Casperkill Watershed Oral History Project

This manhole is only a few yards away from the Casperkill.  It overflows sewage into the creek during heavy rain storms.

Residents on Old Mill Drive spoke with us about sewage in the creek, and about all of the deer (and Lyme disease) that the creek attracts.

On December 21, 2006, Michael Mayfield of the Poughkeepsie Journal spoke with residents along Old Mill Drive about sewage seeping through residents’ backyards before emptying into the Casperkill.  The sewage had polluted the creek so much that it became difficult for wildlife to thrive.  Olga Carmel told Mr. Mayfield “It’s not the same creek as when I moved here many years ago…there used to be fish, heron; I had pheasants in my backyard.  Now there are only deer.”

Three and a half years later, the situation has not improved.  Sonia, a homeowner along Old Mill Drive, talked with us about the manhole that repeatedly overflows into her backyard during periods of heavy rainfall. “The sewage just goes into our yard.  Like last week, when it rained really hard, the ducks were swimming there! I mean, it was beautiful to see them because there was a momma duck with the little ducklings. It was cute to see that, but it was in sewage on the lawn, you know, not in the stream where they really should be.”

Although Sonia and her neighbors have been writing to the Town of Poughkeepsie for several years, they have not yet gotten a response.  “We are not even expecting them to do it for free, it’s just that this is their thing and it is against the law to even touch it.  We cannot bring a plumber.  We can’t do anything.”  Left with no other options, Sonia’s neighbor resorted to building a small white fence around the manhole to try to keep her grandchildren away from the sewage.

A few houses downstream, homeowner Richard Partridge said that, aside from some toilet paper in the stream after heavy rains, sewage in the stream does not affect him too much.  Instead, he identified deer as the biggest problem confronting residents living along the creek. Deer are rampant in the lower part of the Spackenkill neighborhood due to all of the open space and shelter on the nearby Casperkill golf course.  Mr. Partridge once counted twenty deer in his backyard, although  there are usually around three or four at a time.  He hopes that the Town might some day act to reduce the deer population to a sustainable level in order to cut down on the Lyme disease in the area.  “I am delighted to have a buffer space behind me.  We get all sorts of wild turkeys and other things in the backyard…I don’t mind having wildlife.  It’s just that I wish the deer wouldn’t eat all of my stuff all the time, they’re just a little bit too prevalent.”

Information from:

Mayfield, Michael. “Forum to look at Saving Stream.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 21 December 2006.

The Trees for Tribs initiative is run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as part of the Hudson River Estuary Program. Groups conducting streamside plantings and other riparian buffer restoration projects within the Hudson River Estuary watershed can apply to the Trees for Tribs program for free native trees and bushes. When planted along streams, the trees and shrubs help contain erosion and reduce the chance of flooding.

The following excerpt from the NYSDEC website explains the importance of vegetation buffers along streams:

Riparian (streamside) buffers are a major component to maintaining healthy streams and waters and their conservation is a critical element of any holistic watershed program. Riparian areas are often severely damaged during the land development process, leading to unintended negative impacts to our streams and rivers. Composed of trees, shrubs and grasses, these buffers help to reduce pollution entering waterways by slowing down and filtering runoff, thus extending retention time and improving water quality. Buffers also help to reduce flooding and erosion by stabilizing shorelines and absorbing high velocity flows. In addition, they serve an important role for wildlife as a shoreline transition zone and travel corridor, not to mention increasing overall biodiversity and improving in-stream health.

The Casperkill Watershed Alliance has conducted two Trees for Tribs plantings along the Casperkill; one by Casperkill Drive and the other one on Fran and Frank Hartenfels’ property. Both locations were facing severe erosion problems due to the lack of adequate vegetation buffers. CWA coordinator Emily Vail spoke to us about her experience with the program:

You can apply early on in the season (either fall or spring). You specify what your site is, how many trees you would need, if it’s one side or both sides, who would be involved. They like to do these plantings in public or at least highly visible areas.  So they give you native trees and shrubs that do well along streams. And Kevin (from the NYSDEC) actually came out and did a site visit for us and showed us exactly where to put which one, which was great because I wouldn’t have known: Red Osier Dogwood from the River Birch, which one would go better in which place!

It’s a really nice program and they have a sign that goes up, too. Fran and Frank have it right at the edge of their property. They live right near a school and they have a lot of neighbors that walk by their house, so it seems that they have had a lot of questions about the program which is exactly what they’re hoping to get.

