Spuyten Duyvil Creek
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Spuyten Duyvil Creek (Template:IPAc-en) is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. Once a distinct, turbulent waterway between the Hudson and Harlem rivers, the creek has been subsumed by the modern ship canal.
The Bronx neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the estuary creek, and the adjacent Manhattan neighborhood of Marble Hill lies to the north of the Ship Canal.
Etymology
The earliest use of the name "Spuyten Duyvil" was in 1653, in a document from Dutch landowner Adriaen van der Donck to the Dutch West India Company.<ref name="Assembly1911" /> It may be literally translated as "Spouting Devil" or Spuitende Duivel in Dutch; a reference to the strong and wild tidal currents found at that location. It may also be translated as "Spewing Devil" or "Spinning Devil", or more loosely as "Devil's Whirlpool" or "Devil's Spate." Spui is a Dutch word involving outlets for water.<ref>Sixteenth Annual Report, 1911, of the American Secneic and Historic Preservation Society to the Legislature of the State of New York , p. 106. American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1911. Accessed November 4, 2015. "Another reason is that there are phonetic elements in the name as first written which suggest other meanings quite appropriate to the locality. There is a Dutch word 'spui' of frequent use in Holland, meaning a sluice way or canal. The Spui at The Hague, part of which is redeemed and used as a street, is a famous thoroughfare."</ref><ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NYPL-SpuytenDuyvil-Ap2010">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Jenkins1912"/> Historian Reginald Pelham Bolton, however, argues that the phrase means "sprouting meadow", referring to a fresh-water spring.<ref name="Jenkins1912"/><ref>Sypher, Frank J. "Dispute Springs Eternal Over 'Spuyten Duyvil'" (letter to the editor) The New York Times (November 14, 1993)</ref> A folk etymology, "to spite the Devil" or "in spite of the devil", was popularized by a story in Washington Irving's A Knickerbocker's History of New York published in 1809. Set in the 17th century, the story tells of fictional trumpeter Anthony Van Corlaer summoned by Dutch colonial governor Peter Stuyvesant to warn settlers of a British invasion attempt, with Corlaer attempting to swim across the creek in treacherous conditions.<ref name="Assembly1911"/><ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk"/><ref name="NYPL-SpuytenDuyvil-Ap2010"/><ref name="Jenkins1912"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
An extensive appendix to Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages (2009) by David L. Gold, which includes commentary by Rob Rentenaar, professor of onomastics at the University of Amsterdam, goes into great detail about all the various translations for "Spuyten Duyvil" which have been mooted over the years. Rentenaar concludes that "Duyvil" means "devil", either literally or in a transferred sense, but he could not determine what the intended meaning of "Spuyten" was because of the many variants that have been used throughout history.<ref>Gold, David L. and Rentenaar, Rob "Appendix 1: On the Etymology of the New York City Place Names Gramercy Park, Hell Gate, and Spuyten Duyvil , the New Jersey Place Name Barnegat, and Regional American English Fly ~ Vlei ~ Vley ~ Vlaie ~ Vly" in Gold, David L. (2009) Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages. Universidad de Alicante. pp. 145–146 Template:Isbn</ref>
The local Lenape Native Americans referred to the creek by several names.<ref name="Assembly1911" /> The first was Shorakapok or Shorackhappok, translated as "the sitting down place" or "the place between the ridges".<ref name="Assembly1911"/><ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk"/> A second term, spelled various ways including Paparinemo or Papiriniman, was shared with a triangular island formed by the junction of the creek and Tibbetts Brook in today's Kingsbridge neighborhood. The word has been translated as "place where the stream is shut" or to "parcel out" or "divide".<ref name="Assembly1911">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" /><ref name="NYCPks-NativeAmericans">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Assembly1918">Template:Cite journal</ref> A third name, Muscoota, was also used.<ref name="Assembly1911" /><ref name="Jenkins1912">Template:Cite book</ref>
History
Early history
Spuyten Duyvil Creek was originally a narrow tidal strait connecting the Hudson River to the west and the headwaters of the Harlem River to the east, both of which were fed by the waters of Tibbetts Brook flowing south from the Bronx.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When the Dutch settlers arrived they found its tidal waters turbulent and difficult to handle. Though its tides raced,<ref>"Although the river is very narrow, it is deep, and the tide runs rapidly under the bridge, alternately both ways, as the tide ebbs and flows." (Diary, July 5, 1787) in Cutler, William Parker; Cutler, Julia Perkis; Dawes, Ephraim Cutler; and Force, Peter. Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL. D., p. 227. Cincinnati, Ohio: Rovert Clark & Company, 1888.</ref> there was no navigable watercourse joining it with the headwaters of the Harlem River,<ref>"Here we cross the River upon a tall bridge made of wood, the Inn and this bridge belong to the same person...the river is no(t) at all Navigable As there's abundance of rocks between this bridge and North (Hudson) River." in Birket, James. Some Cursory Remarks Made by James Birket in His Voyage to North America 1750-1751 New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1916.