The Susquehanna River (;
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
: Siskëwahane) is a major
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
located in the
Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower
Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
and the
Upland South
The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern and lower Midwestern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, econom ...
. At long, it is the longest river on the
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
. By
watershed area, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States,
[Susquehanna River Trail](_blank)
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...
, accessed March 25, 2010.[Susquehanna River](_blank)
, Green Works Radio, accessed March 25, 2010. and also the longest river in the early 21st-century
continental United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
without commercial boat traffic.
The Susquehanna River forms from two main branches: the
North Branch, which rises in
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...
, and is regarded by federal mapmakers as the main branch or headwaters,
and the
West Branch West Branch may refer to:
Communities
* West Branch, Iowa, city in Cedar and Johnson counties
* West Branch, Michigan, city in Ogemaw County
* West Branch, New Brunswick, in the Local Service District of Weldford Parish
* West Branch River John, i ...
, which rises in western
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, ...
and joins the main branch near
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
in central Pennsylvania.
The river drains , including nearly half of the land area of Pennsylvania. 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 ...
includes portions of the
Allegheny Plateau
The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...
region of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
, cutting through a succession of
water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...
s in a broad
zigzag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
course to flow across the rural heartland of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in the lateral near-parallel array of mountain ridges. The river empties into the northern end of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
at
Perryville and
Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which ...
, providing half of the Bay's freshwater inflow. The bay lies in the flooded valley, or ''
ria
A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
Definitions
Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
'', of the Susquehanna.
Geology
The Susquehanna River is one of the
oldest existing rivers in the world, being dated as 320–340
Myr, older than the mountain ridges through which it flows. These ridges resulted from the
Alleghenian orogeny
The Alleghanian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 195 ...
uplift events, when Africa (as part of
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
) slammed into the Northern part of
Euramerica
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
. The Susquehanna basin reaches its ultimate outflow in the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
. It was well established in the
flat tidelands of eastern North America during the
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...
era
about 252 to 66 million years ago. This is the same period when the
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and
Potomac rivers were established.
Course
Both branches and the lower Susquehanna were part of important regional transportation corridors. The river was extensively used for
muscle-powered ferries
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
,
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
s, and
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
boat shipping of bulk goods in the brief decades before the
Pennsylvania Canal System
The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assemb ...
was eclipsed by the coming of age of
steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
-powered
railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
. While the railroad industry has been less prevalent since the closures and mergers of the 1950s–1960s, a wide-ranging rail transportation infrastructure still operates along the river's shores.
North Branch Susquehanna
Also called the Main Branch Susquehanna, the longer branch of the river rises at the outlet of
Otsego Lake in
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...
. From there, the north branch of the river runs west-southwest through rural farmland and dairy country, receiving the
Unadilla River
The Unadilla River is a river in the Central New York Region of New York State. The river begins northeast of the hamlet of Millers Mills and flows generally south to the village of Sidney, where it converges with the Susquehanna River, which d ...
at
Sidney. It dips south into
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, ...
briefly to turn sharply 90 degrees west at
Susquehanna and again 90 degrees north at
Great Bend
Great Bend is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...
hooking back into
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. It receives the
Chenango in downtown
Binghamton
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
. After meandering westwards, it turns south crossing the line again through the twin towns of
Waverly, New York, and
Sayre, Pennsylvania
Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the principal city in the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It lies 18 miles southeast of Elmira, New York, and 30 miles southwest of Bing ...
, and their large
right bank
In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows.
In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...
railyard, once briefly holding the largest structure in the United States devoted to the maintenance and construction of railroad locomotives.
