The Bronx River

The Bronx River. A Brief History. , One of the little known marvels of the New York City landscape, the 23-mile Bronx River descents more than 400 feet as it winds its way from the Kensico dam in Westchester County to its mouth in the Bronx where it joins the East River. It is the only major watercourse within city limits that is not entirely tidal., Called "Aquehung" , River of High Bluffs , by the Mohegan Indians who first lived and fished along it, the river attracted European traders in the early 1600's for the sleek, fat beaver that proliferated there. The first European settler was a Swedish sea captain named Jonas Bronck, 1639. The river was later med after him. In 1898 when all five boroughs were integrated into New York City, the Bronx was chosen for the name of the borough, after the river that flowed through its heart., By the mid 1700's mills located along the river for its its waterpower and produced paper, flour, pottery, tapestries, barrels, and snuff. The construction of the New York Central Railroad in the 1840's turned the valley into an industrial corridor, and by the end of the century the Bronx River had degenerated into what one official commission called an "open sewer." The historic of the river since the 1880's has been one of efforts to reclaim and protect it. Among these efforts was formation of the 662-acre Bronx Park in 1888 and construction of the Bronx River Parkway which was completed in 1925. Nonetheless, the river was used as a dumping ground for cars, tires and other refuse. The Kensico dam, completed in 1915, cut the river's water supply by a quarter., Today many people are returning to the river, continuing the restoration and stewardship that began in 1974. They are returning for recreation and natural beauty along with plants and animals such as perch, tuliptrees, turtles, red-tailed hawks, great blue heron and many others.