For more information on the Trees for Tribs program, click here.

Check out this 2004 Hudson Valley Magazine article.  Reed Sparling describes his attempt to trace the path of the Casperkill.  Although he ends up locating the headwaters a bit south of where they actually are, his story still demonstrates how much fun can be had along the creek.

Vassar followers, to view a pdf version of this article click here

Frank Hartenfels’s hammock hangs right on the stream bank.

Fran and Frank Hartenfels are members of the Casperkill Watershed Alliance. They live in Hagan Town (also known as the Spackenkill area) and, like their neighbor, Ron Lipp, they have taken steps to prevent erosion and protect the creek.

When the Hartenfelses first thought of buying the house on Hagan Drive thirteen years ago, the previous owner did not even mention that the Casperkill flowed right through its backyard. Perhaps he thought that the creek was an undesirable feature of the property, or that it was of little importance.  For Fran, Frank and their three children, however, the creek is a valuable source of recreation. They enjoy the scenery it provides and are entertained by the wildlife it is home to, while at the same time striving to protect its banks from erosion.

The Hartenfels children, aged fourteen, twelve and four, have grown up playing in the stream despite their parents’ warnings against it. “When they were younger,” Fran recalls, “we used to tell them that there were crocodiles in the stream. That kept them out of there until their friends started coming over and they started going in…” Years later, there is still enough the stream that the kids have not yet gotten bored. The Hartenfelses have seen mussels, catfish, trout (in the early spring and fall), sunnies, turtles, as well as an entire flock of mallards that currently resides on their stream bank. The wildlife is constant and varied, and it sure makes its presence known. Fran recalls having to rescue a duck out of a snapper turtle’s mouth by poking it in the neck and forcing it to open its mouth.

Fran and her family thoroughly enjoy living in proximity to nature. “We just love it,” she says, referring to the stream and the wildlife. But, once in a while, the Casperkill also means trouble. Three or four times a year, in the aftermath of a heavy rainfall, the stream floods and washes unwanted debris (logs and once even a baby carriage) onto their property. Also, due to their location along the stream, the Hartenfelses have had to buy mandatory flood insurance, despite the fact that their high elevation makes it unlikely that the water will ever reach the house.

Another big problem is erosion. Over the years, the Hartenfelses have seen their land erode away at the edges, as the Casperkill claims an ever larger stream bed. It was while trying to contain erosion that Fran and Frank Hartenfels became involved in the Casperkill Watershed Alliance.  Their neighbor, Ron Lipp, invited them to a CWA meeting, where they learned about the importance of streamside vegetation in preventing erosion.  As a result, they stopped mowing their lawn all the way to the stream, instead leaving a couple feet of long grass as a buffer. They also benefitted from the Trees for Tribs program, which provides native trees and shrubs to be planted along streams at erosion-prone locations. Fran and Frank are thankful to the CWA for their plantings and advice, so they continue to attend meetings and participate actively in the group’s activities. “It’s our way of giving back to the community,” Fran says.

1997 photograph courtesy of Ron Lipp

The following post was adopted from the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve website

In 1895, the first 200 acres of the Vassar Farm were purchased from Vassar Brothers Hospital to solve a problem. Up until then, Vassar had been pumping its sewage into the Casperkill creek but another plan was needed.  About the same time, Ellen Swallow Richards, a Vassar graduate of the class of 1870 and an expert in water chemistry and sanitation, suggested that the college should create a settling field and filter beds to handle the campus waste.  This was considered an innovative approach to sewage disposal at the time, and nutrients from the system were said to dramatically increase corn yield. Remnants of the filter beds are still visible today in the northwest corner of the Ecological Preserve.

In 1911, Augustus and May Elton Davies deeded the southern 300 acres of the current preserve to the college as a gift.  These two large parcels were then consolidated with some smaller pieces of land to become a single tract, and Vassar’s farming operation was relocated there. According to the 1918-19 Vassar College Catalogue, the farm included “a model dairy and poultry farm, greenhouses, stables, storage barns and farm houses….[It] produces vegetables for the college table, and grain and fodder for the cattle and poultry. The dairy supplies milk and cream for the college from a tested herd of Holstein cattle.”