A couple of miles south, in
Athens Township, Pennsylvania, it receives the
Chemung from the northwest. It makes a right-angle curve between Sayre and
Towanda to cut through the
Endless Mountains
The Endless Mountains are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Endless Mountains region includes Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties. The highest peak in the region is the North Kn ...
in the Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania. It receives the
Lackawanna River
The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of th ...
southwest of
Scranton
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
and turns sharply to the southwest, flowing through the former
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
industrial heartland in the mountain ridges of northeastern Pennsylvania, past
Pittston City (
Greater Pittston
Greater Pittston is a 65.35 sq mi (169.25 km²) region in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in reference to the area in and around Pittston. As of 2010, the total population of Greater Pittston is 48,020. This region includes Avoca, Dupont, Du ...
),
Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
,
Nanticoke Nanticoke may refer to:
* Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States
* Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language
* Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey
Place names Canada
* Nanticoke, Ontario
** Nanticoke Generating S ...
,
Shickshinny
Shickshinny is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 630 at the 2020 census.
The borough is named after Shickshinny Creek, which runs through the municipality and the surrounding area. According to the book ...
,
Berwick,
Bloomsburg, and
Danville, before receiving the West Branch at Northumberland.
West Branch Susquehanna
The origin of the official West Branch is near
Elmora, Pennsylvania, in northern
Cambria County
Cambria County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,472. Its county seat is Ebensburg. The county was created on March 26, 1804, from parts of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset Countie ...
near the contemporary and
US Route 219
U.S. Route 219 (US 219) is a spur of U.S. Route 19, US 19. It runs for from West Seneca, New York, at an interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90) to Rich Creek, Virginia, intersecting at U.S. Route 460, US 460. US 219 is found (from north to south ...
(locally Plank Road). It travels northeasterly through the towns of
Northern Cambria
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
,
Cherry Tree
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
,
Burnside,
Mahaffey
Mahaffey is a surname of Scottish people, Scottish origin, and is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic name ''Mac Dhuibhshithe''. It is a sept of Clan Macfie in Scotland, but the clan originated in Ireland. There the name is found largely in County Doneg ...
and
Curwensville
Curwensville is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Altoona on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Coal mining, tanning, and the manufacture of fire bricks were the industries at the turn of the 20th century. In 1 ...
(where the river is dammed to form a lake), into and through
Clearfield, where it receives
Clearfield Creek
Clearfield Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Cambria and Clearfield counties, Pennsylvania, in ...
.
The West Branch turns to the southeast and passes
Karthaus (at Mosquito Creek),
Keating (at Sinnemahoning Creek),
Renovo and
Lock Haven
Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...
, where it receives
Bald Eagle Creek. It passes
Williamsport, where both Lycoming Creek and Loyalsock Creek empty into it, then turns south, passing
Lewisburg, before joining the North Branch flowing from the northwest at Northumberland.
Main Susquehanna flow
Downstream from the confluence of its branches in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, the river flows south past
Selinsgrove, where it is joined by its
Penns Creek
Penns Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keyst ...
tributary, and cuts through a
water gap
A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...
at the western end of
Mahantongo
"Mahantongo" is a Lenape word, translated "where we had plenty of meat to eat" or "good hunting grounds." The name is shared by a creek, a valley, and a mountain in central Pennsylvania, and is a common street name in the area. The alternate spel ...
Mountain. It receives the
Juniata River
The Juniata River () is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 8, 2011 in central Pennsylvania. The river is ...
from the northwest at
Duncannon
Duncannon () is a village in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. Bordered to the west by Waterford harbour and sitting on a rocky headland jutting into the channel is the strategically prominent Duncannon Fort which dominates the village.
Pr ...
, then passes through its last water gap, the
Susquehanna Gap Susquehanna may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Susquehanna River, the source of the Chesapeake Bay
In Maryland
* Susquehanna State Park (Maryland)
In Pennsylvania
* Susquehannock tribe, Native American tribe of Pennsylvania
* Susquehan ...
through the
Blue Mountain Ridge, just northwest of
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
.
Downtown Harrisburg
Downtown Harrisburg is the central core neighborhood, business and government center which surrounds the focal point of Market Square, and serves as the regional center for the greater metropolitan area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. ...
developed on the east side of the river, which is nearly a mile wide here. Harrisburg is the largest city located on the lower river, which flows southeast across
South Central Pennsylvania
South Central Pennsylvania is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the fourteen counties of Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, Snyder, and York. Portions of west ...
