Beaver River is a
tributary of the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
in
Western Pennsylvania. It has a length of approximately 21 mi (34 km) and flows through a historically important
coal-producing region north of
Pittsburgh. Beaver River is formed in
Lawrence County by the confluence of the
Mahoning and
Shenango rivers in the
Mahoningtown neighborhood of
New Castle. It flows generally south, past
West Pittsburg and
Homewood. It receives
Connoquenessing Creek west of
Ellwood City and flows past
Beaver Falls and
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
. It joins the Ohio at
Bridgewater and
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
(flowing between these two towns) at the downstream end of a sharp bend in the Ohio approximately 20 mi (32 km) northwest of (and downstream from) Pittsburgh. In the lower reaches near the Ohio River, the Beaver cuts through a gorge of underlying
sandstone. The river is roughly parallel to the border with the state of
Ohio, with both
Interstate 376 and
Pennsylvania Route 18 running parallel to the river itself.
The river, which flows throughout the northern half of
Beaver County, serves as the namesake of the county as well as several locales in both Beaver and Lawrence County. The river itself was either named for
King Beaver
Tamaqua or Tamaque, also known as The Beaver and King Beaver ( – 1769 or 1771), was a leading man of the Unalachtigo (Turkey) phratry of the Lenape people. Although the Iroquois in 1752 had appointed Shingas chief of the Lenape at the Treaty ...
(
Tamaqua) of the
Delaware nation that had migrated to the area in the late 1740s, or for the
animal itself.
Until the partition of Lawrence County from parts of Beaver and
Mercer County in 1849, the river was entirely located in Beaver County, with its upstream terminus being at the border between Beaver and Mercer County from 1800-1849.
Communities along the river
*
West Pittsburg
*
Wampum
*
Koppel
*
Homewood
*
Beaver Falls
*
Eastvale
*
New Brighton New Brighton is the name of several places, sports teams etc.:
Australia
* New Brighton, New South Wales, a town near Ocean Shores
Canada
* New Brighton, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood
* New Brighton (Gambier Island), a settlement in British ...
*
Fallston
*
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
*
Bridgewater
See also
*
List of crossings of the Beaver River
This is a complete list of bridges and dams that span the Beaver River from its confluence at the Mahoning River and the Shenango River to its mouth at the Ohio River, near Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. stat ...
*
List of rivers of Pennsylvania
References
External links
U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
{{authority control
Rivers of Pennsylvania
Tributaries of the Ohio River
Rivers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny Plateau