Gerritsen Creek tidal mill in the 19th Century

Gerritsen Creek is a short watercourse in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, that empties into

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, through Rockaw ...

. The creek has been described as one of the "fingers" that formed the original shoreline of Jamaica Bay. The creek lies just beyond the maximum extent of the Wisconsin Glacier.

Course

The creek currently starts near Avenue U, but its original headwaters lay eight streets farther north, in what is now Midwood. Within that neighborhood, Bay Avenue and Olean Street run diagonally to the rest of the street grid, flanking the former path of the creek. The creek had been truncated to the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Kings Highway by the early 20th century, flowing southeast through the neighborhood of Marine Park. That part of the creek was buried in a storm sewer in 1920. The creek's mouth and much of its remaining length is part of a public park called Marine Park; the head contains the Salt Marsh Nature Center, while the artificial Mau Mau Island is located nearby. According to ''Touring Gotham's Archaeological Past'', the mill and the dam for its tide pond were between Avenues W and V, and the mill pond beyond the dam extended past Fillmore Avenue. In recent decades, efforts have been made to restore parts of the creek, particularly the

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

near its mouth, to a state closer to its natural one before modern settlement. In 2012 the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

budgeted $8.3 million for the restoration.

Usage

Archeological investigation has determined that Native American people started to settle permanently in the creek's watershed as early as 5000 BC. The creek's name comes from a historic

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

built on the creek's shore in the 17th century. The mill, a

tide mill A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one-way ga ...

, the first to be built in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, was built when the area was colonized by the Dutch. The mill remained in use for hundreds of years, until 1890. There were early proponents of preserving heritage buildings who lobbied for its preservation.

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Jimmy "Beau James" Walker was brought to the site to view the structure. However, no efforts were made, and the abandoned building was burned by an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

ist in 1935. Recreational boaters regularly abandon unwanted and damaged recreational craft near the creek's mouth. The small salvage firm White Cap Marine Towing and Salvage, of

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...

, specializes in rescuing or salvaging the smaller recreational vessels and smaller fishing vessels that operate out of the smaller inlets around Jamaica Bay, and is also a franchisee of

Sea Tow Sea Tow is an international marine assistance provider headquartered in Southold, New York, United States. Presently Sea Tow operates over 120 independently owned franchise locations in the United States, Europe, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Abou ...

, the leading marine assistance services company. It has a contract to keep the area clear of abandoned vessels.

References

{{Coord, 40.5858, -73.9120, type:river_region:US-NY, format=dms, display=title Marine Park, Brooklyn Inlets of New York (state) Bodies of water of Brooklyn