The North Branch Raritan River 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 drai ...
of the
Raritan River
Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...
in central
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
[Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. ]
The North Branch Raritan River rises in
Morris County, in eastern
Mendham Borough rising out of Raritan Pond, and flows generally southward into
Somerset County, around the southern end of the
Watchung Mountains
The Watchung Mountains (once called the Blue Hills) are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lena ...
.
At its end, it forms the border between Bridgewater and Branchburg Townships, and upon reaching the border of Hillsborough Township, joins the
South Branch Raritan River
The South Branch Raritan River is a tributary of the Raritan River in New Jersey.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002.
Description
The source of the South Branch is the outflow from Budd Lake, a glacial remnant locate ...
to form the main Raritan River, which generally flows eastward from that point. This area where the branches converge was called "Tucca-Ramma-Hacking" by the Lenape, meaning the flowing together of water. It was called "Two Bridges" by the early European settlers, after a set of bridges built in 1733 that met at a small island (the island has washed away over time) on the North Branch.
[New Jersey Historical Society. "Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society." Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1924.] Today the area is generally referred to as "The Confluence". In the 1970s, the state discussed plans for a Raritan Confluence Reservoir, which have been shelved due to acquisition costs.
Both North and South branches of the Raritan run nearly parallel southwards, east and west of one another, but receive their names from the direction each one flows from at their confluence.
Gallery
File:North Branch Raritan River, Bedminster, NJ.jpg, Flowing through Bedminster
File:North Branch Raritan River, NJ - river mouth.jpg, Confluence of the North Branch and the South Branch with the Raritan River
Tributaries
*
Black River
*Burnett Brook
*Chambers Brook
*Chamber's Brook
*Clucas Brook
*India Brook
*Larger Brook
*
Lamington River
The Lamington River, known as the Black River (New Jersey), Black River upstream of Pottersville, New Jersey, Pottersville, is a tributary of the North Branch Raritan River in Central Jersey, central New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ...
*McVickers Brook
*Middle Brook (Bedminster)
*Mine Brook
*Moggy Brook
*Peapack Brook
*Penns Brook
*Stewart Brook
See also
*
List of rivers of New Jersey
This is a list of streams and rivers of the U.S. state of New Jersey.
List of New Jersey rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (''i.e.,'' branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in th ...
*
List of crossings of the Raritan River
This is a list of road/highway and rail crossings of the Raritan River from the mouth at Raritan Bay upstream. It also includes crossings of its two branches: the North Branch Raritan River and the South Branch Raritan River
The South Branch Rar ...
References
External links
*
U.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stations
Rivers of Morris County, New Jersey
Tributaries of the Raritan River
Rivers of New Jersey
Rivers of Somerset County, New Jersey
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