, forming the border between
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and
Lancaster counties, and receiving
Swatara Creek
Swatara Creek (nicknamed the Swatty) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United Sta ...
from the northeast. It crosses into northern Maryland approximately northeast of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and is joined by
Octoraro Creek
Octoraro Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, joining it above the Susquehanna's mouth at Chesapeake Bay. The Octoraro rises as an East and West Branch in Pennsylvania. The East Branch and Octoraro Creek form the southern half of t ...
from the northeast and
Deer Creek from the northwest. The river enters the northern end of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
at
Havre de Grace.
Concord Point Light was built here in 1827 to accommodate the increasing navigational traffic.
Etymology
"Susquehanna" may come from the
Lenape (Delaware) word ''siskëwahane'' meaning "Muddy River". Alternatively, it may come from the
Len'api term ''Sisa'we'hak'hanna'', which means "Oyster River". Oyster beds were widespread in the bay near the mouth of the river, which the Lenape farmed. They left oyster shell
middens
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
at their villages. A third account translates "Susquehanna" from
Susquehannock language
Susquehannock, also known as Conestoga, is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Native American people variously known as the Susquehannock or Conestoga.
Information about Susquehannock is scant. Almost all known words and phrases come from the ...
as "the stream that falls toward the south" or "long-crooked-river".
The Len'api were an
Algonquian-speaking Native American people who had communities ranging from coastal Connecticut through New York and Long Island, and further south into New Jersey and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic area. Their settlements in Pennsylvania included ''Con'esto'ga'' ("Roof-place" or "town", modern
Washington Boro, Lancaster County), also called ''Ka'ot'sch'ie'ra'' ("Place-crawfish", modern Chickisalunga, Lancaster County), or ''Gasch'guch'sa'' ("Great-fall-in-river", modern
Conewago Falls, Lancaster County). They were called ''Minquas'' ("quite different"), or ''Sisa'we'hak'hanna'lenno'wak'' ("Oyster-river-people") by others. The ''Len'api'' also called the area ''Sisa'we'hak'hanna'unk'' ("Oyster-river-place").
Peoples of the mid-Atlantic Coast included coastal peoples who spoke
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic languages, Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language f ...
, such as the Len'api (whose bands spoke three dialects of Lenape), and
Iroquoian languages
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...
-speaking peoples of the interior, such as the
Eroni and the
Five Nations of the Iroquois League, or ''
Haudenosaunee
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
''.
The English of Pennsylvania referred to the Eroni people of Conestoga as "Susquehannocks" or "Susquehannock Indians", a name derived from the Lenape term.
[Zeisberger, David. ''Indian Dictionary: English, German, Iroquois—The Onondaga and Algonquin—The Delaware''. Harvard University Press, 1887. , p. 141.] In addition,
John Smith of Jamestown
John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...
, Virginia, labeled their settlement as ''"Sasquesahanough"'' on his 1612 map when he explored the upper
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
area.
In Virginia and other southern colonies,
Siouan
Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.
Name
Authors who call the entire ...
-speaking tribes constituted a third major language family, with their peoples occupying much of the middle areas of the interior.
Iroquoian speakers, such as the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
and
Tuscarora people
The Tuscarora (in Tuscarora ''Skarù:ręˀ'', "hemp gatherers" or "Shirt-Wearing People") are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government of the Iroquoian family, with members today in New York, USA, and Ontario, Canada. They c ...
s, generally occupied areas to the interior near the Piedmont and foothills.
History
![Susquehanna River in Danville](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Susquehanna_River_in_Danville.JPG)
In 1615, the river was traversed by the French explorer
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) was the first European explorer to journey beyond the St. Lawrence River into what is now known as Canada. He spent much of his early adult life among the Hurons, and mastered their language and learned ...
