Linden Brook, Queens

From Long Island City by Thomas Jackson & Richard Melnick:

Pot Cove was the site of a Native American settlement. Fresh water came from a small stream, later called Linden Brook, that flowed along Astoria Park South. Here, they cleared woodlands to grow corn, harvested oysters and clams, and caught fish.

Linden Brook is hard to find on maps. Apparently it was a small stream, and by the time the area was settled enough for good maps to be produced, it had mostly disappeared underneath urbanization. However, the 1873 Beers maps of Long Island City and region show it, though just barely. Below is a large section of the map. Pot Cove is the area directly below Hell Gate and Ward's Island, above the spur of land that juts out above Hallet's Cove.

Below is a closer crop of the Pot Cove area. The Linden Brook is visible as a wavy line in the upper right, below Linden Street.



And below is a very close crop of the area; Linden Brook is the wavy line on the right, and outlets into the water on the left. Linden Street, obviously, is named after the brook; today this is the line of Hoyt Avenue and Astoria Park South.



See posts about Linden Brook

Comments

[B.G.]

Thanks for the info! I stumbled across this brook's outlet onto the East River while doing a little exploring, and your post was very helpful in identifying what I'd found.