The Village of North Bennington established McWaters Park in 2007 and named it in honor of Rob and Jean McWaters for local community involvement, while residents began creating a perma forest of berry bushes and nut trees for sustainability. The surrounding area developed from the earliest days of Vermont settlement, as Bennington, the first charted town in the New Hampshire Grants, grew in small groupings around an early bridge that made this a lively and strategic crossroads across the Walloomsac River, later replaced by a covered bridge in 1840. The area's earliest settlers were largely Scotch Irish descendants who arrived before the American Revolution, and families including Breckenridge, Henderson, Henry, and Murphy gave rise to the local name Irish Corners. During the dispute over land claims between New Hampshire and New York, James Breckenridge's farm in this area became the scene of a confrontation with the Albany sheriff, and with support from local militia and neighbors, the group that formed around him eventually became known as the Green Mountain Boys; the conflict with New York led to the creation of an independent Vermont. The site of Breckenridge's farm lies across the bridge and down Murphy Road, and although his farmhouse burned in 1869, a historic stone marks the spot. This river crossing would have been a major strategic crossing for the 1777 Battle of Bennington, and General Stark's nearby campground overlooks the area. After peace returned, the river powered industrial growth through a dam upstream of the Henry Bridge that supplied mills on both sides of Paran Creek and the Walloomsac, supporting employment and profits as mills extended toward the center of North Bennington; products included Cushman furniture, White's Kiddy Kar, stereoscopes, and union suits made by E.Z. Waist Co., while iron from the Burden mine traveled Ore Bed Road and crossed the Henry Bridge. The Walloomsac River flows 16.8 miles through Woodford and Bennington, Vermont, to the Hoosick River in North Hoosick, New York, draining a large area of the front range of the Green Mountains, and although usually calm, it can overflow its banks; this park stands on the river's 500-year flood plain, and during Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, 2011, the river rose quickly and completely covered the park, with eyewitnesses reporting water lapping against the siding of the Henry Covered Bridge.