. In the 1670s the Conestoga, or
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
people, succumbed to
Iroquois conquest by the powerful
Five Nations of the Iroquois League based in present-day New York, who wanted to control the
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
with Europeans. The Susquehannock assimilated with the Iroquois. In the aftermath, the Iroquois resettled some of the semi-tributary
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
in this area, as it was near the western boundary of the Lenape's former territory, known as
Lenapehoking
Lenapehoking (Unami: ''Lënapehòkink'') is widely translated as ' homelands of the Lenape', which in the 16th and 17th centuries, ranged along the Eastern seaboard from western Connecticut to Delaware, and encompassed the territory adjacent to th ...
.
The Susquehanna River has continued to play an important role throughout the
history of the United States
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...
. In the 18th century,
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, the founder of the
Pennsylvania Colony
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...
, negotiated with the Lenape to allow white settlement in the area between the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
and the Susquehanna, which was part of Lenape territory. In late colonial times, the river became an increasingly important transportation corridor, used to ship
anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
, discovered by
Necho Allen, from its upper reaches in the mountains to the markets downriver.
In 1779 during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, General
James Clinton
Major General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was an American Revolutionary War officer who, with John Sullivan, led in 1779 the Sullivan Expedition in what is now western New York to attack British-allied Seneca and ...
led an expedition down the Susquehanna from its headwaters. His party had made the upper portion navigable by damming the river's source at
Otsego Lake, allowing the lake's level to rise, and then destroying the dam and flooding the river in order for his
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
to travel for miles downstream.
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
described this event in the introduction to his historical novel, ''
The Pioneers'' (1823).
![Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State Capital Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Harrisburg%2C_Pennsylvania_State_Capitol_Building.jpg)
At
Athens, Pennsylvania
Athens is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located south of the New York (state), New York state line on the Susquehanna River, Susquehanna and Chemung River, Chemung river ...
, then known as Tioga or "Tioga Point", Clinton met with General
John Sullivan and his forces, who had marched from
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...
. Together on August 29, they defeated the
Tories
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
and warriors of allied Iroquois bands at the
Battle of Newtown
The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was a major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by General John Sullivan that was ordered by the Continental Congress to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British ...
(near present-day
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...
). This was part of what was known as the "Sullivan-Clinton Campaign" or the "
Sullivan Expedition
The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...
". They swept through western New York, dominated by the
Seneca people
The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their n ...
, destroying more than 40 Seneca villages, as well as the stores of crops the people had set aside for winter. Many of the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
left New York and went to Canada as refugees; casualties from exposure and starvation were high that winter.
Following the United States gaining independence in the Revolutionary War, in 1790 Colonel
Timothy Matlack,
Samuel Maclay
Samuel Maclay (June 17, 1741October 5, 1811) was an American surveyor, farmer, and politician from Union County, Pennsylvania. He served in the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in both the U.S. House and the United States Senate.
...
and
John Adlum
John Adlum (April 29, 1759 – March 14, 1836) was a pioneering American Viticulture, viticulturalist who was the first to cultivate the Catawba (grape), Catawba grape. He is known as "the father of American viticulture" (grape-growing). He also se ...
were commissioned by the
Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the collective directorial executive branch of the Pennsylvanian state government between 1777 and 1790. It was headed by a president and a vice president (analogous to a gov ...
to survey the headwaters of the Susquehanna river. They were to explore a route for a passage to connect the
West Branch West Branch may refer to:
Communities
* West Branch, Iowa, city in Cedar and Johnson counties
* West Branch, Michigan, city in Ogemaw County
* West Branch, New Brunswick, in the Local Service District of Weldford Parish
* West Branch River John, i ...
with the waters of the
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...
, which flowed to
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and 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 Illino ...
