Pocantico River

In the past the Pocantico was considered to have two different sources, but today it is acknowledged that it rises from Echo Lake in the town of New Castle between Saw Mill River Road (New York State Route 100) and the Taconic State Parkway, just southwest of the unincorporated hamlet of Millwood. The lake is above sea level, in a narrow valley between Cabin Ridge to the east and a similarly steep ridge on the west. Its surrounding terrain is primarily wooded and lightly developed outside of the two roads. The river begins at a dam on the lake's south end. of the Old Croton Aqueduct, and leaves the preserve, continuing straight through a steep, narrow wooded ravine in a slightly southwesterly direction. As it flows between Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to the west and the village's Douglas Park to the east, the river drops below in elevation. On the north edge of another residential neighborhood, it bends eastward. After flowing under U.S. Route 9, it is again impounded, creating the mill pond at the Philipsburg Manor House, another NHL. From that outlet, it meanders northwest past a residential development at the site of the former Tarrytown Truck Assembly plant, widening into a flood plain as it does. It bends north to pass another village park on the east, then north around that to divide the park from the residential neighborhood of Philipse Manor to its north. After flowing under the railroad tracks used by Metro-North's Hudson Line and Amtrak's Empire Service, it flows under the entrance road to Sleepy Hollow's Kingsland Point Park and empties into the Hudson River. ==Watershed==

The Pocantico's watershed covers areas of Ossining, Mount Pleasant, and New Castle, including Briarcliff Manor and Sleepy Hollow. It includes of mapped freshwater wetlands and eleven dams. Approximately 14,866 people live within the watershed. It is largely suburban, but also contains parks, forests and wildlife, highways, utilities, and institutions. ==History==

(1851), depicting a small mill on the river that was one of the early landmarks of the Sleepy Hollow area; it vanished some time before 1893. the name survived in that of the Mill River Culvert of the historic Old Croton Aqueduct (it towers over the river near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery). The Native Americans called the river Pocanteco, a derivative of the Algonquin term Pockóhantès, meaning a "run between two hills". The Dutch called it the Sleepy Haven Kill. Before mechanical refrigeration was introduced, ice harvested from Pocantico Lake in winter was used by stores in Tarrytown and North Tarrytown (present-day Sleepy Hollow) to keep food from spoiling. 1920s expansions of the North Tarrytown Assembly, a large General Motors automobile factory in Sleepy Hollow, involved rerouting the lower Pocantico River north of the site to follow the path of a pre-existing creek. The plant also completed the filling-in of the Pocantico Bay and adjacent swamps, which had been started in the 1840s to support the construction of the Hudson River Railroad. During 1999's Hurricane Floyd, the Pocantico was blocked by fallen trees and almost washed away the Philipsburg Manor historic site; about 70 employees of the parent organization Historic Hudson Valley assisted in its protection, along with the site's curators and security guards, and other village residents. ==Ecology and environment==

The organization Riverkeeper collects samples in three Pocantico River tributaries. The river downstream of Pocantico Lake is a habitat for brown trout. Nearby land fronting Pocantico Lake was purchased by a housing developer in 2020; local residents subsequently began a campaign to prevent the land from being used for more housing and protect the environment, including its supply of fresh water, and wildlife. As of 2023, a number of residents had pointed out flaws in the draft environmental impact statement. funded U.S. Route 9's current bridge over the Pocantico in 1912. ==In popular culture==

The dénouement of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set at a bridge over the Pocantico River in the area of the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow. As well, Washington Irving makes frequent mention of the Pocantico River in Chronicle III of his short story anthology ''Wolfert's Roost''. Gallery File:Pocantico River north of Pocantico Lake.jpg|Swampy area north of Pocantico Lake File:View of Pocantico Lake from the north.jpg|View of Pocantico Lake from the north File:Western shore of Pocantico Lake.jpg|Western shore of Pocantico Lake File:Pocantico Lake Trail 2020.jpg|Pocantico Lake Trail File:Pocantico River middle course.jpg|The river flowing through Rockefeller State Park Preserve File:Diverted lower Pocantico River near Devries Park.jpg|Lower Pocantico River, rerouted in the 1920s File:Mouth of Pocantico River, Sleepy Hollow, NY.jpg|Mouth of Pocantico River at Kingsland Point Park, Sleepy Hollow ==See also==