In World War I and again in World War II, extra help during the summer months was in short supply, so Vassar girls worked as farmhands.  The first 12 girls who worked on the farm in the summer of 1917 as part of this patriotic experiment were called “Farmerettes.” They put in 45-hour weeks at 17 ½ cents an hour doing “every kind of work that the men tried, with the exception of cleaning the stables.” They chopped wood, milked cows, ploughed fields, and hoed the rows.   This was such a novel accomplishment that the Vassar Farm Unit was invited to present a “live exhibit” at the Eastern States Exposition, a ten-state agricultural fair, and five girls were excused from class for ten days to demonstrate their farming skills at the fair.

Farmerettes milking

By the mid 1950s, the farm was no longer a cost-efficient means of providing food for the college, and the farming operation was shut down.  A proposal by the Town of Poughkeepsie to use the Farm as a town dumpsite was rejected in favor of using part of the Farm as an educational preserve.  In 1973, a group of faculty led by Margaret Wright of the Biology Department drafted a proposal for a center of ecological study on the Vassar Farm.  In 1976, the college adopted a mixed-use plan that designated 275 acres as an ecological preserve for conservation and research. In 1978, the first field laboratory—a modified mobile home—was installed and the beginnings of a trail system were established. Today, 416 acres are actively managed as a preserve.

Read more about the history of the farm and preserve at the Vassar College Encyclopedia

The Farm Today:

The Vassar College community and Poughkeepsie area residents now utilize the 527 acre farm and ecological preserve in a variety of ways.

The Ecological Preserve is an invaluable resource for Vassar scientists.  Vassar faculty and students conduct ecological research in the fields, forests, and in the Priscilla Bullitt Collins Field Station.  The field station was built in 1995 on the ecological preserve and is used to study natural history, ecology, botany, and earth science.  The Farm is a great location to study the Casperkill, as it is one of only places where the creek can meander freely across a forested floodplain—far from sources of garbage and chemical inputs.

Check out this youtube video about student researchers studying the Casperkill last summer

The Exploring Science at Vassar Farm program brings local elementary school children to the field station for hands-on lessons about nature and science.  It also gives Vassar students who are interested in science education hands-on experience teaching second- and third-graders. Since its development in 1983, 35,000 children have participated in the program.

Several Vassar College and high school athletic teams utilize the fields on the farm and the trails on the preserve.  Among others, the Vassar cross-country and rugby teams use the farm for both practice and competition.

The Community Gardens are available to community members on a first-come, first-served basis for a nominal fee.  There are currently 120 plots available. Gardeners are required to follow three simple rules: garden organically, bring your own hose (but unhook it when you leave), and build your own fence.

Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve also hosts other organizations, including:

The Poughkeepsie Farm Project, a member-supported organic farm, leases ten acres from Vassar College and grows vegetables for 300 members, the Poughkeepsie Farmers’ Market, and for local soup kitchens and shelters.

The Ralph Waterman Bird Club of Dutchess County, a group of about 400 members is dedicated to the observation, study, and conservation of birds and other wildlife.  This club offers field trips throughout Dutchess County and regularly visits the preserve.

Greenway Environmental Services produces compost for farms, urban gardens, and municipalities in the Hudson Valley.

For further information about the Farm please check out:

– Vassar Farm Oral History Interviews 2006

– Vassar Farm Timeline

– 1982 article by Professor Robert Suter, “Idyll thoughts and prescriptions from a farm ecologist.”

At one time, the 36 acre property located at 275 Van Wagner Road was the final resting place for around 90% of the industrial and commercial waste generated by the city and town of Poughkeepsie.  The history of the site is marked by repeated violations of health and environmental codes.

A current aerial image of the landfill is shown above.  1936 aerial photographs suggest that dumping at the FICA landfill filled in a wetland and displaced the Casperkill by about 20 meters.

Prior to 1976, the Dutchess County Airport served as the primary dump site for Poughkeepsie, Wappingers and LaGrange.  Poughkeepsie was forced to stop baling garbage at this location when  improperly handled garbage began to attract too many birds, making it unsafe for pilots to land and take off at the airport.  The Federal Aviation Administration gave Dutchess County until April of 1976 to stop baling garbage at the Airport, and under the pressure of this deadline Poughkeepsie officials began to consider other options including: 1) reopening a former landfill on 67 acres of the Van De Water property located off the Dutchess Turnpike, and 2) contracting with Dutchess Sanitation, Inc., which had a large facility in Ulster County, and a smaller, non-dumping, compaction-only site along Van Wagner Road.  Ultimately, officials opted for option 2.  Though they wanted to re-open the Van de Water property, they could not afford to pay a $500 a day fine for operating a town landfill without prior approval from the county Health Department.  The city entered into a 19-day agreement with Dutchess Sanitation to buy time to figure out a more permanent solution.