. In 1792, the
Union Canal
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
was proposed in order to link the Susquehanna and the Delaware rivers in Pennsylvania along
Swatara and
Tulpehocken creeks. In the 19th century, many industrial centers developed along the Susquehanna, using its
water power
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...
to drive mills and coal machinery, to cool machines, and as a waterway for the transport of raw and manufactured goods.
Based on colonial charters, both Pennsylvania and
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
claimed land in the
Wyoming Valley
The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan are ...
along the Susquehanna. Connecticut founded
Westmoreland County here and defended its claim in the
Pennamite Wars. Under federal arbitration, eventually the state ceded this territory to Pennsylvania.
In the 1790s English
Lake Poets
The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England, United Kingdom, in the first half of the nineteenth century. As a group, they followed no single "school" of thought or literary practice then known. They ...
Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
, and
Robert Lovell
Robert Lovell (1771–1796) was an English poet who was known for his poem, ''Bristol: A Satire'', which criticised the many merchants of Bristol and their involvement in "mortal corruption" which involved the slave trade. Life
He was born in B ...
formulated the "Pantisocracy Plan" to marry three sisters and move to the banks of the Susquehanna River to start a socialist experiment. They made the marriages but Southey moved to
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
, to visit an uncle, and they abandoned the plan to move to the United States.
In 1833 John B. Jervis began a canal system to extend the
Chenango River
The Chenango River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in central New York in the United States. It drains a dissec ...
and connect the waters of the Susquehanna from
Chenango Point to the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
, which ran through the
Mohawk Valley of New York, ultimately connecting with
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
through the Wood Canal. In October 1836, water from the Susquehanna was connected to the Erie Canal at
Utica, New York
Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
. Water travel was the main form of transportation during that era. The Erie Canal dramatically expanded trade between communities around the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and markets in New York and Pennsylvania. With the expansion of construction of
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
lines, canal-transport became unprofitable, as it could not compete in speed or flexibility.
[Chenango, Whitford. http://www.mikalac.com/tech/tra/chenango.html ] Boats had to climb a net height of between basins, requiring the use of more than 100
water locks, which were too expensive to be maintained under the new competition.
![Susquehanna River looking downriver at Sunbury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Susquehanna_River_looking_downriver_at_Sunbury.JPG)
The Susquehanna River figures in the history of the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
. It holds that
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
and
Oliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American Mormon leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first baptized ...
received the priesthood from heavenly beings at a site along the Susquehanna and performed their first baptisms of Latter Day Saints in the North Branch of the river. Smith and Cowdery said that they were visited on May 15, 1829, by the resurrected
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
and given the
Aaronic priesthood. Following his visit, Smith and Cowdery baptized each other in the river. Later that year, they said they were visited near the river by the apostles
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
,
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
and
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
. Both events took place in unspecified locations near the river's shore in
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Susquehanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose. The county was created on February 21, 1810, from part ...
.
During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
's 1863
Gettysburg Campaign,
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Darius N. Couch, commander of the
Department of the Susquehanna The Department of the Susquehanna was a military department created by the United States War Department during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Its goal was to protect the state capital and the southern portions of the commonwealt ...
, resolved that
Robert E. Lee's
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most oft ...
would not cross the Susquehanna. He positioned
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
units under Maj.
Granville Haller to protect key bridges in Harrisburg and
Wrightsville, as well as nearby fords. Confederate forces reached the river at several locations in
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
counties.
In 1972 the remnants of
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...
stalled over the New York-Pennsylvania border, dropping as much as of rain on the hilly lands. Much of that precipitation was received into the Susquehanna from its western tributaries, and the valley suffered disastrous flooding.
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...
, was among the hardest-hit communities and the capital Harrisburg was flooded. The
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
received so much fresh water that it altered the ecosystem, killing much of the marine life that depended on saltwater.
The
Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006, caused by a stalled jet stream-driven storm system, affected portions of the river system. The worst affected area was
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, where record-setting flood levels forced the evacuation of thousands of residents.
In September 2011 the Susquehanna River and its communities were hit by
Tropical Storm Lee, which caused the worst flooding since Agnes in 1972.
