4. Underground Rivers and Aqueducts
As cities expanded, natural waterways were funneled into hidden conduits beneath busy streets. New York’s Minetta Brook now flows unseen under Greenwich Village after 19th-century burial. San Francisco routed Islais Creek into storm sewers, vanishing from maps yet still coursing below city blocks. Philadelphia likewise concealed Wingohocking Creek in brick tunnels to accommodate urban growth.
These rerouted streams and manmade aqueducts hint at the landscape that predated today’s concrete jungles. Learn more from Atlas Obscura’s Minetta Brook.
