History

History of the Normans Kill

The Normans Kill creek flows for 45.4-miles in New York's Capital District through Schenectady and Albany counties. It flows southeasterly from its source in the town of Duanesburg, to its mouth at the Hudson River, in the town of Bethlehem. In the town of Guilderland, the stream was dammed in 1915 to create the Watervliet Reservoir, the source for drinking water for the city of Watervliet and the Town of Guilderland. The Normans Kill has a drainage area of over 170 square miles, including portions of Schoharie County, along with the counties through which the Normans Kill actually flows.

The Normans Kill was used historically as a source of water power during colonial times, during which many mills and other industry sprung up along its banks. Early communities also formed and spread from the Normans Kill creek in Schenectady County and Albany County, including Native American encampments and villages along its borders. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, blocks of ice were cut out of the creek for shipment to the city of New York, as a method of early refrigeration. The name Normans Kill is derived from the Dutch word for a Norwegian, the ethnicity of Albert Andriessen Bradt (or "Bratt"), an early settler who owned mills at the mouth of the creek in the early 17th century, and the word “kill,” which is Dutch for creek.

The appellation Normans Kill or Normanskill has been very popular in the area, used many times over the years by various local businesses, identifying land preserves, and even a meeting room at the Guilderland Public Library. 
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