The Cohocksink Creek was formerly a stream running between what are now the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

neighborhoods of

Northern Liberties Northern Liberties is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to its incorporation into Philadelphia in 1854, it was among the top 10 largest cities in the U.S. in every census from 1790 to 1850. Boundaries Northern Liberties is loc ...

and Kensington. It was a tributary of the Delaware River. Its name, spelled various ways, is said to come from a Lenape word for "pine lands". Alternate names included Stacey's Creek. The creek arose at the confluence of two smaller streams in a

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

around the present-day intersection of Sixth and Thompson streets. For centuries, Cohocksink Creek has often been confused with Cohoquinoque Creek, a culverted stream about a mile to the south.

Early settlement and industry

The Cohocksink and its

marshland A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

s divided the District of Kensington from the city of Philadelphia and its Northern Liberties. The first settlers were Swedish, predating the founding of the colony of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. As early as 1700, area mills and

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

took advantage of the stream for water power, including one mill built between Fifth and Sixth streets at the direction of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

, Pennsylvania's founder. The neighborhoods on either side of the Cohocksink were home to much Philadelphia's early industrial development. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, the Cohocksink was line of defense for the British as they occupied Philadelphia. Planting

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

on the south side, the British dammed the stream to create a broad marshland, forming a barrier against attacks from the north.

Conversion to sewer

By the mid-eighteenth century, area factories became less dependent on water for the source of their power. In order to promote drainage in the developing neighborhoods, and to discourage the miasma said to originate from the creek, the Cohocksink was converted to a storm sewer in the 1850s, around the time Northern Liberties and Kensington were consolidated into the city of Philadelphia. Industry had taken its toll on the Cohocksink; when it was finally culverted, the City Board of Health issued a statement describing the project as "one of the most valuable sanitary improvements ever to be undertaken by the corporate authorities. ... For years this natural tributary of the Delaware ... has been a prolific source of miasma. The entire length of its serpentine bed had become the receptacle of vile refuse and dead animals, while its sides were lined with privies, emptying their contents upon its filthy surface; added to these, the

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...

from cow-stables, dye houses, slaughterhouses, kitchens, and the impurities from various trades and factories, together with street- sewage ... thus predisposing to and causing the spread of ... disease throughout the entire vicinity."

Modern times

In the first few decades after being buried, the creek often burst out of its tunnels during rainstorms. Since that time, it has been more reliably contained, and many residents are unaware that a former creek runs beneath their streets. The Cohocksink now runs under the streets shown on the map at right.

References

*Harry Kyriakodis, ''Northern Liberties: The Story of a Philadelphia River Ward'' (The History Press, 2012), at 26–30. {{coord, 39.999832, -75.170452, type:river_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Tributaries of the Delaware River Former rivers Subterranean rivers of the United States

Early settlement and industry

Conversion to sewer

Modern times

See also

References