Broad Creek is a tributary of the lower
Susquehanna River located in
Harford County,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
Broad Creek originates on the west side of Constitution Road about 500 feet south of the
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
state line. It runs generally southeast through
Pylesville, Maryland for the first half, then northeast for the second half of its
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed August 8, 2011 to the
Conowingo Reservoir
The Conowingo Dam (also Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant, Conowingo Hydroelectric Station) is a large hydroelectric dam in the lower Susquehanna River near the town of Conowingo, Maryland. The medium-height, masonry gravity dam is one of the lar ...
portion of the Susquehanna.
It flows through just two properties in its lower five miles, that of the
Baltimore Area Council
Scouting in Maryland has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving millions of youth with activities that have adapted to the changing cultural environment but have always been rooted in an active outdoor program.
Early history (1 ...
,
B.S.A. and then the
Exelon
Exelon Corporation is an American Fortune 100 energy company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and incorporated in Pennsylvania. It generates revenues of approximately $33.5 billion and employs approximately 33,400 people. Exelon is the largest ...
power company. In its three-mile course through
Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation
Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, more commonly called just Broad Creek, is the sum of eight separate areas in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The reservation is from the Maryland and Pennsylvania border within Harford County, from the Mary ...
, it was dammed to create Lake Aaron Straus and passes close to the
Late Archaic Period
In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...
Broad Creek Soapstone Quarries archaeological site. Downstream from the 1948 Boy Scout dam, the creek forms a noteworthy
gorge through the largest and oldest
eastern hemlock
''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...
grove in the state east of the
Allegheny Front
The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and western Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front forms the boundary between the ...
.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
U.S. National Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
. Northeast Area
accessed March 1, 2013 At the east edge of the reservation, about two miles from its mouth, the creek meets the headwaters of the reservoir.
The
drainage basin, watershed is , all in Harford County except for three small areas in
York County, Pennsylvania about two miles east of
Fawn Grove
Fawn Grove is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 476 at the 2020 census. It is served by the South Eastern School District which provides a public education.
Geography
Fawn Grove is located at (39.730004, ...
, 1.5 miles northwest of
Whiteford, Maryland, and the southeast part of
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
. Principal
land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
s in the watershed are
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
and
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
.
[Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Annapolis, MD]
"Broad Creek."
''Maryland's Surf Your Watershed--Watershed Profile.'' August 2000.
Broad Creek Maryland 20220616.jpg, Looking west and upstream from the Route 623 bridge (Flintville Road)
Broad Creek 20220616 b.jpg, Looking east and downstream from same bridge
References
* United States Geological Survey. Reston, VA
"Broad Creek."''
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 ...
(GNIS).'' Accessed 2010-08-30.
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Rivers of Harford County, Maryland
Rivers of Maryland
Tributaries of the Susquehanna River