History Saw Kill (Hudson River)

1 history

1.1 formation
1.2 human use
1.3 1620s–1803: development
1.4 19th century: conservation
1.5 20th century
1.6 21st century

history
formation

the saw kill grew 1 of many tributaries of lake albany, proglacial lake filled of hudson valley north of hudson highlands centered on present-day location of albany during wisconsinan glaciation, last ice age, 12–15,000 years ago. @ time of existence lake filled valley 250-foot (76 m) contour line, saw kill today drops through series of cascades camp rising sun in red hook. retreat of lake flowed southward become today s river left glacial outwash plain stream flows through there river s current escarpment @ annandale , hudson.

early human use

as glaciers melted , hudson formed, animals , plants came region found tributaries saw kill places re-establish , gradually followed them interior. native american tribes settled in region afterwards found them useful, paths between settlements. hunted , fished stream sustenance. archeological investigations @ montgomery place, south of stream s mouth, have found evidence of land s use hunting ground 5,000 years ago.

1620s–1803: development

a 1798 map showing lower saw kill , estates around it

the dutch began settling region in 1620s. first settlers followed lead of indians in using tributaries transportation routes , food sources. however, more dutch settlers arrived, began see stream ideal place build mills, particularly sawmills gave name. land speculators bought water rights saw kill before had been built.

the saw kill , majority of land north of saw kill watershed sold colonel pieter schuyler in 1688. patents rhinebeck lasted until 1840. deed paperwork refers saw kill metambesem, algonquin name it, has not otherwise survived.

schuyler s patents slowed agricultural development rates along saw kill, despite rapid agricultural expansion in dutchess county starting in 1750. sawmills , gristmills nevertheless built. 1777 present not near stream s mouth upstream @ present-day locations of red hook mills, mill road crosses , stream still impounded small lake, , rock city. mills commonplace along stream end of 18th century. milling died down end of 19th due decreased profitability.

pressure industrial expansion on saw kill increased in mid-1800s. residents, louise livingston of montgomery place, built in 1803 on bluff south of mouth, saw threat peacefulness , natural beauty of stream. sister-in-law, janet livingston montgomery, widow of revolutionary war general richard montgomery, had bought 242 acres (98 ha) on estate built shortly after husband s death in battle of quebec, building house , establishing ornamental farm on property.

19th century: conservation

lower falls, montgomery place, milbert

in 1820s, saw kill s lower gorge subject of works notable artists. jacques-gérard milbert produced lithograph, , alexander jackson davis painted janet livingston enjoying scene while in process of designing montgomery place house. marquis de lafayette made point of visiting when stopped see janet montgomery on return america in 1825.

louise livingston, along robert donaldson, neighboring blithewood estate later became campus of bard college, purchased land on saw kill in 1841 prevent extraction , factory development (an existing mill @ creek s mouth demolished; of remains extant).

they feared losing pristine quality of river noise, loss of natural landscape, , factory worker intrusion. hunting considered disruption of peace , safety quality of living wealthy landowners. nevertheless, practice remained commonplace 20th century.

livingston , donaldson connected properties trails , footbridges on stream. small wooden pavilions built allow visitors take in beauty of stream. legal agreement between them 1 of earliest such land-conservation covenants in american history.

donaldson , livingston preserved stream s picturesque lower portion between estates

in 1860s theodore roosevelt s family rented small estate near montgomery place several years, spending summers there. explored lower saw kill, @ 1 point canoeing around mouth , adjacent bay, finding fascinating both aesthetically , scientifically, according letters wrote nanny in new york. of biographers credit experience lifelong interest in conservation , land preservation.

20th century

in 1921 livingston descendants delafields moved in montgomery place. put saw kill industrial use again, building power station on 1 of lakes created earlier mills. completed 2 years later, provided electricity not estate annandale.

the delafields hiked in woods, , boated , swam in lakes. violetta delafield, botanist, continued earlier conservation traditions documenting mushroom species found in woods. in addition text notes, painted watercolors of them.

in 1951 blithewood estate north of saw kill s lower stretch across montgomery place donated bard college, continued keep predominantly natural. annandale , montgomery place connected local power in 1965, although delafields generating station remained online backup through 1983. in 1985 delafields sold estate westchester county-based preservation organization historic hudson valley, opened public tours, , continued maintain trails along saw kill.

between 1975 , 1982 2 local conservation groups, in conjunction bard, regularly tested stream s water quality @ 14 locations mouth rock city, including lakes kill , other unnamed tributaries, effluent wastewater treatment plants @ bard , camp rising sun , orchard hill chicken pie factory in village of red hook (since closed). according 1977 article in local newspaper, saw kill in shape. there little in way of man-made pollution , said member. particularly praised orchard hill installing new treatment system , eliminating of harmful waste discharging nearby tributary.

21st century

bard, both taps saw kill drinking water and, further downstream, discharges treated wastewater it, began monitoring stream s health in 2000s. in 2006 built eel ladder below 1 of surviving dams in cooperation state department of environmental conservation s hudson estuary program allow american eels reach mating grounds upstream. later in decade, after winning state grant, college began exploring possibility of generating power @ dams, if not elsewhere in state, offset greenhouse gas production.

bard bought montgomery place in 2016.

in 2009 historic hudson valley considered selling montgomery place, said had bought without realizing how cost maintain, less renovate. after criticism delafields, had found property expensive keep, organization abandoned idea. in 2016 sold property bard $17 million, putting both sides of lower saw kill under same ownership first time.