The arrangement with Dutchess Sanitation was controversial from the very beginning.  The town of Poughkeepsie soon filed a suit against the firm in the State Supreme Court regarding 6 zoning violations and misuse of a building permit application.  Additionally, many residents in Ulster County protested the use of the Dutchess Sanitation-owned landfill near Plattekill.  In May of 1977, Ulster County officials voted to ban outside garbage from coming into the town for baling.  The lawsuit in Poughkeepsie and the ban in Ulster County both put significant financial hardship on Dutchess Sanitation.  The head of the firm Joseph Fiorillo—popularly referred to by locals as “Joe Garbage”—began baling and burying waste at the site along Van Wagner Road.  Fiorillo obtained a temporary landfill-operating permit from the Town of Poughkeepsie to bury demolition waste and ‘miscellaneous debris” from commercial consumers.  He did not need the approval of the Health Department for this permit because he was not (supposed to be) burying any organic garbage or old appliances.  When a sanitarian inspecting the site found that Fiorillo was, in fact,  illegally taking in old appliances, or “white waste,” officials were immediately concerned about the potential pollution of nearby groundwater wells.  The town moved to seek a permanent injunction against this violation of zoning ordinances and health codes, but a Supreme Court justice in Poughkeepsie refused to grant it.  The justice claimed that Fiorillo had no-where else to dump the garbage, and went as far as to say that by taking in the garbage, Fiorillo was actually “performing a service to the community.”

Information from: Metal Contamination and Distribution in Casper Creek Poughkeepsie, New York.  Chromium Concentrations Near the FICA Landfill. Elizabeth L. Belk, Dept. of Geology, Vassar College, 1995.

On the left, mobster “Matty the Horse” was affiliated with the  FICA landfill.  On the right, operations at the landfill cease when the Health Department steps in.

By mid-July of 1977, a temporary injunction against further dumping at the Van Wagner Road property was finally granted.  A few weeks later it was discovered that portions of the firm were owned by Matthew Ianniello—or “Matty the Horse”— a major crime figure in New York City, and by Benjamin Cohen, a close associate of Ianniello’s.  Joseph Fiorillo’s brothers were also said to own a part of the business.  His brother Vincent was sentenced to jail for lying to a grand jury about his relationship to another organized crime family.  Within a month after the injunction, at least two contempt of court actions were filed by the Dutchess County Health Department. Despite the orders, more than 110,000ft³ of garbage was illegally placed at the site in the following months.

To complicate matters, in 1978, New York State adopted a new Environmental Conservation Law.  Landfill firms no longer had to have the official approval of the Health Department; a complete landfill-operating permit application was enough to continue operations.  Since Dutchess Sanitation had submitted a permit application, the firm was allowed to resume dumping.  Faced with this new obstacle, the Health Department decided to try another route.  They launched an in-depth examination of the site, which led to the discovery that much of the garbage had been dumped at the property in violation of health codes.  The Department then took matters into their own hands; a guard was placed at the property 24 hours a day to prevent any dumping.  In the summer of 1978, though, a state justice again overruled the Health Department.  The justice decided that the Van Wagner landfill should remain open until the state made an official decision on the firm’s pending application.

Information from: Metal Contamination and Distribution in Casper Creek Poughkeepsie, New York.  Chromium Concentrations Near the FICA Landfill. Elizabeth L. Belk, Dept. of Geology, Vassar College, 1995.

Kipp, Dennis. “Trash overflow closes town landfill after years of complaints, lawsuits.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 26 June 1983: D1.

Lubasch, Arnold H. “New York Sues Reputed Mobster to Force Cleanup of Landfill.” The New York Times 6 Oct. 1987.

Photo credit: http://electronicenglish.org/jpegs/ggg/mattythehorse.jpg

Arlington firefighters pour water on a fire that broke out at the FICA landfill.  Firefighters had to unearth about 15-feet of garbage to get at smoldering embers, and an estimated 4.5 million gallons of water washed refuse into the Casperkill.

