The Guyandotte 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 ...

, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of the unglaciated

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...

south of the Ohio between the watersheds of the

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the stat ...

to the northeast and

Twelvepole Creek Twelvepole Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 river located in Wayne County, West Virginia. It is part of the Mississippi River watershed, by way of ...

and the Big Sandy River to the southwest. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

watershed.

Course

The Guyandotte River is formed in southwestern Raleigh County by the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of three streams, Winding Gulf, Stonecoal Creek, and the Devils Fork. The Guyandotte flows initially west-northwestwardly into

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, and ...

counties. It turns briefly northward in Mingo County and enters

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County, ...

, where it turns north-northwestwardly for the remainder of its highly

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

ing course through Logan,

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Cabell Cabell is both a surname and a given name. The Cabell family has "been prominent in Virginia since the American Revolution." Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Charles P. Cabell (1903–1971), United States Air Force, CIA * Earle Cab ...

counties. It enters the Ohio River from the south at Huntington, about 5 mi (8 km) east of the city's downtown.

Dams

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

in Mingo County causes the river to widen as

R. D. Bailey Lake R. D. Bailey Lake is located on the Guyandotte River in Wyoming and Mingo Counties in West Virginia, east of Justice. Originally referred to as Justice Reservoir, the lake was named by Congressional action, Public Law 90-46, on July 4, 1967 for ...

in Mingo and western Wyoming counties.

Tributaries

The Mud River joins the Guyandotte at Barboursville in Cabell County. The

Slab Fork The Slab Fork is a tributary of the Guyandotte River, long, in southern West Virginia in the United States. Via the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of in a mainly rural area o ...

joins the Guyandotte in downtown Mullens in Wyoming County.

Big Ugly Creek Big Ugly Creek is a major tributary of the Guyandotte River in the Harts Creek District of Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States. The naming of this creek was due to 1) an early settler at the mouth of the creek who was unpleasing to the ...

joins the Guyandotte in Lincoln County.

Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association

In Mullens, an active watershed organization is working to reduce pollution in the headwaters of the Guyandotte River. The

Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association The Guyandotte River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern West Virginia in the United States. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of t ...

(UGWA) is a grassroots, community-based organization working to reduce sources of pollution in order to clean up streams and make the watershed a better place to live. UGWA has garnered much public support and produced results in partnering with numerous local, state, and federal agencies.

Cities and towns along the Guyandotte River

* Barboursville *

Branchland, West Virginia Branchland (also Hadley) is an unincorporated community in western Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 10, southwest of the town of Hamlin, the county seat of Lincoln County. Its elevation is 597&nbs ...

* Chapmanville *

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

Harts Harts may refer to: * Harts (surname) * Harts (musician), Melbourne indie musician * Harts, West Virginia, United States * Harts Stores, a regional general merchandise chain in the midwestern United States * Hong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting S ...

* Huntington * Logan *

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

* Corinne * Mullens * Pineville * West Hamlin * West Logan

Variant names

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 ...

(GNIS), the Guyandotte River has also been known as: PostcardHuntingtonWVGuyandotteRiver1912

* Arbuckles River * Big Laurel Fork * Guiandotte River * Guyan Dot River * Guyan Dott River * Guyan River * Guyandates Creek * Guyandot Creek * Guyandot River * Guyandott River * La-ke-we-ke-ton * Little Guiandot * Se-co-ne * Se-co-nee * Secone * Seconec

References

External links

R.D. Bailey Lake website
US Army Corps of Engineers
"Guyandotte"
City of Huntington website
Upper Guyandotte Watershed Association

Rural Appalachian Improvement League

Feb 2005, based on "Guyandotte Disaster", January 1, 1913", ''Cabell Record'' Archives, reprinted in ''Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society Magazine'', May 1994, Sections 3 and 4 have contemporary photos from ''Cabell Record'' {{authority control Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Ohio River Allegheny Plateau Rivers of Cabell County, West Virginia Rivers of Lincoln County, West Virginia Rivers of Logan County, West Virginia Rivers of Mingo County, West Virginia Rivers of Raleigh County, West Virginia Rivers of Wyoming County, West Virginia Huntington, West Virginia