Flat Branch is a
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
in
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...
. It was the original water source for the town of Columbia and its forerunner Smithton. It is a branch of
Hinkson Creek
Hinkson Creek is a stream in Boone County in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its middle section runs through the city of Columbia, Missouri It was named after Robert Hinkson, a pioneer citizen who lived along its banks. Several trails, conservation ar ...
and begins Northwest of
Downtown Columbia. Flat Branch Park straddles the creek between 4th Street and Providence. Flat Branch was so named on account of its low riverbanks.
History
Flat Branch was originally forested when American pioneers arrived to permanently settle in 1818. The cabin of
Richard Gentry
Richard Gentry (August 25, 1788 – December 25, 1837) was an American politician and military officer who died during the Seminole Wars. The Missouri county of Gentry is named for him. He was the first mayor and founder of Columbia, Missouri.
...
was located near present-day Garth and Walnut up the hill from the creek. Early tanneries were located along the banks. North of Broadway and on either side of the creek was a historically black neighborhood. Ragtime pianist
Blind Boone
John William "Blind" Boone (May 17, 1864 – October 4, 1927) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime music.
Early life
Boone was born in a Federal militia camp near Miami, Missouri, May 17, 1864, to a contraband slave, Rachel, who used ...
composed a work titled “Strains from the Flat Branch” for piano. The M.K.T. Railroad entered Columbia through the Flat Branch Valley. Today the
M.K.T. Trail is built on the former train path. Columbia's first modern brewery Flat Branch Pub is named after the creek.
See also
*
List of rivers of Missouri
List of rivers in Missouri (U.S. state).
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Mississippi River
Arkansas River
*Mississippi River
**Arkansas River (AR ...
References
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Geography of Columbia, Missouri
Rivers of Boone County, Missouri
Rivers of Missouri