Minisink

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Coordinates: 41°05′36″N 74°59′32″W / 41.093454°N 74.992247°W / 41.093454; -74.992247
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the geographic region. For other uses, see Minisink (disambiguation).
Fog surrounds cliffs looming over the Delaware River whose valley is the core of the historic Minisink region, July 2007

The Minisink or (more recently) Minisink Valley is a loosely defined geographic region of the Upper Delaware River valley in northwestern New Jersey (Sussex and Warren counties), northeastern Pennsylvania (Pike and Monroe counties) and New York (Orange and Sullivan counties).

The name was derived by Dutch colonists from the

Hudson River Valley
. The term "Minisink" is not used often today. It is preserved because of its historical relevance concerning the early European settlement of the region during the American colonial period and as an artifact of the early "first contact" between Native Americans and early European explorers, traders and missionaries in the seventeenth century.

Much of the historical Minisink region has been incorporated into the

Tocks Island
.

Meaning of the name "Minisink"

Minisink Island's north end (center) seen from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area's Cliff Trail in Pennsylvania

The name Minisink comes from the

Lenape, a group of similar Algonquian dialects that were spoken by the various groups of Lenape, or Delaware Indians who inhabited the region before European colonization. Minisink means "at the island" from the Algonquin root word minis, meaning island.[citation needed
]

During the colonial period, the Minisink was also an area of significant skirmishes and raids between British and French-allied forces in the

Fort Dupuy, Fort Norris, and Fort Hamilton, among others.[1][2]

Earlier historians posited that Minisink meant "people of the stony country" or "where the stones are gathered together." However,

Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard states that any of the attempts to derive either Minisink or Munsee from words meaning "stone" or "mountain," as proposed by these writers (including Lenape scholar Daniel G. Brinton), are incorrect.[3]

Geology and geography

Matamoras, PA (L), the Delaware River (Center), and Port Jervis, NY (R)

Defining the Minisink area

The Minisink has never been known as a region with distinct, set boundaries. It generally has been conceived as the valley of the Delaware River going northward from the Delaware Water Gap and including the valley of the

Shawangunk Mountains, and the Delaware valley, as far as the Delaware Water Gap."[4]
Some sources imply that it was confined to the width of valley of the Delaware and its surrounding hillsides.

Other sources define the region as an area extending for 20–30 miles to the east and west of the river. This latter definition would include parts or all of the Kittatinny Valley to the east of Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey, and westward deep into northeastern Pennsylvania. East of the Shawangunk ridge, in New York are the Town of Greenville and the Town of Minisink, both often included as part of the Minisink region.[5][6] Their residents attend Minisink Valley Central School District.

Course of the Delaware River

The

last glacial period
.

At

Kittatinny ridge, which it crosses at the Delaware Water Gap, between nearly vertical walls of sandstone, quartzite, and conglomerate
.

Appalachian Mountains

See also:
Kittatinny Mountains

The features of the Ridge and Valley province were created approximately 300–400 million years ago during the

Appalachian orogeny—a period of tremendous pressure and rock thrusting that caused the creation of the Appalachian Mountains.[9][10] This physiographic province occupies approximately two-thirds of the county's area—the county's western and central sections. Its contour is characterized by long, even ridges with long, continuous valleys in between that generally run parallel from southwest to northeast. This region is largely formed by sedimentary rock.[11][12]

Kittatinny Mountain is the dominant geological feature in the parts of the Minisink located within New Jersey. It is part of the

Walpack Valley
.

The Kittatinny Valley lies to the east of Kittatinny Mountain and ends with the Highlands in the east. It is largely a region of rolling hills and flat valley floors. Elevations in this valley range from 400 to 1,000 feet.[13] It is part of the Great Appalachian Valley running from eastern Canada to northern Alabama. This valley is shared by three major watersheds—the Wallkill River, with its tributaries Pochuck Creek and Papakating Creek flowing north; and the Paulins Kill watershed and Pequest River watershed flowing southwest.

Kittatinny's valley floor is part of the Ordovician Martinsburg Formation (shale and slate) which make up most of the valley—and the Jacksonburg Formation (mostly limestone). The mountain is of the Silurian Shawangunk Conglomerate which is mainly composed of quartz. Due to the hardness of the quartz, the mountain is extremely resistant to weathering.