</ref> which flowed in an S-shaped course southwest and then north into the East River.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" /> Steep cliffs along the Spuyten Duyvil's mouth at the Hudson prevented any bridge there, but upstream it narrowed into a rocky drainage. Prior to the development of the Bronx, the creek was fed by Tibbetts Brook, which begins in Yonkers, Westchester County, and intersected with the creek at modern West 230th Street. The brook currently ends above ground within Van Cortlandt Park, emptying into the Harlem River system at the Wards Island Water Pollution Control Plant via underground sewers.<ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="NYCPks-VCPk-TibbettsBrook">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYTimes-TibbettBrk-Feb2016">Template:Cite news</ref>
During the 17th century, the only mode of transportation across the Harlem River was by ferry from the east end of 125th Street. The ferry was established in 1667 and operated by Johannes Verveelen, a local landowner. Many settlers circumvented the toll for the ferry by crossing the creek from northern Marble Hill to modern Kingsbridge, Bronx, a point where it was feasible to wade or swim through the waters.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /><ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /> This area was known as the "wading place", and had previously been used by Native Americans.<ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="Assembly1911" /><ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" /> In response, Verveelen had the creek fenced off at the wading place, though travelers simply tore the barrier down.<ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" /> In 1669 Verveelen transplanted his ferry to the northern tip of Marble Hill, at today's Broadway and West 231st Street.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /><ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /><ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" />
In 1693 Frederick Philipse, a Dutch nobleman who had sworn allegiance to the Crown upon the British takeover of Dutch New Netherlands, built the King's Bridge at Marble Hill near what is now West 230th Street in the Bronx.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn Originally a merchant in New Amsterdam, Philipse had purchased vast landholdings in what was then Westchester County.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /> Granted the title Lord of Philipse Manor, he established a plantation and provisioning depot for his shipping business upriver on the Hudson in present-day Sleepy Hollow. His toll bridge provided access and opened his land to settlement. Later, it carried the Boston Post Road. In 1758, the Free Bridge was erected by Jacob Dyckman,<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /> opening on January 1, 1759.<ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="Flexner1992">Template:Cite book</ref> Stagecoach service was later established across the span.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /> The new bridge proceeded to take much of the traffic away from the King's Bridge.<ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="Flexner1992" /> The Free Bridge was destroyed during the American Revolution.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /> Following the war, Philipse Manor was forfeited to the state legislature, after which the King's Bridge was free.<ref name="Jenkins1912" /><ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" />
Harlem River Ship Canal
Template:Multiple image Over time the channels of the Spuyten Duyvil and Harlem River were joined and widened and additional bridges were constructed,<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /> but maritime transit was still difficult and confined to small craft.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /><ref name="Army-HarlemCanal-1875"/> By 1817,<ref name="Concrete102Map"/> a narrow canal was dug through the south end of Marble Hill at approximately 222nd Street, known as "Boltons' Canal" or "Dyckman Canal".<ref name="Concrete102Map"/><ref name="Army-HarlemCanal-1875"/><ref name="NYTimes-MarbleHill-2003">Template:Cite news</ref>
With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825,Template:Sfn and the advent of large steamships in the second half of the 19th century, a broad shipping canal was proposed between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers to allow them thru-transit by bypassing the tight turn up and around Marble Hill. The Harlem Canal Company (then stylized as the "Harlaem Canal Company") was founded in 1826, but did not make any progress towards building a canal.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" />Template:Sfn<ref name="Army-HarlemCanal-1875">Template:Cite journal</ref> A second company also failed to complete the project.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /> In 1863 the Hudson and Harlem River Canal Company was created, and began the final plans for the canal.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /><ref name="Army-HarlemCanal-1875"/> The U.S. Congress broke the logjam in 1873 by appropriating money for a survey of the relevant area, following which New York state bought the necessary land and gave it to the federal government.<ref name="Concrete103-105"/><ref name="Army-HarlemCanal-1875"/><ref name="CanalLetters-1892">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1876, the New York State Legislature issued a decree for the construction of the canal.