Muddy Kill is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed October 3, 2011 tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Octo ...
that runs entirely through the town of
Montgomery in
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States. It rises from a small pond just over a mile (1.7 km) west of the village of
Walden
''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...
, flowing first southwesterly then roughly due south to empty into the Wallkill just upstream from the village of
Montgomery.
Its course takes it mostly through areas cleared for agriculture, although not all are presently cultivated. Near its mouth it passes through a large
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
farm, and then once it runs through a
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...
under
NY 17K
New York State Route 17K (NY 17K) is an east–west state highway located within Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 17 east of Bloomingburg to a junction with U.S. Route 9W ...
it is within recently acquired and developed by the town as Benedict Farm Park. It drains the low-lying Comfort Hills to the west.
The name is an English interpretation of ''Modder
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
* ...
'', as it was called by early
Dutch settlers
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 ...
in the region. In
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 ...
, ''Modder'' means "mud" or "slime", so the meaning of the creek's name stayed the same.
[ at American Genealogy and History Project.] The fertile lands of the creek's valley attracted many early settlers, and the houses of some, such as
Abraham Dickerson,
Jacob Bookstaver,
Moses Mould and
Wilhelm Schmitt, still stand. It has been equally attractive to contemporary
real estate developer
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
s, and to lessen environmental impacts on the stream and the Wallkill
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
as a whole the
Open Space Institute
Open Space Institute (OSI) (not to be confused with the facilitator network of open conversation space) is a conservation organization that seeks to preserve scenic, natural and historic landscapes for public enjoyment, conserve habitats while s ...
and the town cooperated in 2005 to obtain a permanent agricultural
easement
An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...
on the Zylstra Farm, one of the largest properties along the creek.
[, Open Space Institute.]
![NY 17K flooding at Muddy Kill after Hurricane Irene](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/NY_17K_flooding_at_Muddy_Kill_after_Hurricane_Irene.jpg)
With little significant woodland in its valley, the creek can rise quickly when heavy rains fall. After the
April 2007 Nor'easter, it flooded severely enough near its mouth that Route 17K had to be closed west of Montgomery for two days.
See also
*
List of rivers of New York
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of New York.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented by order of confluence with their main stem, from mouth to source.
Long Island Sound (nort ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of New York (state)
Tributaries of the Wallkill River
Rivers of Orange County, New York