It was not until April 1980—three years after the Van Wagner Road landfill began operating—that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved the permit.  That same year, Dutchess Sanitation, Inc. was dissolved and a new partnership—known as FICA, an acronym for Fiorillo, Ianniello, Cohen and Associates—was formed.  A three-year permit gave FICA permission to expand the landfill to handle an average of 140 tons of refuse a day (enough to take in all of the trash from the City of Poughkeepsie).  The life of the permit was later extended until September 30, 1984, or to when the landfill reached maximum capacity, whichever came first.  The landfill ultimately did reach capacity before the September deadline.  On June 28th of 1983 the New York State DEC ordered garbage dumping to cease because the landfill had reached the maximum permitted elevation of 60 feet, and the firm had expanded into an adjacent 6.8 acres without state permission.  Apparently, on June 10th, the DEC had rejected an application by the landfill owners to permit expansion to an adjacent 6.8-acre parcel of the property because the application had not proved that ground and surface water would not be adversely affected by such an increase in size.  Even thought the department told the landfill owners to stop accepting garbage and cover the dump, the owners began dumping on the disputed parcel without permission.  “What appears to have happened is they got a little too enthusiastic and expanded anyway,” DEC representative Ellen Muller said. James Milo—the operator of FICA—said the unauthorized expansion was “an inadvertent mistake.”

Limited dumping was periodically allowed at the FICA site between 1983 and 1984 to avoid a massive garbage crisis, but the majority of Poughkeepsie’s waste was sent to the nearby Amenia landfill until the $30 million incinerator along the Hudson opened in 1987.  During this period the FICA landfill was only supposed to be burying construction and demolition debris, however, hazardous material probably continued to be taken-in.  A witness testifying before a panel about organized crime control of garbage collection implicated Dutchess Sanitation as a mob-related company.  The witness went on to describe how mob-controlled landfills routinely mixed hazardous waste with residential garbage and construction scraps in order to hide the smell and make it look like a regular load.  Later on, James Milo—the operator of FICA—admitted to violating regulations by failing to control access to the site.

On September 23, 1984—just before the landfill closed once and for all—a fire broke out, sending clouds of white, brown, and black smoke into the air.  The fire, which was started because the landfill owners violated their permit and failed to properly cover their garbage piles, was brought under control the same evening that it started.  Unfortunately, though, firefighters had to continue to soak the smoldering trash for over 9 days to make sure the blaze wouldn’t start up again.  Around 4.5 million gallons of water were pumped into the landfill during just the first 5 days of the fire, washing tons of garbage into the Casperkill.  To determine exactly what kinds of pollutants were washed into the creek during the blaze, DEC officials took several water samples.  Among other things, they found unusually high levels of benzene, toluene and ethyl benzene in the Casperkill.  All three chemicals are hazardous; benzene is suspected to cause leukemia.

Shortly after the fire it was decided that the state should test to make sure that the waste in the landfill could not leach into the stream with normal precipitation events.  Residents and scientists were especially concerned about the six thousand yards of sludge material that had been deposited in the FICA landfill after being dredged up from the water intake area at the Indian Point nuclear power plant.  Alas, the state found that the site had never been properly closed and that wells had not been drilled according to the closure order.

Information from: Metal Contamination and Distribution in Casper Creek Poughkeepsie, New York.  Chromium Concentrations Near the FICA Landfill. Elizabeth L. Belk, Dept. of Geology, Vassar College, 1995.

Kipp, Dennis. “Fire persists at town dump after 5 days.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 28 Sept. 1984. B1.

Kipp, Dennis. “Trash overflow closes town landfill after years of complaints, lawsuits.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 26 June 1983: D1.

Kipp, Dennis. “Witness tells panel: Mob controls waste industry.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 20 Sept. 1984. A1.

Kipp, Dennis and Bernie Kohn. “Fire Blackens Landfill.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 23 Sept. 1984. A1.

Saltzman, Jonathan and Helene Maiche. “State Closes Town Landfill.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 21 June 1983: A1.

The FICA landfill today.

On October 5, 1987 New York State filed a Federal lawsuit to force the clean-up of the FICA landfill.  ”Our suit,” State Attorney General Robert Abrams said, ”alleges that waste generated by industry and dumped at the site over the years is responsible for serious contamination…the dump’s current and past owners and operators can be held entirely responsible for creating the hazardous waste site and required to pay for its cleanup.”  The State won the suit.  Soon afterward, site operators J & T Recycling produced a detailed report of hazardous substances at the site, complete with field investigations and proposals detailing possible methods for cleanup.  It took the state until the end of 1990 to finally approve a plan for investigating the landfill, which ultimately included installing twenty groundwater monitoring wells, testing gases released, and searching for buried metal drums.

