![Three Creeks - Big Walnut Creek 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Three_Creeks_-_Big_Walnut_Creek_1.jpg)
Big Walnut Creek starts near
Mount Gilead, Ohio
Mount Gilead is a village and the county seat of Morrow County, Ohio, United States.
It is located 41 miles (66 km) northeast of Columbus. The population was 3,660 at the 2010 census. It is the center of population of Ohio. The village was esta ...
in
Morrow County. It flows south to eastern
Delaware County and parallels
Alum Creek. It passes to the east of
Sunbury and into
Hoover Reservoir, which then crosses into
Franklin County. From the dam outflow in Westerville the creek flows through
Gahanna and
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
. Near
Obetz
Obetz is a village in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,489 at the 2020 census.
History
The community (originally Obetz Junction, in honor of settler Charles Obetz) was formed in 1838 as a stagecoach junction, and incor ...
it is joined by its principal tributaries
Alum Creek and
Blacklick Creek at the Three Creeks
Columbus Metro Park. It flows through southern Franklin County and joins the
Scioto River
The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets t ...
near the Franklin-
Pickaway
Pickaway County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,539. Its county seat is Circleville. Its name derives from the Pekowi band of Shawnee Indians, who inhabited the area. (See List of Ohio county ...
Counties line at .
Name
Big Walnut Creek was named for
black walnut trees which once grew in
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s near the stream.
According to the
Geographic Names Information System
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
, the Big Walnut Creek has also been known as:
*Big Belly Creek
*Big Bellys Creek
*Big Lick Creek
*Gahanna River
*Hayes Ditch
*Walnut Creek
*Whingwy Mahoni Sepung
*Menkwi Mhoani Siipunk
See also
*
List of rivers of Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The state takes its name from the Ohio River, whose name in turn originated from the Seneca word '' ohiːyo, meaning "good river", "great river" or "large creek". The Ohio ...
References
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Rivers of Ohio
Rivers of Morrow County, Ohio
Rivers of Delaware County, Ohio
Rivers of Franklin County, Ohio