Scajaquada Creek

Scajaquada Creek ( /skəˈdʒɑːkwədə/ skə-JAH-kwə-də) is a stream located in Erie County, New York, USA. The name is derived from Philip Kenjockety, an Indian described as the oldest resident of the region upon his death in 1808.

Scajaquada Creek flows through the City of Buffalo before it empties into the Niagara River through part of the Erie Canal known as the Black Rock Canal. Much of the creek has been buried in underground culverts since ca. 1921, installed in response to pollution and urban development pressures. While the Scajaquada once flowed into Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, today it bypasses the lake through a channel and culvert on the lake's south shore. The creek also flows through the Forest Lawn cemetery, adjacent to Delaware Park, and over Serenity Falls. The falls has a total vertical drop of 12 feet (3.7 m) in a horizontal distance of 200 feet (61 m). It is one of two waterfalls found in the City of Buffalo, the other waterfall being Cazenovia Park Falls.

The length of the stream is 13 miles (21 km), and it drains a small watershed of 29 square miles (75 km2). Scajaquada Creek rises in the Town of Lancaster in Erie County, east of Buffalo. The creek passes through most the Town of Cheektowaga before it is diverted into an underground culvert.

The creek lends its name to the Scajaquada Expressway, New York State Route 198, a highway which adjoins the creek's northern shore for a short distance. Buffalo State College, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society overlook Scajaquada Creek.