Overview

The Tannery Brook is a small stream in Kingston, NY. Although the Tannery Brook has worked hard for Kingston over the centuries – including powering mills, irrigating crops, and carrying away waste – it has been increasingly fragmented and forgotten. It hasn’t been forgotten by everyone, though. It continues to make its presence known through flooding, infrastructure failure, and other issues.

The Tannery Brook is a microcosm of the ways that we perceive and manage water in cities. Its history and present state can provide context for modern stream and urban water management, as we ask: What should we expect from a stream with such a long history of use? How can this history relate to restoration projects in the future?

By sharing the Tannery Brook's story, we can better understand urban streams and what it might take to improve them in the future.

Although the Tannery Brook is a small stream, it has had a big impact on Kingston, and continues to affect the community today.