"Improvements" Made to the Hutchinson River in the 1870s and Early 1880s
By 1888, substantial improvements had been made to accommodate the arrivals and departures of sailing vessels and barges carrying, principally, coal and building materials up the river to the Town Dock.
A fascinating report on the improvements to "East Chester Creek, New York" appeared in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, to the Secretary of War for the Year 1888. The brief report is transcribed immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.
Map of East Chester Creek Published in 1893.
Copy in Possession of the Author. NOTE:
Click on Image to Enlarge.
"IMPROVEMENT OF EAST CHESTER CREEK, NEW YORK.
East Chester Creek is a small tidal stream emptying into East Chester or Pelham Bay. The bay is on the north side of Long Island Sound, at its western end, being just east of Throg's Neck, and 20 miles by water from the Battery at New York.
The mean rise of tide is 7.1 feet.
A reef of bowlders close to the course of vessels passing through the draw of Pelham Bridge (near the mouth of the creek), made the entrance dangerous.
The available depth of Town Dock, 1 1/2 miles from the month, was, at high water, rather over 7 feet. About the same depth could be carried to Lockwood's, 2 1/4 miles from the mouth.
PROJECTS FOR IMPROVEMENT.
The amount heretofore reported in the annual reports as the original estimates, viz, $136,500, was for a partial project for an improvement from Town Dock to a point 3,000 feet above Lockwood's, submitted in 1872. (Annual Report of Chief of Engineers for 1881, page 640.)
In 1875, the project was modified by changing the location of the cut from Lockwood's to Town Dock, involving rock excavation, at an additional cost of $10,000. (Letters from General Newton, dated September 24, 1875, and letter from the Chief of Engineers, dated September 28, 1875.)
Since then, up to 1884, additional projects have been made and partially carried out for improvement below Town Dock at an actual cost of $22,600, and an additional estimated cost of $52,000. The original [Page 574 / Page 575] estimate and the amounts required for completion of existing project should, therefore, be increased by $84,600.
The entire project thus far adopted consists of excavating a channel 9 feet deep at mean high water from Pelham Bridge to a point about 3,000 feet above Lockwood's, by removing bowlders and gravel from near the draw of Pelham Bridge; by dredging a channel west of Goose Island, 125 feet wide and 1,500 long; and by dredging a cut 100 feet wide and about 3,000 feet long, from Pell Point to the first bend above Town Dock, and thence extending it by an easy curve through a marsh and some rock cutting to Lockwood's, a stretch in which the natural bed of the stream was very winding; a cut 3,000 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 9 feet deep, was to be made above Lockwood's to serve both as a channel and tidal basin; the channel was also to be confined in certain parts by timber dikes having an aggregate length of 5,800 feet. The estimated cost of the whole is $221,100.
The first work under this project was done in 1877. Since that time the channel through the marsh and rock just below Lockwood's has been made 100 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean high water; the channel west of Goose Island has been dredged 125 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean high water; the bowlders in the vicinity of Pelham Bridge draw have been removed; the channel just above and under the new draw-bridge on the Boston road at Lockwood's has been dredged out; a channel about 2,000 feet long and 9 feet deep at mean high water has been dredged from Pell Point up to Town Dock, the width being 40 to 45 feet, gradually increasing to 90 feet at Town Dock, and 1,235 linear feet of diking have been built.
OPERATIONS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1888.
A contract was entered into, July 11, 1887, with the Frank Pidgeon Dredging Company of New York, for the removal of about 30,000 cubic yards of mud measured in scows, the work to be applied to widening the channel and removing shoal spots. This contract was annulled by authority of the Chief of Engineers, dated August 18, 1887, on account of the contractor's failure to begin work within the time required. An examination of the channel made in September, 1887, showed the existence of a channel 100 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean high water from the bay to Town Dock; from Town Dock to Lockwood's there was an available depth of about 8 feet at mean high water, in a narrow channel. Advertisement was made, proposals opened April 21, 1888, and a contract entered into May 11, 1888, with the Hartford Dredging Company, of Hartford, Conn., for the removal of 1,700 cubic yards of mud measured in scows. Work was begun under this contract June 7, 1888, and up to June 30, 1888, 1,772 cubic yards had been removed near Town Dock.
PRESENT CONDITION OF IMPROVEMENTS.
There is a channel, 100 feet wide and 9 feet deep at mean high water, from the bay to Town Dock; and a narrow channel, 8 feet deep at mean high water, from Town Dock to Lockwood's. Above that no work has been done.
PROPOSED OPERATIONS.
Work will be continued under the contract with the Hartford Dredging Company. Future appropriations will be applied to completing and maintaining the channel as projected. [Page 575 / Page 576]
Appropriations for improving East Chester Creek have been made as follows, viz:
Date / Application / Amount
Mar. 3, 1873 Cutting through marsh and rock, and diking (in 1877) . . . $25,000
Mar. 3, 1875 Dredging under Boston Road Bridge and at Goose Island . . . 12,000
June 18, 1878 Dredging near Lockwood's, Goose Island, and Pelham Bridge . . . 10,000
Mar. 3, 1879 Dredging 40 to 90 feet wide from Pell Point to Town Dock . . . 3,500
June 14, 1880 Dredging 40 to 90 feet wide from Pell Point to Town Dock . . . 3,500
Aug. 5, 1886 Dredging above Town Dock (not yet expended) . . . 10,000
Total . . . . . . . 64,000
East Chester Creek is in the collection district of New York. The nearest lighthouse is on the Stepping Stones, 3 miles southeast of the mouth of the creek. The nearest work of defense is Fort Schuyler, Throg's Neck, about 3 1/2 miles south.
Money statement.
July 1, 1887, amount available.....................................................$9,673.78
July 1, 1888, amount expended during fiscal
year, exclusive of liabilities outstanding
July 1, 1887..........................................................$1,256.18
July 1, 1888, outstanding liabilities............................ 797.40
July 1, 1888, amount covered by existing contracts.. 6,852.60
...................................................................................................... 8,906.18
July 1, 1888, balance available.................................................... 767.60
Amount appropriated by act of August 11, 1888.......................... 5,000.00
Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1889................ 5,767.60
{ Amount (estimated) required for completion
of existing project..................................................................152,100.00
{ Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal
year ending June 30, 1890.................................................... 30,000.00
{Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections
2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867.
----------
Abstract of bids for dredging in East Chester Creek, New York, opened at Engineer Office, U.S. Army, New York, April 21, 1888.
No.---Name and address of bidder...........................Rate per cubic yard Cents.. Remarks
1------James McSpirit, Jersey City, N.J...................47 1/2................................Only one guarantor
*2------Hartford Dredging Company, Hartford, Conn...45
3.-----Michael H. Flannery, New York City...............45
__________
*Contract awarded to the Hartford Dredging Company.
COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.
Arrivals and departures of vessels.
Kind.-------------------------------Number.----Tonnage.
Sailing vessels......................8................. 360
Barges, etc...........................90...............15,750
Total................................98...............16,110
The draught of vessels trading in East Chester Creek ranges from 5 to 7 1/2 feet.
Their tonnage ranges from 30 to 200 tons.
Cargoes. -- Receipts, 10,625 tons; value $61,075.
The principal articles of commerce are coal and building materials."
Source: Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, to the Secretary of War for the Year 1888 in Four Parts, pp. 574-76 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1888) (U.S. House of Representatives, 50th Congress, 2d Session, Ex. Doc. 1, pt. 2, Vol. II).
Labels: 1872, 1875, 1888, Eastchester Bay, Eastchester Creek, Hutchinson River, Pelham Bay, Transportation
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