Conococheague Creek
Encyclopedia
Conococheague Creek, a tributary
of the Potomac River
, is a free-flowing stream that originates in Pennsylvania
and empties into the Potomac River near Williamsport
, Maryland
. It is 80 miles (129 km) in length, with 57 miles (91.7 km) in Pennsylvania and 23 miles (37 km) in Maryland. The watershed of Conococheague Creek has an area of approximately 566 square miles (1,465.9 km²), out of which only 65 square miles (168.3 km²) (12% of the area) are in Maryland.
The word "Conococheague" is translated from the Delaware Indian
spoken language to mean "Water of many turns". The Conococheague, or Connogochegue, as it was known at the time, was the northernmost extent of the range along the Potomac within which Congress in the Residence Bill of 1790 authorized the establishment of the Federal District, known as the District of Columbia. By presidential proclamation, George Washington
placed the District at the lower end of the range, near the "Eastern Branch", later Anacostia River
, which marked the southernmost extent of the Residence Bill's range.
The water divide
between Conococheague Creek and Conodoguinet Creek
is sometimes used as the boundary between the Hagerstown Valley
and the Cumberland Valley
.
range of south-central Pennsylvania, forming in northwestern Adams County
between East Big Flat Ridge and Piney Mountain. The creek flows southwest, turning west at Caledonia State Park
, and continues past Fayetteville
into the Great Appalachian Valley
, turning southwest at Chambersburg
and flowing west of Greencastle
.
The creek from Fayetteville to its confluence with Back Creek near Williamson is very polluted from farm runoff. Over the past 30 years there has been a steady decline in the number of available native fish species, such as yellow perch
, eel
, horned chub, calico bass, rock bass
, and white sucker
, and overall water quality due to sediment collection on the bottom, thereby severely limiting the ability of these native species to spawn. This in turn has made parts of the lower East Branch ideal for catching huge crayfish
at night; however, the food value of this species, due to pollution, is dubious at best.
, before joining the main branch near the borough of Greencastle. The West Branch is the more pure of the two, owing mostly to the fact that a large portion of it runs through wilderness, making for very fine smallmouth bass
, warmouth
and rock bass
fishing. However, there are a few small sewage treatment plants on the lower West Branch, starting at Fort Loudon
, that make the lower West Branch less hospitable to native species' spawning. Northern pike
and pickerel
have been caught in the creek.
The West Branch flows southwest along the Tuscarora Trail
to around Fort Loudon, then turns south, and finally southeast, joining the main stem 8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi) north of the Mason–Dixon Line.
and enters the Potomac near Williamsport
, where the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road
crossed the river at William's Ferry, continuing on to Winchester, Virginia
. The crossing is where Braddock's
forces crossed the Potomac after leaving Frederick
on their way to Winchester. The Tuscarora Trail crosses the Conococheague.
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, is a free-flowing stream that originates in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and empties into the Potomac River near Williamsport
Williamsport, Maryland
Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,278 as of July 2008.-Geography: Williamsport is located at ....
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. It is 80 miles (129 km) in length, with 57 miles (91.7 km) in Pennsylvania and 23 miles (37 km) in Maryland. The watershed of Conococheague Creek has an area of approximately 566 square miles (1,465.9 km²), out of which only 65 square miles (168.3 km²) (12% of the area) are in Maryland.
The word "Conococheague" is translated from the Delaware Indian
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
spoken language to mean "Water of many turns". The Conococheague, or Connogochegue, as it was known at the time, was the northernmost extent of the range along the Potomac within which Congress in the Residence Bill of 1790 authorized the establishment of the Federal District, known as the District of Columbia. By presidential proclamation, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
placed the District at the lower end of the range, near the "Eastern Branch", later Anacostia River
Anacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
, which marked the southernmost extent of the Residence Bill's range.
The water divide
Water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...
between Conococheague Creek and Conodoguinet Creek
Conodoguinet Creek
Conodoguinet Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in south central Pennsylvania in the United States. The name is Native American, and means "A Long Way with Many Bends".Conodoguinet Creek joins the Susquehanna River upstream of Harrisburg....
is sometimes used as the boundary between the Hagerstown Valley
Hagerstown Valley
Hagerstown Valley is located in Maryland in the United States. It is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, which continues northward as Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, and southward as Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia and Virginia....
and the Cumberland Valley
Cumberland Valley
The Cumberland Valley is a constituent valley of the Great Appalachian Valley and a North American agricultural region within the Atlantic Seaboard watershed in Pennsylvania and Maryland....