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /> Construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal – officially the United States Ship CanalTemplate:Sfn – finally started in January 1888.<ref name="Concrete103-105" /><ref name="CanalLetters-1892" /> The canal would be Template:Convert in width and have a depth of Template:Convert to Template:Convert. It would be cut directly through the rock of Dyckman's Meadow, making a straight course to the Hudson River.<ref name="CrotonHarlemFSEIS-7-12" /><ref name="Concrete103-105">Template:Harvnb</ref> The first section of the canal, the cut at Marble Hill, was completed in 1895 and opened on June 17 of that year.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" />Template:Sfn<ref name="NYTimes-HarlemCanalOpen-Jun171895"/> Several festivities including parades were held to commemorate the occasion.<ref name="NYTimes-HarlemCanalOpen-Jun171895">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At this time, Tibbets Brook was diverted into storm drains underneath Broadway, with the old right-of-way becoming Tibbett Avenue.Template:Sfn<ref name="TheWeek-ForgottenStreamsNY">Template:Cite news</ref>
A bridge opened over the former Marble Hill alignment of the creek in 1900, carrying Broadway. The bridge's superstructure was demolished shortly afterward, with the construction of the IRT subway above Broadway in 1904.<ref name="nyht19280115">Template:Cite news</ref> The effect of channeling through what had been 222nd and 223rd streets was to physically isolate Marble Hill on the Bronx side of the new creek. In 1914 the original creekbed was filled in with rock from the excavation of Grand Central Terminal's foundation during its construction;<ref name="TibbettGdns-Jan1987" /><ref name=concrete105>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Tax Block & Tax Lot Base Map Files on CD-ROM Template:Webarchive, New York City Department of City Planning. Accessed July 26, 2007. "Marble Hill is a neighborhood that is part of the borough of Manhattan but is administratively often included with neighboring areas of the Bronx. Parts of Marble Hill are within Bronx Community District 7; the rest is within Bronx Community District 8."</ref> and the temporary island, comprising present-day Marble Hill, became physically attached to the Bronx, though it remained politically part of the borough of Manhattan, as it is today.<ref name="NYCPks-SpuytenDuyvilCrk" /><ref name="NYTimes-MarbleHill-2003"/><ref name="New York 1 News">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bridge carrying Broadway over the former alignment of the creek at 230th Street was destroyed in the late 1920s.<ref name="nyht19280115" />
In 1919, New York State passed a bill in order to straighten the western end of the creek feeding into the Hudson. At the time, the creek was diverted south to avoid a peninsula that housed the Johnson Iron Works foundry.Template:Sfn The foundry held out until 1923 when it vacated the premises,Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in 1927 was awarded $3.28 million in compensation, just over a third of their original demand of $11.53 million.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Plans to excavate the channel were finalized in 1935,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the channel was excavated from 1937 to 1938.<ref name="Concrete102Map">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The work severed the Johnson foundry's Template:Convert peninsula of land from the Bronx, which was then absorbed into Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park; the peninsula now contains the park's Nature Center.Template:Sfn<ref name="renner">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Today, Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Harlem River Ship Canal, and the Harlem River form a continuous channel, referred to collectively as the Harlem River. Broadway Bridge, a combination road and rail lift span, continues to link Marble Hill with Manhattan.<ref name="betts">Betts, John H. The Minerals of New York City originally published in Rocks & Minerals magazine, Volume 84, No . 3 pages 204-252 (2009).</ref> There is little evidence that the building of the Ship Canal enhanced commerce in the city.<ref name="Jenkins1912"/><ref name=concrete105 />
Bridges
Three bridges cross the Spuyten Duyvil Creek; from west to east, they are:
- The Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, a railroad swing bridge that carries Amtrak's Empire Corridor between Penn Station and Albany. The bridge opened in 1900 and carries one railroad track (though previously had two tracks).Template:Sfn
- The Henry Hudson Bridge, a bi-level steel arch toll bridge carrying the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A). The bridge was proposed in 1904, but due to opposition by local residents,Template:Sfn<ref name="The New York Times 2003"/> was not completed and opened until 1936.Template:Sfn<ref name="The New York Times 2003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Broadway Bridge, a vertical lift bridge carrying pedestrian and vehicular traffic using Broadway (US 9) on the lower level, and the New York City Subway's Template:NYCS trains on the upper level.Template:Sfn The first bridge opened in 1895 and was later relocated to 207th Street/Fordham Road on the Harlem River, becoming known as the University Heights Bridge;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> the current bridge, the third on the site, opened in 1962.Template:Sfn
See also
References
Notes Template:Reflist
Bibliography
External links
- History of Spuyten Duyvil Creek from Washington Heights & Inwood Online
- Tracing Spuyten Duyvil today
Template:New York City waterways Template:Authority control Template:Coord