The Kayaderosseras Creek, usually shortened to Kaydeross, is the largest river that lies completely within
Saratoga County
Saratoga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York, and is the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was enumerated at 235,509, representing a 7.2% increase from the 2010 popul ...
,
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
. It originates in the Kayaderosseras Range in the northern part of the county, passes through the towns of
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...
,
Greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Engineering and Business
* Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation
* Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist
* Greenf ...
, and
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
, and serves as the boundary between the City of
Saratoga Springs and the
Town of Malta before emptying into
Saratoga Lake
Saratoga Lake is a lake in the eastern part of Saratoga County, New York (state), New York. The lake is approximately long, about wide at its widest point, and about deep.
The lake is bordered by the city of Saratoga Springs on the northwest ...
.
History
The
Mohawk tribe of the
Iroquois
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 ...
Five Nations used the associated valley as a summer hunting and fishing destination. They named the creek ''Kayaderosseras'' (which translates into "Valley of the Crooked Stream") due to its tortuous course and dramatic drop in elevation. An 1887 source says that the name was derived from French terms, a Mohawk corruption of either ''pays arrosé'', a watered country, or ''pays des ruisseaux'', a
country of streams, adapted by the Mohawk when they pushed out the previous inhabitants, the
Mahican
The Mohican ( or , alternate spelling: Mahican) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, who ...
, in the 17th century.
The creek is best known for providing water power to a host of paper mills and a hard edge-tool factory in the 19th century. "Paper Bag King"
George West established his
paper bag empire on the banks of the Kayaderosseras Creek in
Rock City Falls in 1862. Of the dozen paper mills situated along the creek in the late 19th century, only the Cottrell Paper Company is still in operation as of 2016.
From 1898 to 1929, the
Kaydeross Railroad, or Ballston Terminal Railroad, a
trolley
Trolley may refer to:
Vehicles and components
* Tram, or trolley or streetcar, a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks
* Trolleybus, or trolley, an electric bus drawing power from overhead wires using trolley poles
** Trolleytruck, a trolleyb ...
railroad line, closely followed the banks of the creek to serve the paper mills and
Isaiah Blood
Isaiah Blood (February 13, 1810 in Ballston, Saratoga County, New York – November 29, 1870) was an American farmer, manufacturer and politician from New York.
Life
Isaiah was the son of Sylvester Blood, a farmer and scythe maker who enlarged ...
's tool factory. Although this line also carried passengers, it mainly existed to carry freight.
Over-logging caused the flow of the creek to decrease dramatically in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the creek possesses several popular fishing spots, especially in
Rock City Falls, Milton Center, and Craneville. The principal fish is the
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
, which is stocked.
Gallery
Image:Kaydeross_MinerRoad.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek crossing Miner Road in Corinth NY, near its source
Image:Kayaderosseras Creek at Howe Road.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek crossing Howe Road in Corinth NY
Image:Kayaderosseras Creek at Spier Falls Road.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek Crossing Spier Falls Road in Greenfield NY
Image:Kayaderosseras Creek at Ballston Spa NY.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek at the former Union Mill complex in Ballston Spa, NY
Image:Kayaderosseras Creek Below Ballston Spa.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek below Ballston Spa crossed by railroad trestle
Image:The Mourning Kill joins the Karaderosseras.jpg, Confluence of the Mourning Kill with the Kayaderosseras Creek in Malta, NY
Image:Kaydeross Creek in the Arrowhead Casino Prehistoric Site.jpg, Kayaderosseras Creek near its mouth
Image:Mouth of Kaydeross Creek at Saratoga Lake.jpg, Mouth of Kayaderosseras Creek at Saratoga Lake
References
*''The Ballston Terminal Railroad And Its Successors,'' 2007
External links
Friends of the KayaderosserasBallston Spa History - Industries and RailroadsTown of Milton, N.Y.Taff, Conor. "Geologic History of the Kayaderosseras Watershed"Kayaderosseras Creek Preserve
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Rivers of New York (state)
Rivers of Saratoga County, New York