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 ...

, 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 ...

in the

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. It was named after the

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term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of the unglaciated

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south of the Ohio between the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

s 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 st ...

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

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

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 state in the 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 southwest, and Colorado to t ...

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, 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 ban ...

ing course through Logan, Lincoln and Cabell 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 in Mingo County causes the river to widen as R. D. Bailey Lake in Mingo and western Wyoming counties.

Tributaries

The Mud River joins the Guyandotte at Barboursville in Cabell County. The Slab Fork joins the Guyandotte in downtown Mullens in Wyoming County. Big Ugly Creek 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 (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 * 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 A ...

* Harts * Huntington *

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

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* 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