin Brook | |
|---|---|
 Tin Brook inWalden's Wooster Memorial Grove | |
 | |
| Etymology | Early settler known as John Tinne or Tinbrook, variousDutch words |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Orange |
| Municipality | Town of New Windsor, Town of Montgomery, Village of Walden |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | S of Coldenham |
| • coordinates | 41°30′42″N74°09′07″W / 41.5118°N 74.1520°W /41.5118; -74.1520 |
| • elevation | 420 ft (130 m) |
| Mouth | Wallkill River |
• coordinates | 41°34′31″N74°11′26″W / 41.5753°N 74.1905°W /41.5753; -74.1905 |
• elevation | 260 ft (79 m) |
| Length | 9 mi (14 km) |
| Basin size | 19.2 sq mi (50 km2) |
Tin Brook is a 9-mile-long (14 km)[1]tributary of theWallkill River almost entirely located in the town ofMontgomery inOrange County,New York,United States, where it drains 19.2 square miles (50 km2).[2] Near its mouth it flows through the village ofWalden. It is one of the few named tributaries of the Wallkill that drain into it from the lowlands between it and theHudson River to the east, rather than theShawangunk Ridge to the west.
Several possible origins have been proposed for the name, which appeared on local maps as early as 1774.[3] The most likely points to an early landowner along the midlands of the stream variously named John Tinne, Thinne or even John Tinbrook. Another theory suggests that it was named by theDutch settlers who were the first European inhabitants of theHudson Valley and that it comes from the words meaning "thin breeches" inthat language. Supposedly one of them had reconnoitered south fromNew Paltz and found the soils around the brook to be thin, or insufficiently deep for the kind of farming they preferred.[4]
Tin Brook rises in a 535-acre (217 ha) complex ofwetlands andvernal pools on the northern edge ofStewart State Forest, nearInterstate 84.[5] Almost immediately afterwards it crosses the Montgomery town line fromNew Windsor, and then reachesNY 17K. It continues flowing north through rural, mostly wooded land, veering slightly eastward and receiving an unnamed right tributary, until it reachesNY 52. There it receives another tributary, turns south, and crosses the highway again.
It loops again very quickly, turning north after passing atrailer park. Now wider, it crosses 52 again between Berea and St. Andrew's roads. It then turns west and runs roughly parallel to the highway until it reaches the Walden village limit, where it turns south and crosses 52 for a third time in the midst of a residential neighborhood. Here it makes a long loop around the village's Wooster Memorial Grove park and comes so close to its upper course that it can be found on both sides of the main entrance road near 52. It meanders south again through some light industrial neighborhoods, then crosses 52 for the last time a short distance east of the park.
Then it turns west, running aside 52 (now West Main Street) for a block, then north to divide a residential neighborhood and a commercial property. In the woodlands north of the village, Tin Brook turns west for the last time, crosses underNY 208 and then drains into the Wallkill.
In 1724Cadwallader Colden, a future colonial official whose 3,000-acre (1,200 ha)estate included much of the brook's headlands, proposed that the many rivers and streams of New York be tapped forcanals to improve transportation across the colony. He decided to use his own land as a demonstration project, diverting some of the brook's waters into a pond which fed a short canal, the first in New York. Its rafts carriedpeat for fuel and stone to build his house, and whatever other freight was needed around the estate.[6]
In 1892, the brook provided water for Walden's first municipal electric utility, acoal-fired power plant on Elm Street. At the time only the mills on the Wallkill generated power, and that was used mostly for the mills themselves. The Elm Street plant, which still stands although it is used for other purposes, began providing power for the village in 1893. Within 15 years demand outstripped supply, and as the knifemaking plants along the Wallkill river went into decline, they began providing power to the village, supplanting the Elm Street plant.[7]
After heavy rains, Tin Brook sometimes floods near its mouth, particularly at Wooster Grove. FollowingHurricane Irene in August 2011, the creek rose to such a height that not only was most of the park flooded, some nearby areas were as well, forcing the village of Walden to close some streets. Further upstream, the intersection of Route 52 and St. Andrew's Road also had to be closed.
Several New York Statespecies of concern — theblue-spotted,Jefferson's andmarbledsalamanders — have foundhabitat dependent on the brook.Indiana bats, a federalendangered species, use trees near it asroosting sites and have been found toforage in it. TheEastern box,wood andspottedturtles also make their homes in and near the brook.[5]
Media related toTin Brook at Wikimedia Commons