In April of 1991, the New York State Department of Conservation decided to allow limited dumping to resume in an effort to re-grade the site.  One hundred thousand cubic yards of material were piled against the south face of the landfill in order to eliminate the steep slope and stabilize the garbage piles before covering them with plastic.  Bringing in more material (limited to soil, stone, rock dust, concrete, brick, plaster, clearing and grubbing materials, masonry products, tree stumps, wood, wood chips, pavement, and roofing material) was considered safer than redistributing the material at the site.

On March 3, 1993 a meeting was held to discuss removal of some orange-yellow liquid that had leaked out of the garbage piles and collected into a near-by pond.  The final plan for cleaning up the 19-acre landfill required that it be capped; that all liquids be collected and treated; and that the groundwater be tested for contaminants and monitored for at-least the next 30 years.

Information from: Metal Contamination and Distribution in Casper Creek Poughkeepsie, New York.  Chromium Concentrations Near the FICA Landfill. Elizabeth L. Belk, Dept. of Geology, Vassar College, 1995.

Kipp, Dennis. “Odor from landfill upsets residents.” The Poughkeepsie Journal 4 Mr. 1993. B3.

Please click here for a New York Times article on the 1987 Federal lawsuit against the mobsters

Photo credit: Nadine Souto

Harvey Flad is Professor Emeritus of Geography at Vassar College. Appointed to the faculty in 1972, he played an important role in the development of multidisciplinary programs in American Culture, Environmental Studies and Urban Studies. He has lived in the City of Poughkeepsie for 30 years.

On June 21^st, Professor Harvey Flad joined us for a conversation about the Casperkill. For the past 40 years, Flad has been living, teaching and doing research in the Poughkeepsie area, and he has accumulated a great wealth of knowledge about local history.

As a professor of geography, he strove to engage his students in a critical understanding of the relationship of humankind to its environment. “Space and spatial analysis are what geography is all about,” he explained. But, over the course of his career, Flad developed an interest in time in addition to space.  Recognizing the importance of history in understanding landscape, his work became focused on the evolution of the landscape and its implications for society and culture.

Perhaps his primary focus was on the history of human development and land use, which necessarily includes the study of water sources and their role in human activity. Therefore, much of his research and teaching involved the Hudson River and its two local tributaries: the Fallkill and the Casperkill.

Harvey Flad on the evolution of the Casperkill watershed

The history of the Casperkill goes back to Native American use. Already in pre-colonial times, this area had been given the name of Poughkeepsie, which means “little reed house by the watering place.”  Said watering place is not the Casperkill but another small creek. However, its very mention sheds light on the importance of streams and ponds even in the earliest days of human history along the Hudson.

With the arrival of the Dutch in the early 17^th century and all the way into the revolutionary period, the entirety of the Fallkill and Casperkill watersheds were made up of agricultural land. Wheat and other crops were grown here, in small farms which also raised cattle, sheep and goats. It was not for nothing that Dutchess county and the surrounding area were known as the “breadbasket of Washington’s army.”

Naturally, the Fallkill and Casperkill were crucial to the success of agricultural activities. Not only did they provide the necessary water but they powered the mills which made much of the agricultural production possible.

In the late 19^th century, the emergence of steam power and the moving away of agriculture and industry meant that local streams like the Fallkill and the Wappingers no longer played as important a role in industrial development. The Casperkill remained as rural as it had ever been, with the area surrounding it still occupied by farms.  It wasn’t until the 20^th century that local land use trends took a radical turn.

While the upper reaches of the Casperkill remained largely unchanged; a perennial swamp and shrubland, the middle and lower courses of the stream saw unprecedented land use changes. At the southernmost end of the Casperkill, a quarry was built and expanded, thus transforming the composition of the creek right at the mouth. After picking up oil and other industrial wastes in its winding path through the quarry, the Casperkill flowed into the Hudson, no longer as a pristine creek, but dark and contaminated.

The middle reaches of the stream were transformed somewhat later, in the post-WWII period. At that point urbanization kicked in, resulting in highway construction, landfilling and retail development.  All of these had (and continue to have) a significant impact on the Casperkill.

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As urbanization raged on, suburbanization took over the land south of Spackenkill Rd. Harvey Flad speaks on the development of suburban housing and the transformation of the social landscape by IBM.

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For more information on Professor Flad, see http://harveyflad.wordpress.com/

Special thanks to Baynard Bailey for his help filming and editing this interview.