Posted in Casperkill on Jun 22nd, 2010 1 Comment »
The abandoned Schatz Federal Bearing Company waste disposal site can be seen from the Rail Trail. The Schatz site is located along Van Wagner Road, at the edge of the Casperkill watershed. The site was originally a marshy wetland until extensive landfilling by the Schatz Company completely changed the topography of the area. Five of […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 18th, 2010 No Comments »
A map of Lake Dwight from Marlyn Magnus’ 1957 thesis. In 1957, Vassar student Marlyn Mangus completed a senior thesis in Geology in which she identified and mapped the boundaries of a glacial lake that formed in front of the retreating Laurentide ice sheet. This lake, which she named Lake Dwight, is thought to underlie […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 11th, 2010 1 Comment »
Orange ooze at the mouth of a culvert that channels water through the old Burnett Boulevard landfill underneath the Route 44 and Dutchess Center Plazas. Background information: Our interview with Alison Keimowitz, a Chemistry Professor at Vassar College, about the orange ooze actually started with her asking us a question: “What is in a landfill?” […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 10th, 2010 No Comments »
In 1940 John Van De Water leased the land that was once occupied by the Poughkeepsie Brick Corporation to the Town of Poughkeepsie (see The Rise and Fall of “Brickyard Hill”). At that time the 120-acre property was really just an enormous hole in the ground, left from a century and a half of clay […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 9th, 2010 No Comments »
Patsy Cicala, an environmental educator, prepares to test the dissolved oxygen content at Sunset Lake during the 1997 sewage spill. The test yielded a zero reading, meaning that no fish could have survived in the water. After speaking with Vassar alumni about the changes in Sunset Lake I became curious about the history of fish […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 7th, 2010 No Comments »
A view of the outdoor ampitheatre in the 1930s. Sunset Lake can be seen in the background, through the Canadian hemlocks and Norway spruces that form the backdrop to the theatre space. While talking with alumnae this weekend it was always fascinating to hear how much Sunset Lake has changed over time, but it was […]
Posted in Casperkill on Jun 4th, 2010 1 Comment »
Daffodils on Sunset Hill, sometimes referred to as “Daffodil Hill” This weekend is reunion weekend at Vassar College so the Oral History Team has been using this opportunity to talk to alumnae and alumni about the Casperkill Watershed. Not surprisingly, Vassar graduates are most familiar with the sections of the Casperkill and Fonteynkill that flow […]
Posted in Casperkill, Fonteynkill on Jun 3rd, 2010 No Comments »
The following passages are from the glossary of the 1924 book Poughkeepsie: The Origin and Meaning of the Word by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds: Kil “In the Netherlands in the seventeenth century the word kil was used to designate narrow connecting water-channels. In the Dutch settlements in America it was applied to running streams and was […]
Posted in Casperkill, Fonteynkill on Jun 3rd, 2010 No Comments »
In 1876, a Historical Sketch of Vassar College was prepared “in compliance with an invitation from the Commission of the Bureau of Education, representing the Department of the Interior in matters relating to the National Centennial.” This early document highlights the centrality of the Casperkill Creek to the value (and landscape design) of the land […]
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