The Broadkill River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...

 in southern Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is 13.3 miles (21 km) long and drains an area of 110 square miles (285 km²) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain

Atlantic Coastal Plain

The Atlantic coastal plain has both low elevation and low relief, but it is also a relatively flat landform extending from the New York Bight southward to a Georgia/Florida section of the Eastern Continental Divide, which demarcates the plain from the ACF River Basin in the Gulf Coastal Plain to...

.

The Broadkill flows for its entire length in eastern Sussex County

Sussex County, Delaware

Sussex County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 the population was 197,145, an increase of 25.9% over the previous decade. The county seat is Georgetown. The Seaford Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Sussex County.Sussex County is...

. It issues from Wagamons Pond in the town of Milton

Milton, Delaware

Milton is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, in the United States. The population was 2,576 at the 2010 census, an increase of 55.5% over the previous decade. It is part of the Seaford, Delaware Micropolitan Statistical Area. Delaware Route 5 passes through Milton.- History :Located at the head of...

; the pond is fed by two tributaries known as Ingram Branch and Pemberton Branch. From Milton, the Broadkill River flows generally eastwardly, passing through wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s and salt marsh

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

es in the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is an inviolate sanctuary expressly for migratory birds, located in Milton, Delaware. It was established in 1963 on along the western shore of Delaware Bay...

. After approaching to within one quarter mile (0.5 km) of Delaware Bay, the river parallels the shoreline a short distance inland for approximately two miles (3 km) before flowing into the bay, approximately one mile (1.6 km) northwest of Lewes

Lewes, Delaware

Lewes is an incorporated city in Sussex County, Delaware, USA, on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747, a decrease of 6.3% from 2000....

. The United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 maintains a station near the mouth of the Broadkill. The mouth is connected to Rehoboth Bay

Rehoboth Bay

Rehoboth Bay is a body of water in Sussex County, Delaware. It is connected to the Broadkill River by the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal.It is part of Delaware's inland bay system, along with Little Assawoman Bay and Indian River Bay.-See also:* Rehoboth Beach...

 by the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal

Lewes and Rehoboth Canal

The Lewes and Rehoboth Canal is a canal in Sussex County, Delaware. It connects the Broadkill River to Rehoboth Bay, and forms a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway.-External links:* - Southern terminus - Northern terminus...

, which forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

In the 19th century the river was the center of a regional shipbuilding

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...

 industry, arising from the access it furnished to inland forests; the industry fell into decline in the 1890s.

A footpath known as the Governors Walk follows the Broadkill in central Milton. The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

 established a preserve along the river downstream of Milton in 1998. , an annual canoe and kayak race was being held on the river in Milton.

Variant names and spellings

The United States Board on Geographic Names

United States Board on Geographic Names

The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...

 issued an opinion clarifying "Broadkill River" as the stream's name in 1961. According to the Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...

, it has also been known historically as:

• Broad Creek
• Broad Kill
  Kill (body of water)
  As a body of water, a kill is a creek. The word comes from the Middle Dutch kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel." The modern Dutch term is kil....
  
  
• Broad Kill Creek
• Broadkill Creek
• Broadkiln Creek
• Lewis Creek