Lick Creek flooding Pottertown Road in 2012

Lick Creek is a stream in Greene County, Tennessee. It is the largest creek in the county. Beginning north of Greeneville, the creek runs through the northern and western sections of the county before spilling into the

Nolichucky River The Nolichucky River is a river that flows through Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Traversing the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the river's wate ...

near the Hamblen County line. The creek is often a source of flooding, and usually rises after rounds of heavy rain. The creek is also the site of Civil War-related history. During the East Tennessee bridge burnings, a series of guerrilla operations carried out during the war by Union sympathizers, a bridge over Lick Creek was burned. According to Tennessee regulations, the use of Lick Creek is designated as a domestic water supply, industrial water supply, and supporting fish and aquatic life. While children once played in the water in the 1920s and 1930s as a source of recreation, Lick Creek is now deeply contaminated, due in large part to poor agricultural practices. A portion of Lick Creek can be used by hunters and is presently managed by the

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforcem ...

Civil War

In 1861, nine bridges were targeted to be burned by Union sympathizers in East Tennessee. One of the bridges was over Lick Creek, in

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

. The bridge was destroyed in 1861, although the East Tennessee bridge burnings were, by and large, a failed mission. Many of the Union conspirators were hung in the aftermath. Among the conspirators, the Lick Creek bridge burners suffered the greatest number of executions. Jacob Hensie and Henry Fry were both tried and hanged in sight of the railroad at Greeneville on November 30, 1861. Alex Haun was tried and hanged at gallows just north of Knoxville on December 10. Jacob Harmon and his son, Henry, were both hanged on December 17.

Flooding

Lick Creek is a significant flood threat in western and northern Greene County. In January 2013, ''

The Greeneville Sun ''The Greeneville Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Greeneville, Tennessee.http://www.greenevillesun.com/images/docs/mediaKit.pdf Overview The award-winning newspaper has a circulation of 14,390 for each of five weekday editions and 15,218 for the ...

'' reported that more than 50 roads were impassable to vehicle traffic following more than five inches of rain in 48 hours. Many of the closed roads were covered by a flooding Lick Creek. Farmers across the county, especially in Mohawk, often face flooding from Lick Creek. In another example, heavy rain in late February 2019 brought historic flooding to much of the

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Car ...

. That flooding event closed dozens of roads thanks to Lick Creek and its tributaries. Lick Creek near Gilbreath Road

References

{{coord, 36.17085, -83.16772, format=dms, type:river_region:US-TN, display=title Rivers of Greene County, Tennessee