Editing Buttermilk Channel (section)

== History ==
Origins of the name are uncertain but it is alleged to be a reference to the dairy farmers who used to cross this channel by boat to sell their milk in [[Manhattan]] markets. Some people believe that the channel got its name because crossing it was so rough that the farmers' milk was churned into butter by the time they reached Manhattan. According to another legend, before the channel was dredged to accommodate cargo ships,<ref>"The passage between Governor's-Island and Long-Island, formerly called Butter-milk channel, and within the memory of man, both narrow and shallow, is now eight fathoms deep," reported ''The Medical Repository'', February–April 1806, p 433, quoted at [http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/buttermilk_channel/ The Big Apple: Buttermilk Channel].</ref> cows were walked across it at low tide to graze on Governors Island. In his newspaper articles about Brooklyn history, [[Walt Whitman]] wrote of a time "as late as the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] (when) cattle were driven across from Brooklyn, over what is now Buttermilk Channel, to Governor's Island."<ref>Brooklyn Historical Society, 2000, pp. 14-15</ref> In the bitter [[volcanic winter]] of 1817—the [[volcanic winter]] following the "[[Year Without a Summer]]"—when the thermometer dropped to {{convert|-26|°F|0}}, the waters of the Upper Bay froze so hard that horse-drawn sleighs were driven across Buttermilk Channel to Governors Island.<ref>{{cite gotham|page=494}}</ref>

On the Brooklyn side, modern development started in the 1840s, when the Atlantic Basin and docks, and the "Erie Basin" were started. The former is now the [[Red Hook Container Port]], the [[Brooklyn Cruiseship Terminal|Brooklyn Cruise Terminal]], and the [[List of NYC Ferry stops#Red Hook|Red Hook stop]] of the [[NYC Ferry]] [[NYC Ferry#Routes|SB route]] while the latter is now the site of the [[Red Hook, Brooklyn#IKEA in Red Hook|Brooklyn IKEA]].<ref name="Citycyclopedia">{{cite enc-nyc|page=173}}</ref>

In 1902, the channel was dredged extensively by the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. Subsequent modifications were made in 1913, 1935 and 1962.<ref> ([http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/project/newyork/factsh/pdf/ButChOM.pdf (US Army Corps of Engineers) Buttermilk Channel, NY: Federal Navigation Channel, Maintenance of Infrastructure and Stewardship, Aug/Sep 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109130218/http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/project/newyork/factsh/pdf/ButChOM.pdf# |date=2009-01-09 }}</ref> With current charted depths of {{convert|35|to|40|ft|m}}, Buttermilk Channel is still a busy shipping lane offering the most convenient access to the Brooklyn waterfront. Until the late 20th century the primary user of the channel was the U.S. Coast Guard, which had a local headquarters on [[Governors Island]].<ref name="Citycyclopedia"/>

In April 2015, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a Request for Proposals for additional maintenance dredging of Buttermilk Channel.<ref>[https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=e6033d6d8179aaf558e8fbb19e4961c0&tab=core&_cview=0 "Maintenance Dredging of Buttermilk Channel, NY", fbo.gov, April 28, 2015]</ref> The channel was fully dredged in fiscal year 2016.<ref>{{cite web | title=FACT SHEET-Buttermilk Channel, New York | website=New York District | date=June 26, 2012 | url=https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Media/Fact-Sheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/487499/fact-sheet-buttermilk-channel-new-york/ | access-date=May 18, 2019}}</ref>