Richmond Creek is a major stream in Staten Island,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Its upper

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

includes the remote forested hills in the center of the island. It empties into the Fresh Kills. Its source is Ohrbach Lake, located on the grounds of the Pouch Camp, maintained by the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. From there, it enters the

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

, crossing underneath the intersection of Manor Road and Rockland Avenue. It enters the Egbertville Ravine, then emerges from the ravine and flows along the east side of Lighthouse Hill. There, it skims the western edge of the

Richmondtown Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean ...

neighborhood and through

Historic Richmond Town Historic Richmond Town is an authentic town and farm museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island, in New York City. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill R ...

. South of Richmondtown, it emerges into a wide floodplain that has been designated as part of Staten Island's

Bluebelt The Bluebelt is a large scale system of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in New York City. The program originated on Staten Island in the early 1990s, but has also been implemented in Queens and the Bronx. The Bluebelt includes struct ...

, a region of protected

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s. It flows under

Richmond Avenue Richmond Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare on Staten Island, New York. Measuring approximately , the road runs from the South Shore community of Eltingville to the North Shore community of Graniteville. Street description Richmon ...

south of the

Staten Island Mall Staten Island Mall is a shopping mall in New Springville, Staten Island, New York City, opened in 1973. It is the only indoor shopping mall in the borough. It is the largest retail center on the island and is the site of the island's third-largest ...

, and flows into the Fresh Kills alongside the former

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. The landfil ...

and the developing

Freshkills Park Freshkills Park is a public park being built atop a former landfill on Staten Island. At about , it will be the largest park developed in New York City since the 19th century. Its construction began in October 2008 and is slated to continue in p ...

. In colonial times and in the early 19th century, the creek was used to operate up to 11 mills in the center of the island. One such mill is being restored along the creek in Historic Richmond Town. In late 2017, a family of

beavers Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

moved into the creek, cut down over 100 trees, and contributed to local flooding. DEP destroyed a small dam, but the beavers repaired it overnight. The beaver, the state mammal, enjoys protected status, complicating efforts at population control."Oh, dam! Busy beavers close dam overnight in Richmond"
''Staten Island Advance'', December 12, 2017.

References

Rivers of Staten Island Rivers of New York (state) {{NewYork-river-stub

See also

References