Coldbrook Creek is an
urban stream
An urban stream is a formerly natural waterway that flows through a heavily populated area. Urban streams are often polluted by urban runoff and combined sewer outflows. Water scarcity makes flow management in the rehabilitation of urban stream ...
in
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
in
Kent County, Michigan
Kent County is located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the county had a population of 657,974, making it the fourth most populous county in Michigan, and the largest outside of the Detroit area. Its county seat is Grand ...
. Its origin is the outflow of
Fisk Lake
Fisk Lake is a freshwater lake in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was named for John Fisk. Now primarily valued for scenic purposes, it was originally used as a source of ice for Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Chicago meatpacking industries. It ...
on the
John W. Blodgett Estate, and the stream eventually drains to the
Grand River. Although parts of the stream are now in underground culverts, there are significant possibilities for
daylighting
Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and Reflective surfaces (climate engineering), reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is ...
, and open streambeds appear in areas on the campus of
Aquinas College as well as within
Highland Park.
Part of its course through Grand Rapids is parallel to the
Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad
The Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad is a railroad in western Michigan, United States. The line runs east–west through Grand Rapids, Michigan to Lowell. Its of trackage ends at the Saint Mary's Siding, where it meets the Coopersville and Marne ...
.
History
Ke-way-coosh-cum, known in English as Long Nose, and a signer of the
Treaty of Washington (1836) {{short description, 1836 treaty between the United States, the Ottawa, and the Chippewa
The Treaty of Washington is a treaty between the United States and representatives of the Ottawa and Chippewa nations of Native Americans. With this treaty, ...
, was killed by Was-o-ge-nan at the place where the creek enters the Grand River. This may have been in revenge for his participation in the treaty. The creek has also been referred to as Blood Creek, because of this occurrence.
,
There was a
grist mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
run by the Lyman brothers on the creek, near the present day Plainfield and Leonard.
Coldbrook Creek, and its tributary Carrier Creek. were the source of the water for the first pumped water supply in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
. The pumphouse was located near the mouth of the creek at Coldbrook and Monroe.
Flora and fauna
*
Natural Status and Restoration
Coldbrook creek starts at Fisk Lake in the backyard of the Blodgett mansion.
Except for a portion that runs through the campus of Aquinas College and within Highland Park, most of the stream has been made to run in culverts as the Coldbrook Drain.
References
Rivers of Michigan
Rivers of Kent County, Michigan
Geography of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Tributaries of Lake Michigan
{{Michigan-river-stub