Cayuga Creek is a small
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
in
western New York
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...
, United States, with stretches in both
Erie County and
Wyoming County.
The creek enters Buffalo Creek in the northwest corner of the
Town of West Seneca in Erie County, just upstream from the
New York State Thruway
{{Infobox road
, state = NY
, type = NYST
, alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway
, maint = NYSTA
, map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...
crossing. At that point, Buffalo Creek becomes the
Buffalo River and flows into
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
near
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
.
The creek is named after the
Cayuga nation
The Cayuga Nation of New York is a federally recognized tribe of Cayuga people, based in New York, United States. Other organized tribes with Cayuga members are the federally recognized Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma and the Canadian-recognized ...
, one of the constituent members of the
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
.
Cities and settlements
The
watershed of Cayuga Creek includes the towns of
Alden
Alden may refer to:
Places United States
* Alden, California, a former settlement
* Alden, Colorado
* Alden, Illinois
*Alden, Iowa
* Alden, Kansas
* Alden, Michigan
*Alden, Minnesota
* Alden, Oklahoma
*Alden, Pennsylvania
*Alden, New York
** Alde ...
,
Cheektowaga
Cheektowaga () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town has grown to a population of 89,877. The town is in the north-central part of the county, and is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. The town is the ...
,
Elma,
Lancaster, and
Marilla in
Erie County and the towns of
Bennington and
Sheldon Sheldon may refer to:
* Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name
Places Australia
* Sheldon, Queensland
*Sheldon Forest, New South Wales
United Kingdom
*Sheldon, Derbyshire, England
*Sheldon, Devon, England
* ...
in
Wyoming County. Village centers along Cayuga Creek include
Lancaster and
Depew.
A
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...
facility in the Town of Cheektowaga discharges into Cayuga Creek upstream of Borden Road. Downstream from Borden Road the creek runs along the Indian Road
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
.
Parks and history
Cayuga Creek runs through the Lancaster Country Club and
Como Lake Park
Como Lake Park is a park in Erie County, in the U.S. state of New York. The park is located along the banks of Cayuga Creek in both the village and town of Lancaster, approximately east of the city of Buffalo. It is operated by the Erie Cou ...
in the Town of Lancaster. The Lancaster Country Club diverts some creek water for golf course irrigation.
In Como Lake Park, the creek is dammed upstream of Lake Avenue. Farther downstream the creek is an important feature in Stiglmeier Park in the Town of Cheektowaga.
After Cayuga Creek flooded the Village of Lancaster twice in the early 1940s,
protective
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
were constructed.
See also
*
List of rivers of New York
References
Rivers of New York (state)
Rivers of Erie County, New York
Rivers of Wyoming County, New York
Tributaries of Lake Erie
{{NewYork-river-stub