The Carmans River is a long river in

Brookhaven, New York The Town of Brookhaven is the most populous of the ten towns of Suffolk County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is located approximately 50 miles from Manhattan. It is the largest of the state of New York's ...

in Suffolk County on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. It is one of the four largest rivers on Long Island and is similar to other Long Island rivers in that is totally

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

generated (e.g., no lakes), although a lake did exist long ago. Almost all of the river is specifically protected by the Central Long Island Pine Barrens. All of it is designated by New York State as either a "Scenic River" or a "Recreational River." The river, which was earlier once called the Connecticut River (in connection with early settlers from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, and also due to the mistaken belief that it is fed underground by that river) is named for Samuel Carman who married into milling families on the river in the 19th century, used it to run a mill, and operated a hunting club for residents from New York City. It is fresh water for the first and then becomes an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

for the last two, as it encounters the tidal effects of Great South Bay. There are four dams on the upper river at Upper Mill Pond, Lower Mill Pond,

Southaven County Park Southaven County Park is located in South Haven and Yaphank, New York in central Long Island. It is located between Sunrise Highway ( Route 27) just west of William Floyd Parkway, off of Victory Avenue ( Suffolk CR 56/North Sunrise Service Road) ...

, and the

Sunrise Highway New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent com ...

. Adjoining the river is the

Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge The Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge is located on the south shore of Long Island and is one of the undeveloped estuary systems on Long Island. In 1947, Maurice Wertheim donated on eastern Long Island to the United States government; the donate ...

. The river formed the western boundary of the massive

Manor St. George Manor St. George or St. George's Manor was a large tract of land purchased by William "Tangier" Smith in the 17th century on Long Island, in central Suffolk County, New York. Parts of the original parcel, which was approximately of land, are ...

under

William "Tangier" Smith William "Tangier" Smith (February 2, 1655 – February 18, 1705) was a governor of Tangier, on the coast of Morocco, and an early settler of New York who owned more than of Atlantic Ocean waterfront property in central Long Island in New York Stat ...

who in the 17th century owned most of modern-day Brookhaven south of the Sunrise Highway. A manor subsequently built by the Smith family is located in Shirley at the mouth. In 1967

Art Cooley Arthur P. Cooley (June 2, 1934 – January 30, 2022) was an American biology teacher, naturalist and expedition leader, and a co-founder of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). In the mid-1960s, while a teacher at Bellport High School on New ...

, a teacher at

Bellport High School Bellport High School is the public high school for the South Country Central School District, which is located in Suffolk County, Long Island in the United States. It serves students in grades 9-12 in Bellport, East Patchogue, Brookhaven Hamle ...

, noting a decline in the

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

population on the river was one of the founders of the

Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, and hu ...

which was to lead the fight to ban

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

. Southaven County Park encompasses upstream parts of the river and special regulations trout fishing can be accessed through them. In recent years, wild turkeys have been re-introduced into this park, and have re-populated many of the surrounding areas.

List of crossings of the Carmans River

References

External links

NYSwaterfronts.com profile of river
{{authority control Rivers of Suffolk County, New York Brookhaven, New York Rivers of New York (state)