Nesquehoning Creek
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Nesquehoning Creek is an east flowing
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 the
Lehigh River The Lehigh River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward pat ...
in northeastern
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 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 ...
.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2004. Nesquehoning Creek joins the Lehigh River 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of the borough of
Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...
in Carbon County.


Name

''Nesquehoning'' is a name derived from a Native American language purported to mean "at the black lick".


Course and history

Nesquehoning Creek rises along the slopes of
Nesquehoning Ridge Nesquehoning may refer to the following places in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: *Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, a borough in Carbon County **Nesquehoning High School, in the above borough *Nesquehoning Creek, a tributary of the Lehigh River *Nesque ...
and Broad Mountain and flows through two man-made lakes in its descent through a generally steep sided
gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...
bottomed V-shaped valley. Along most of its run the stream hugs Broad Mountain which contributes tributary waters and digs it deeper below the navigable floor of the valley. Nesquehoning Creek encompasses a sq-mi drainage area between Broad Mountain to the northwest and the north along the left bank of its generally eastern course and to the south. It rises in the peaks flanking join of the two ridgelines in a
saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...
at Hometown, PA and terminates in the
Lehigh River The Lehigh River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward pat ...
about two miles below the town of Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania in the shadow of Mount Pisgah from which several minor unnamed tributary streams descend adding their waters. All the mountains in the area are among a series of near parallel ridgelines in the region. Approximately of the
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
or watershed is located in
Schuylkill County Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the populat ...
while is located in Carbon County. Nesquehoning Creek originates in two forested gullies diametrically opposed N-to-S along the east edge of Hometown, the major fork on the slopes of Broad Mountain to the north and the minor to the south on the last minor peak of Nesquehoning Ridge. From their confluence the creek flows south for about then turns to the northeast and flows into and through Greenwood Lake, which is nearly a mile long.by inspection using scale on maps.google.com Approximately downstream from the spillway, it discharges into Lake Hauto, both lakes being man-made. It then continues to the northeast in a relatively narrow valley over its steepest stretch then flattens out and slows making its way through Nesquehoning, which is a right bank town. The stream then travels down a narrow undeveloped ladder or rapids section where its elevation drops significantly to its confluence with the Lehigh River opposite and downstream from the Lehigh River Gorge around the bend from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, Jim Thorpe, PA formed by the roots of Mount Pisgah. Six left bank tributaries enter the stream below Hauto Dam from State Game Lands No. 141 before and west of the summit on Broad Mountain, the uppermost named 'Broad Run', the lower 'Deep Run' being the largest and named, the other four being short and relatively insignificant rills. The heavily forested, relatively steep slopes of Broad and Nesquehoning Mountains and the occasional Culm (waste coal), culm piles characterize the land within the watershed. All travel is channeled in the area by the terrain, so north-south oriented highways are rare and need a mountain pass, saddle pass such as at the streams headwater area for such to cross the valleys. Consequently, Hometown, a small high-elevation outlier of Tamaqua sits in such a pass astride the junction of Pennsylvania Route 54 and Pennsylvania Route 309 and contains railroad switch junctions as well that connect trackage to the Wyoming Valley, points south and the Panther Creek (Little Schuylkill River), Panther Creek Valley via Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, Tamaqua of the Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania), Blue Mountain and points west through the Mahanoy Creek valley. The Nesquehoning Creek valley consists of some residential and industrial development, including a power plant, but was primarily a transit corridor. The Hauto Dam constructed opposite the north entrance of the mile-long Hauto Railway Tunnel protected a railroad railyard, switching yard for the coal trains servicing the mines in Lansford and Coaldale inside the Panther Creek (Little Schuylkill River), Panther Creek valley on the opposite side of Nesquehoning Mountain. Nesquehoning Junction is a namedUSGS topo map, misc. web photos. small railyard downstream and within the town of that name along the lower creek. Right bank urban development is concentrated in the Borough of Nesquehoning, left bank development in New Columbus opposite Nesquehoning and at the source region in Hometown. Large areas in the valley have been dramatically disturbed by coal mining related activities. Much of the runoff from strip mines is retained in abandoned pits and therefore lesser amounts of surface runoff is discharged into Nesquehoning Creek. The middle two lesser tributary rills noted previously join in one such containment pond in an old Broad Mountain strip mine just above Nesquehoning. The use of the former Lehigh Valley Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and route PA-54 marks the importance of the creeks' valley as an important transportation corridor in an area where road beds are highly constricted. The trackage today is used by both the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad and Norfolk Southern. The watershed encompasses four municipalities. U.S. Route 209 climbs up inside the V-shaped
gully A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...
of the westernmost of these from the beginning terminus junction with Pennsylvania Route 54, PA-54 within downtown Nesquehoning up over the ridge to the headwaters region of the Panther Creek (Little Schuylkill River), Panther Creek Valley across the
Nesquehoning Ridge Nesquehoning may refer to the following places in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania: *Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, a borough in Carbon County **Nesquehoning High School, in the above borough *Nesquehoning Creek, a tributary of the Lehigh River *Nesque ...
drainage divide into the valley formed with Pisgah Ridge. Part of the waters are pooled in Lake Hauto above the Hauto Dam in the Hamlet of Hauto, near where the historically important Hauto Tunnel serviced the many coal breakers of Lansford, Pennsylvania, Lansford, Coaldale, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Coaldale, and historic Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, Summit Hill. The Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania (CNJ), both Class I railroads ran trackage up slope to cross north and west over the mountain ridges.


Communities

The stream runs through the following municipalities source-to-mouth: *Rush Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Rush Township, Schuylkill County officially at 1,129 feet (344 m) *Lehigh Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh Township, Carbon County *Packer Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Packer Township, Carbon County *Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, Nesquehoning borough, Carbon County officially at 830 ft (253 m) (above stream level, mouth is two miles further east) Image:Nesq_Creek 1.jpg, Nesquehoning Creek at the bridge on Industrial Road,Green Acres Industrial Park Image:Creek flood 1.JPG, Nesquehoning Creek during the flood of June 27, 2006


See also

*List of rivers of Pennsylvania *Broad Run Reservoir


References

*''Flood Damage and Mitigation Report'', Economic Development Administration and Economic Development Council of Northeastern Pennsylvania, February 1999


External links


Nesquehoning Creek
{{authority control Tributaries of the Lehigh River Rivers of Pennsylvania Rivers of Carbon County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania