Chapter 12 - Tributaries
Reall Creek Created the City
of Utica
Reall Creek starts as a trickle near the summit of Bell Hill north
of Utica. It flows west, picking up the water of a couple more trickles,
before dropping into a gully and passing under Walker Road at 1.5 miles.
From there it continues its descent and westerly flow, picking up more
tributaries and flowing into a shale-sided ravine. At 4.5 miles it makes
an abrupt turn south, meanders in that general direction until exiting
the ravine at around 7.0 miles. From there it passes under Firehouse Road
in Deerfield, and immediately crosses the Deerfield/Utica line. In Utica
the creek is channelized or contained between stone and concrete walls
until it falls into the Barge Canal at 8.5 miles.
Valaine has lived near The Ravine most of her adult life.
And, no that is not a giant turtle shell in the foreground.
Before the canal was built, Reall Creek ran into
the rerouted Mohawk River. However, before the river was rerouted north
to accommodate the railroad in the mid 1800s, the creek continued for another
mile or so, entering the river near what is now Utica's Union (train) Station.
It was there that each spring a huge volume of rock, gravel and silt fanned
out into the river . . . and maintained a major north-south crossing. This
was also where laden bateaux had to stop when the river was down during
the summer months. Old Fort Schuyler was built at the crossing during the
French & Indian War. After the Revolutionary War this transportation
crossroads became the City of Utica.
Reall
Creek was named after Christian Reall, one of the earliest settlers in
the area. There were several farms in Deerfield prior to the Revolutionary
War, but it was after the war that the waters of Reall Creek were utilized
to power mills. The most successful were located at the sharp bend in the
ravine, about four miles north of the Mohawk River. In addition to a gristmill
and sawmill, there were a distillery, foundry, fulling and carding mill,
a print shop, stables, several farms and, of course, a tavern. Some 200
people lived in the community that grew up on "flats" about 30 feet up
on both sides of the ravine. Brown's (Braun's) Gulf, sometimes called Mechanicsville,
was thriving by 1828 and was all but gone by the end of the century. All
that remained in the 1900s was the bridge that crossed the ravine, and
that was removed during World War II. Today high voltage power lines cross
where waterpower once reigned
supreme.
Ravine. We couldn't identify these purple blossoms
Deerfield New York - A Glimpse into the Past
by Virginia C. Loin.
Discovery: The Ravine - We Left Civilization Behind
June 21, 2004, 60 degrees, Sunny
Although Reall Creek can be a raging torrent in the
spring, during the summer months it's low and warm, ideal for hiking up
the
bottom of The Ravine. My sister, Valaine Fluty has lived most of her adult
life near the lower end of The Ravine, so s
he
led the way down the trail that starts at the parking lot at the Deerfield
Elementary School.
It took only 10 minutes to walk down the winding
trail through the woods to the bottom of the ravine. Valaine wore hiking
boots and carried a ski pole. I wore felt-bottomed wading shoes and carried
a hiking stick. We could have worn sneakers, but good foot support is always
a good idea when hiking over rock and cobble.
It was 9 a.m. when we headed upstream. Although
some stretches were covered with rock, cobble and boulders, along with
shale chips and "black sand," the creek bottom was mostly flat-rock shale.
Much to my surprise there was very little algae on any of the rocks. Easy
walking
The creek doesn't make a straight run down
the bottom of the ravine. It meanders, between shale cliffs and wooded
escarpment. On the inside of most bends or loops, sediment has built up,
creating alternating flats or tongues of bottomland A few willows grow
creekside. Maple, boxelder, poplar, cottonwood, grapevines and ferns dominate
the bottomland. Hemlock and a few birch cling to the sides of the ravine.
Note how the center of the falls has cut deeper into the
shale than the sides.
We passed under power lines at 9:25. According
to my topo map we were in the general area of Broad Acres. For many years
this facility on the east side of the ravine was a well known TB Sanatorium.
Today it's a Nursing Home.
The
sounds of civilization were replaced by the sound of running water and
the chirping of birds. Valaine recognized the calls of Orioles. Although
we never saw these bright orange birds among the trees, we did see and
hear ravens and crows. We also saw a red-tail hawk circle just over the
treetops and land in a tree on the edge of the ravine. A pair of turkey
vultures soared high overhead.
The bottom of this tire-shaped chunk of shale had been sliced off
and a chunk of wood wedged between it and the rest of the rock.
At 9:45 I discovered water falling down the right
side of the ravine, exposing layers of eroded shale. Although the falls
was several feet wide, the center was cut deeper than the sides,
indicating a varying stream flow. Further upstream we found an unusual
chunk of shale in the middle of the creek. It was shaped like a tire lying
on its side. What was even more fascinating, the bottom of the "tire" had
been sliced off and a chunk of wood wedged between it and the rest of the
rock.
While I studied waterfalls and rock formations,
Valaine noted the abundance of streamside ferns, and flowers such as daisies,
butter & eggs and a purple flower we couldn't identify. She even discovered
a patch of wild strawberries on a mid-stream island. Delicious.
Reall Creek is too shallow during the summer to
support a resident fish population, but we saw minnows and fry in few pools
and below small waterfalls. Except for a couple of tires, the bottom of
the ravine was junk-free.
There
was plenty of wildlife along the creek, as evidenced by deer, raccoon,
turkey and deer tracks in the mud and sand. Some of those tracks,
which were very fresh and abruptly changed direction, indicated we had
spooked a couple of deer and at least one coyote as we bumbled and babbled
our way up the bottom of the ravine.
Although I had heard about the mills and village in the
ravine, I didn't know at the time exactly where they were located. Other
than a few red bricks, there was nothing in the stream that indicated there
were buildings in the area. Of course we were at the bottom of the ravine
and the village and mill sites were 30 feet up.
Nature almost always provides a comfortable place to rest.
At 10:25 we stopped at the mouth of a tributary on
the right side of the creek, and sat in the shade on a moss-covered root
to rest and have a snack. We had been hiking upstream for almost an hour
and a half, and were tempted to look around the next bend---a family curse---but
decided it was time to head back.
Our downstream trek started at 10:45. Rather than
follow the meandering stream, we cut across most bends by walking in wooded
bottomland. Along the way we discovered huge patches of myrtle, plus deer
trails and turkey scratchings. We were moving so fast through the woods---crossing
the creek so infrequently---that we missed the power lines . . . and walked
right by the trail to the school parking lot. Fortunately, Valaine
recognized the "old swimming hole" where she used to bring her kids many
years ago. The trail from the swimming hole led to the Deerfield Fire Department,
a half mile below where we started.
We walked out of the ravine at 11:50 and into
Valaine's driveway at noon. We had hiked over four miles. Good thing my
sister is in such great shape.
July 20, 2004 75 Degrees, Sunny
It bugged me that we didn’t discover any sign of the old village and
mills, or even the old bridge abutment on our first trip into The Ravine.
After all, I had seen a 1996 photo of the bridge abutment and it didn’t
look like it would wash away anytime soon. So, I read Virginia Loin’s
book again, studied old maps and new maps, and decided to go back. . .
. by climbing down into The Ravine at the approximate location of the village.
Fortunately, power lines and an ATV trail crossed in that area.
When
I explained the plan to my sister, she agreed to join me on another adventure.
We parked the Jeep along Route 12 at 9 a.m., and discovered a construction
crew working on the side of the hill with a trackhoe and a bulldozer. The
bulldozer operator told us they had recently filled a 40-foot sinkhole.
The hill, by the way, was actually a massive highway “fill” in the valley
of a Reall Creek tributary. Apparently, heavy runoff had overflowed a rock-bottomed
drainage ditch and followed a rutted ATV trail, causing the sinkhole on
the side of the fill.
Now there are two drainage ditches in that area.
Large chunks of quarry stone “paved” the bottom of the new ditch, so we
followed these steppingstones down to the ATV trail that led---up hill
and down---to the bottom of the Ravine.
this was the site of the old mill, and the "center" of the lost village.
After catching our breath, we headed upstream. Our first major discovery
was a narrow section of the ravine---waterfalls, long pool, and perpendicular
shale walls on each side---that looked, at first glance, like a grotto.
At second glance, the upper end of this section looked like the ideal place
to build a milldam. There was no evidence of the dam in the shale, but
shale erodes so quickly there wouldn’t be much sign after 150 years.
However, starting just upstream from this “dam site” was the beginning
of a 4-5 foot wide ditch that led straight to a good size hole in the ground
that was partially lined with boulders. The ditch continues from there
straight to the creek. I think the ditch was the location of the raceway
for the mill, and the boulder-lined excavation was the site of the old
mill.
With this discovery under our belts, we headed back downstream. I was almost
convinced that the old road that crossed the creek was located where the
power lines (and the ATV trail) crossed. Perhaps the bridge abutment had
washed away or was covered with trees and brush. It was obvious we hadn’t
walked this far up on our first trip, so we decided to walk downstream
to see if we could find where we had left off. We never got that far, because
“just around the bend” we discovered the old bridge abutment and the “promontory”
described and pictured in Virginia Loin’s book. A pigeon was sitting at
the bottom of the promontory and didn’t move until we were almost next
to it, and then it flew up to a ledge where it stayed as long as we were
in the area. Strange?
We returned to the bridge abutment and tried to
follow the old roadbed out of the Ravine. After 10 minutes of busting
through brush and scrub apple trees, we went back to the abutment, stopping
to rest next to a giant mullein. This pole-like plant with a cluster of
yellow flowers near the top and fuzzy leaves at the bottom is always a
good topic of conversation. In days of old the leaves were used for torch
wicks and to insulate moccasins and boots.
We returned to the creek and started up the trail at 11 a.m. With stops along the way to catch our breath, appreciate wildflowers and pick raspberries, we were back at the Jeep at 11:25.
Post
Script: I had taken dozens of digital photographs of our discoveries.
Unfortunately, the memory device in my digital camera was “corrupted.”
That’s computer talk for zapped. So, we went back on August 3rd.
The photos included here were taken on that third trip.
Except for a hike in the woods above the dam
site where we discovered a number of old roadbeds, we covered the same
ground. There is much more to discover in this lost village site. Perhaps
we will return when vegetation is scarce and old foundations are easier
to see. Incidentally, the sinkhole repair job and new drainage ditch were
completed. The area was graded, seeded, “thatched” . . . and already rutted
by ATV’s.
This third discovery trip ended at Kitty’s Restaurant
at the Utica Marina, where we ate lunch and watched Reall Creek fall into
the New Erie Canal.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk
Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Deeefield , select New York, press GO!
