skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Tin Brook
The name Tin Brook appeared in town records as early as 1774 and it has been suggested it came from an early Dutch landowner named John Tinne, Thinne or Tinbrook. If this is the case John probably would have been a neighbor of the Colden family given the dates, the length of the brook and size of the Colden property. Another possible source for the name is the combination of two Saxon words: tinn, meaning thin or small and broc meaning running water smaller than a river which seems a pretty good explanation. Whatever the origins of the name, it is still called Tin Brook and it's path is remarkably similar to that shown on early maps. I'm finding this to be very helpful as I follow it from the source in wetlands and vernal pools located to the south of current day Coldenham, making it's way past the original homestead and cemetery, on towards the houses of Cadwallader's sons and then meandering over to the Wallkill River to the west. As I navigate my way through residential developments, commercial sites and working farms to reach the brook, I find foundations, stone walls, and very old trees, some of which join Tin Brook as part of my Looking for Jane Colden collection. Although I haven't found any evidence yet, I keep an eye out for signs of the canal Jane's father built using the waters of the brook to move materials around Coldengham and establishing Tin Brook as part of the first canal in New York.
The name Tin Brook appeared in town records as early as 1774 and it has been suggested it came from an early Dutch landowner named John Tinne, Thinne or Tinbrook. If this is the case John probably would have been a neighbor of the Colden family given the dates, the length of the brook and size of the Colden property. Another possible source for the name is the combination of two Saxon words: tinn, meaning thin or small and broc meaning running water smaller than a river which seems a pretty good explanation. Whatever the origins of the name, it is still called Tin Brook and it's path is remarkably similar to that shown on early maps. I'm finding this to be very helpful as I follow it from the source in wetlands and vernal pools located to the south of current day Coldenham, making it's way past the original homestead and cemetery, on towards the houses of Cadwallader's sons and then meandering over to the Wallkill River to the west. As I navigate my way through residential developments, commercial sites and working farms to reach the brook, I find foundations, stone walls, and very old trees, some of which join Tin Brook as part of my Looking for Jane Colden collection. Although I haven't found any evidence yet, I keep an eye out for signs of the canal Jane's father built using the waters of the brook to move materials around Coldengham and establishing Tin Brook as part of the first canal in New York.
