__NOTOC__ The Kill Van Kull is a

tidal strait A tidal strait is technically not a river but a strait connecting two oceans or seas. Tidal straits are narrow seaways through which tidal currents flow. Tidal currents are usually unidirectional but sometimes are bidirectional. They are frequen ...

between

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, New York and Bayonne,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with

Upper New York Bay New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

. The

Robbins Reef Light The Robbins Reef Light Station is a sparkplug lighthouse located off Constable Hook in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, along the west side of Main Channel, Upper New York Bay. Note that although the light is clearly shown on t ...

marks the eastern end of the Kill,

Bergen Point Bergen Point is a point of land that lends its name to the adjacent neighborhood in Bayonne in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The point is located on the north side of Kill van Kull at Newark Bay. It is the section of the city clos ...

its western end. It is spanned by the

Bayonne Bridge Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Kill Van Kull and connecting Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island in New York City. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Route 440. It is the sixth-longes ...

and is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable water ...

. Historically, it has been one of the most important channels for the commerce of the region, providing a passage for marine traffic between Upper New York Bay and the industrial towns of

northeastern New Jersey The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. While sometimes known as the Newark metropolitan area, it is part of the New York metropolitan ...

. During the colonial era, it played a significant role in travel between New York and the southern

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

, with passengers changing from

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

to coaches at Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth). Since the final third of the 20th century, it has provided the principal access for oceangoing

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

s to

Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, the busiest port facility in the eastern United States, and

Howland Hook Marine Terminal The Howland Hook Marine Terminal, operating as ‘’’GCT New York,’’’ is a container port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey located at Howland Hook in northwestern Staten Island, New York City. It is situated on the east ...

. The strait has required continued

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

and deepening to accommodate the passage of ever-larger ships. In many areas, the sandy bottom has been excavated down to rock and required blasting. The Bayonne Bridge's deck was raised in 2017 so that New Panamax ships could travel the Kill Van Kull. Collins Park in Bayonne is situated along the northern shore.

Etymology

Kill Van Kull translates as "channel of the pass" or "ridge". Nearby is the Arthur Kill, the name of which is an Anglicization of the Dutch ''achter kill'' meaning "back channel", referring to its location "behind" Staten Island. The name "Kill Van Kull" originated in the early 17th century, during the

Dutch colonial Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Re ...

era, when the region was part of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

. Places were named by early explorers and settlers in reference to their shape, topography, or other geographic qualities. The area around Newark Bay was called

Achter Kol Achter Kol (or Achter Col) was the name given to the region around the Newark Bay and Hackensack River in northeastern New Jersey by the first European settlers to it and was part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, originally admini ...

. The bay lies behind

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rai ...

, the emerging ridge of the

Hudson Palisades The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...

which begins on

Bergen Neck Bergen Neck is the peninsula between the Upper New York Bay and the Newark Bay in the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Bayonne and Jersey City. Its southernmost tip, Bergen Point, is separated from Staten Island by the Kill van Kul ...

, the peninsula between it and the

. Behind or ''achter'' the ridge was a ''col'' or ''

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

'' to the interior. ''

Kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Kill may also refer to: Media *'' Kill!'', a 1968 film directed by Kihachi Okamoto * ''Kill'' (Cannibal Corpse album), 2006 * ...

'' comes from the Middle

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

word '' kille'' meaning creek. Compare

Dordtse Kil The Dordtse Kil ( pre-1947 spelling: Dordtsche Kil) is a short river in South Holland in the Netherlands. The river is tidal and forms the connection between the Oude Maas river and the Hollands Diep. The river is for most part artificial in origi ...

in the Netherlands. The bay was known as Cull Bay during the British colonial era.

Gallery

Kill Van Kull BB high jeh.JPG, Western part of the Kill from the

Deepening the Kill Van Kull channel.jpg,

USACE , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dredge brings up blasted bedrock in widening the channel. Pilot Boat NYC Harbor.jpg, Ships in

wait to enter the Kill. Kill Van Kull from new Bayonne Br jeh.jpg, Eastern part of Kill Van Kull

References

Water upgrade for Kill Van Kull, ''Staten Island Advance'', May 20, 2010

''New York Daily News'' articles re: Kill Van Kull
{{authority control Bayonne, New Jersey New Netherland Straits of New Jersey Straits of Richmond County, New York Bodies of water of Staten Island Bodies of water of Hudson County, New Jersey Borders of New York (state) Borders of New Jersey Port of New York and New Jersey

Etymology

Gallery

See also

References