History

The Lenape and other cultures

Map showing the aboriginal boundaries of Lenape territories divided by dialect with Munsee territory (including the Minisink Valley) in the lightly shaded northernmost area

This area was occupied for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, the historic Lenape (

Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape
, recognized as tribes by the state of New Jersey, identify as Lenape descendants.

Settlement by Dutch and Huguenot families

Condemnation

See also:
Tocks Island Dam Controversy and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

The Delaware River is prone to floods—some resulting from seasonal snow melt or rain run-off from heavy rainstorms. However, record flooding occurred in August 1955 in the aftermath of two separate

hurricanes (Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane) that passed over the area within the span of one week. On 19 August 1955, the river gauge at Riegelsville, Pennsylvania
recorded that the Delaware River reached a crest of 38.85 feet (11.84 m) above flood stage.

A project to dam the river near

hydroelectric power
, and provide a clean water supply to New York City and Philadelphia.

Starting in 1960, the present day area of the Recreation Area was acquired for the

fault lines, the federal government transferred the property to the National Park Service in 1978 and the project's land holdings were reorganized to create the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.[15][16][17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Old fort sites create sense of Colonial past, Pocono Record, October 19, 2012 http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121019/NEWS13/210190367/-1/rss28 Accessed September 17, 2013
  2. ^ Oplinger, Carl. The Poconos: An Illustrated Natural History Guide, Rutgers University Press, 2006, page 248
  3. ^ Goddard, Ives. "Delaware" in Trigger, Bruce (editor) Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15. Northeast. (Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1978), 237.
  4. ^ Vosburgh, Royden Woodword (editor). (1913, 1992) Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church records, 1716-1830. New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; reprinted Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc. : iii.
  5. ^ Osborne, Peter. "The Minisink Valley c. 1650 - c. 1783". Maps of the Region. Minisink Valley Historical Society. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  6. ^ Hankins, Grace Coyle (1938). True Stories of New Jersey. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Company. p. 144.
  7. ^ Witte, Ron W. and Monteverde, Donald H. "Karst in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area", in Unearthing New Jersey Vol. 2, No. 1 (1 February 2006). (Trenton: New Jersey Geological Survey, Department of Environmental Protection).
  8. ^ White, I.C. and Chance, H.M. The Geology of Pike and Monroe Counties Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, Report of Progress, G6 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: 1882), 17, 73–80, 114–115.
  9. ^ Hatcher, Robert D., Jr. "Tracking lower-to-mid-to-upper crustal deformation processes through time and space through three Paleozoic orogenies in the Southern Appalachians using dated metamorphic assemblages and faults," in Abstracts with Programs (Geological Society of America), Vol. 40, No. 6, 513. located online here Archived 2018-08-06 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved August 28, 2012)
  10. ^ Bartholomew, M.J., and Whitaker, A.E., 2010, "The Alleghanian deformational sequence at the foreland junction of the Central and Southern Appalachians", in Tollo, R.P., Bartholomew, M.J., Hibbard, J.P., and Karabinos, P.M., eds., From Rodinia to Pangea: The Lithotectonic Record of the Appalachian Region, GSA Memoir 206, p. 431-454.
  11. ^ Lucey, Carol S. Geology of Sussex County in Brief. (Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Geological Survey, November 1969), 21pp. located online here (Retrieved August 28, 2012).
  12. ^ Dalton, Richard. "New Jersey Geological Survey Information Circular: Physiographic Provinces of New Jersey" (Trenton, NJ: Department of Environmental Protection, State of New Jersey, 2003, 2006), 2pp. located online here (Retrieved August 28, 2012).
  13. ^ a b c U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. Soil Survey of Sussex County, New Jersey (Washington, DC: 2009), 3.
  14. ^ Goddard, Ives (1978). "Delaware". In Bruce G. Trigger (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15: Northeast. Washington. pp. 213–239.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ Obiso, Laura. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (2008), 7-8.
  16. ^ Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, njskylands.com.
  17. ^ See: Feiveson, Harold; Sinden, Frank; and Socolow, Robert. Boundaries of Analysis: An Inquiry Into the Tocks Island Dam Controversy. (1976). Albert, Richard C. Damming the Delaware: The Rise and Fall of Tocks Island Dam (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1987).
  18. ^ The Legacy of Tocks Island, Pocono Record, August 12, 2001

External links

41°05′36″N 74°59′32″W / 41.093454°N 74.992247°W / 41.093454; -74.992247

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