Gardner Creek (also known as Gardiners Creek or Gardner's Creek) is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of Mill Creek in

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Pittston Township, Jenkins Township, Laflin, and Plains Township. The creek's watershed has an area of . A

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

known as the Gardner Creek Reservoir is on the creek. The creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery.

Course

Gardner Creek begins in Harlow Pond in Pittston Township. It flows west for several tenths of a mile and then enters a valley before turning southwest for more than a mile. Along the way, the creek enters Jenkins Township and receives the tributary Three Spring Brook from the

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. It then turns west for a few tenths of a mile before turning southwest and then west again. After this, it turns south and then west-southwest, passing through the Gardner Creek Reservoir. The creek then turns northwest and exits is valley. It continues northwest for considerably more than a mile, crossing

Interstate 476 Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor throu ...

, receives the tributary Lampblack Creek from the right, and then enters Laflin and crosses

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

and

Pennsylvania Route 315 Pennsylvania Route 315 (PA 315) is an state highway located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at an interchange with the PA 309 freeway and the northern terminus of PA 309 Business (PA 309 Bus.) in Wilkes-Barre. The ...

. The creek then turns southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning northwest and then south-southwest. It enters Plains Township and several tenths of a mile further downstream, reaches its confluence with Mill Creek. Gardner Creek joins Mill Creek upstream of its mouth.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Gardner Creek is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The elevation of the creek's

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is between above sea level. There is a large rock outcrop in the vicinity of the Gardner Creek Reservoir.

Watershed

The watershed of Gardner Creek has an area of . The watershed is in the northern part of the drainage basin of Mill Creek and encompasses portions of Jenkins Township, Pittston Township, and Laflin. The creek's mouth is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Pittston. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Avoca. A

known as the Gardner Creek Reservoir is in the watershed of Gardner Creek. It has a maximum volume of 54 acre feet and is

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 ...

med. The reservoir is listed on the Luzerne County Natural Areas Inventory. Gardner Creek is one of the main sources of

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing on Laflin. A flood of the creek in August 1955 caused Market Street and Main Street to be covered in of water. A flood of this magnitude has a two percent chance of occurring in any given year. Gardner Creek is a major tributary of Mill Creek.

History

Gardner Creek was entered into 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 ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1175441. The creek is also known as Gardiners Creek or Gardner's Creek. The former variant name appears on county highway maps published by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

. The first

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

in Jenkins Township was built on Gardner Creek by Joseph Garner and Isaac Gould in 1794. The first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

in the township was built on the creek by Elias Smith in 1881. The Laflin Powder Mills historically operated on Gardner Creek. They contained seven mills and other buildings stretching for in a forested hollow. The mills were mainly built in 1872 by H.D. Laflin and C.R. Mouse for $100,000, but some expansions were made later. A

was under construction on the creek by the late 1800s. There was an intake dam on Gardner Creek as early as 1915. In a precedent-setting constitutional law case, NANKIVIL v. YEOSOCK, et al.( https://books.google.com/books?id=CTyTAAAAIAAJ&hl=en&gbpv=0 ), the Supreme Court of PA ruled on the building of the first abutments over Gardiner Creek in Plains around 1894. A concrete slab bridge was built over Gardner Creek in Laflin in 1930 and repaired in 1977. It is long and carries State Route 2015. A steel stringer bridge was built over the creek in 1937 in Plains Township. It is long and carries State Route 2011. A prestressed box beam bridge was built over the creek in 1941 in Jenkins Township and repaired in 1985. It is long and carries State Route 2039. A steel stringer bridge was built over Gardner Creek in 1946 in Laflin and repaired in 1992. It is long and carries State Route 2016. A prestressed box beam bridge was built over the creek in 1963 in Laflin. It is long and carries Pennsylvania Route 315.

Biology

Gardner Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery. The forests near the Gardner Creek Reservoir are slightly less than 50 years old and consist mainly of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

trees, with

huckleberry Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho. Nomenclature The name 'huckleberry' is a Nort ...

and

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

in the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

References

External links

Google Street View image of Gardner Creek
{{authority control Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania