Lick Run 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 ...

White Deer Creek White Deer Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Centre County and Union County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Miles Township in Centre County and Hartley Township, L ...

in Union County and

Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. ...

, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through White Deer Township in Union County and Washington Township in Lycoming County. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream has one unnamed tributary. Wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

naturally reproduce within Lick Run, and

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s began assembling a dam on it at least once.

Course

Lick Run begins on South White Deer Ridge in White Deer Township, Union County. It flows west-northwest through a deep, broad valley for several tenths of a mile, entering Washington Township, Lycoming County. Here, the stream turns west-southwest for several tenths of a mile as its valley deepens and narrows. It then turns south for more than a mile, reentering White Deer Township, Union County, receiving an unnamed tributary from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

, and passing by Little Mountain. The stream then crosses

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and continues flowing south for a few tenths of a mile before turning southeast and reaching its confluence with White Deer Creek. Lick Run joins White Deer 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 Lick Run 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 stream's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is above sea level.

Watershed

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 ...

of Lick Run has an area of . The stream is entirely within 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 Williamsport SE. Its mouth is located near White Deer. A total of of the watershed of Lick Run is in Union County.

History

Lick Run 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 1179299. The

White Deer Valley Railroad White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, which was incorporated on December 11, 1900, passed in the vicinity of Lick Run. It was built in 1901 and was owned by John Duncan as a logging railroad. However, it was sold to the

White Deer Lumber Company White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

and became the White Deer and Loganton Railroad on April 17, 1906. By the early 1900s, the remains of an old log cabin had been discovered near the headwaters of Lick Run, on the road to the "Lost Valley".

Biology

Wild

naturally reproduce in Lick Run from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. In 1913,

s began constructing a

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, a ...

on the stream. However, one of the beavers was killed by a fisherman and the other left the area.

References