To the east of the creek (approximately where the railroad runs between Grand Street and Wayne Street), was Harsimus Island, corrupted from "Ashki'muis", Lenape for "sea maize"[1] In 1760, Jacob Prior constructed a tidewater mill at Mill Creek, a tidal creek running through the marshlands separating Harsimus Island from the rest of Bergen Neck.
The creek emptied into Communipaw Bay (at the south, to the north it emptied into the Hudson River at the Hoboken border) at Mill Creek Point (formerly called Jan de Lacher's Hoeck or John the Laugher's Hook, after Jan Evertsen Bout, one of the first two European settlers in the area[2][3]), where a dam was built to allow water to enter the creek at high tide, without losing it at low tide.
[4] Mill Creek Point was located near where Pine Street and the railroad tracks are today in Jersey City.
[5] In 1837, the creek was filled, in order to construct railroad tracks and the following year, Prior's Mill was razed.
The mill's former location today is just north of Wayne Street, between Ristaino Circle and the railroad overpass.