.
Main stem above the West Branch
Conococheague Creek, above its confluence with its West Branch, is sometimes referred to as the East Branch Conococheague Creek. At 53.1 miles (85.5 km), the "East Branch" is 7 miles (11 km) shorter than the West Branch. It rises in the South MountainSouth Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland in the south, to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania in the north, the long range separates the Hagerstown and Cumberland valleys from the Piedmont regions of...
range of south-central Pennsylvania, forming in northwestern Adams County
Adams County, Pennsylvania
Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,407. It was created on January 22, 1800, from part of York County and named in honor of the second President of the United States, John Adams...
between East Big Flat Ridge and Piney Mountain. The creek flows southwest, turning west at Caledonia State Park
Caledonia State Park
Caledonia State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Greene Township, Franklin County and Franklin Township, Adams County in Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is named for an iron furnace, Caledonia Furnace, that was owned by Thaddeus Stevens beginning in 1837. Today the park is known...
, and continues past Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Pennsylvania
Fayetteville is a census-designated place in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,774 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Fayetteville is located at ....
into the Great Appalachian Valley
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough — a chain of valley lowlands — and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountain system...
, turning southwest at Chambersburg
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is miles north of Maryland and the Mason-Dixon line and southwest of Harrisburg in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley. Chambersburg is the county seat of Franklin County...
and flowing west of Greencastle
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,722 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
The creek from Fayetteville to its confluence with Back Creek near Williamson is very polluted from farm runoff. Over the past 30 years there has been a steady decline in the number of available native fish species, such as yellow perch
Yellow perch
The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...
, eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
, horned chub, calico bass, rock bass
Rock bass
The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...
, and white sucker
White Sucker
The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...
, and overall water quality due to sediment collection on the bottom, thereby severely limiting the ability of these native species to spawn. This in turn has made parts of the lower East Branch ideal for catching huge crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
at night; however, the food value of this species, due to pollution, is dubious at best.
West Branch Conococheague Creek
The West Branch flows for 60 miles (96.6 km), almost the entire length of western Franklin CountyFranklin County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...
, before joining the main branch near the borough of Greencastle. The West Branch is the more pure of the two, owing mostly to the fact that a large portion of it runs through wilderness, making for very fine smallmouth bass
Smallmouth bass
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...
, warmouth
Warmouth
The common name of Lepomis gulosus is the warmouth. It is one of the 324 fish species found in Tennessee.-Introduction:The following is a description of a monitoring plan for the Warmouth . One of the eleven species in the Lepomis genus, the species name gulosus refers to the warmouths big eyes...
and rock bass
Rock bass
The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...
fishing. However, there are a few small sewage treatment plants on the lower West Branch, starting at Fort Loudon
Fort Loudoun (Pennsylvania)
Fort Loudoun was a fort in colonial Pennsylvania, one of several forts in colonial America named after John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun...
, that make the lower West Branch less hospitable to native species' spawning. Northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
and pickerel
American pickerel
The American pickerels are two subspecies of Esox americanus, a species of freshwater fish in the pike family of order Esociformes: the redfin pickerel, E. americanus americanus Gmelin, 1789, and the grass pickerel, E. americanus vermiculatus Lesueur, 1846.Both subspecies are native to North America...
have been caught in the creek.
The West Branch flows southwest along the Tuscarora Trail
Tuscarora Trail
The Tuscarora Trail is a long-distance hiking trail that is under development. It splits off from the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, passes through West Virginia and Maryland, then rejoins the Appalachian Trail near Marysville, Pennsylvania...
to around Fort Loudon, then turns south, and finally southeast, joining the main stem 8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi) north of the Mason–Dixon Line.
Main stem below the West Branch
Conococheague Creek continues south into MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and enters the Potomac near Williamsport
Williamsport, Maryland
Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,278 as of July 2008.-Geography: Williamsport is located at ....
, where the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road
Great Wagon Road
The Great Wagon Road was a colonial American improved trail transiting the Great Appalachian Valley from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and from there to Georgia....
crossed the river at William's Ferry, continuing on to Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
. The crossing is where Braddock's
Edward Braddock
General Edward Braddock was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for the 13 colonies during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War...
forces crossed the Potomac after leaving Frederick
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
on their way to Winchester. The Tuscarora Trail crosses the Conococheague.
External links
- Conococheague Creek at Maryland Department of the Environment