Bridges, ferries, canals and dams
The Susquehanna River is important in the
transportation history of the United States. Before the
Port Deposit Bridge
The Port Deposit Bridge (also known as the Susquehanna River Bridge or Rock Run Toll Bridge) was the earliest bridge crossing of the Susquehanna River below Columbia, Pennsylvania, providing the first reliable link between the northern and southe ...
opened in 1818, the river formed a barrier between the northern and southern states, as it could be crossed only by
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
. The earliest dams were constructed to support ferry operations in low water. The presence of many rapids in the river meant that while commercial traffic could navigate down the river in the high waters of the spring thaws, nothing could move up.
![Gen Clinton's Dam Monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Gen_Clinton%27s_Dam_Monument.jpg)
The Susquehanna was improved by
navigations
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
throughout the 1820s and 1830s as the
Pennsylvania Canal
The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assemb ...
. Together with facilities of the
Allegheny Portage Railroad
The Allegheny Portage Railroad was the first railroad constructed through the Allegheny Mountains in central Pennsylvania, United States; it operated from 1834 to 1854 as the first transportation infrastructure through the gaps of the Allegheny ...
, loaded barges were transferred from the canal and hoisted across the
mountain ridge into the
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
area with access to the
Monongahela,
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...
s and their confluence into 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 Illino ...
flowing southwest towards the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. The
Union Canal
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
was completed in 1828 to connect the
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...
(flowing southeast towards the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
at
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
) at
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
westwards to the Susquehanna River above the state capital of
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
. Competition from faster transport via the
railroad industry by the 1850s resulted in reducing the reliance on the river for transport.
[Paddle the Susquehanna](_blank)
, accessed September 10, 2011.![Susquehanna River from above the Breezyview Gazebo in Chickies Rock County Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Susquehanna_River_from_above_the_Breezyview_Gazebo_in_Chickies_Rock_County_Park.jpg)
Two canal systems were constructed on the lower Susquehanna to bypass the rapids. The first was the
Susquehanna Canal, also called the Conowingo Canal or the Port Deposit Canal, completed in 1802 by a Maryland company known as the Proprietors of the Susquehanna Canal. The second was the much longer and more successful
Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal
The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal between Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and Havre de Grace, Maryland, at the head of Chesapeake Bay, provided an interstate shipping alternative to 19th-century arks, rafts, and boats plying the difficult waters o ...
. The canals required dams to provide canal water and navigation pools.
As the industrial age progressed, bridges replaced
ferries
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
, and railroads replaced canals. The railroads were often constructed on top of the canal right-of-way along the river. Many canal remnants can be seen; for example, in
Havre de Grace, Maryland
Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which ...
, along
US Route 15
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...
in Pennsylvania, and in upstate New York at various locations. These latter remnants are parts of the upstream divisions of the
Pennsylvania Canal
The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assemb ...
, of privately funded canals, and of canals in the New York system.
![The Susquehanna River in Owego, New York](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/The_Susquehanna_River_in_Owego%2C_New_York.jpg)
Today 200 bridges cross the Susquehanna. The
Rockville Bridge
The Rockville Bridge is the longest stone masonry arch railroad viaduct ever built, with forty-eight 70-foot (length), foot spans and a total length of . The bridge crosses the Susquehanna River about north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The east ...
, which crosses the river from
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
to
Marysville, Pennsylvania
Marysville is a borough in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,652 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Harrisburg– Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Borough was settled in 1755, incorporated as the B ...
, is the longest
stone masonry
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
in the world. It was built by the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
in 1902, replacing an earlier iron bridge. Two seasonal ferries operate across the Susquehanna. The
Millersburg Ferry
The Millersburg Ferry, also known as the Crow's Ferry, is the last operating ferry on the Susquehanna River. It crosses the river between Millersburg in Dauphin County and Buffalo Township in Perry County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The ...
at
Millersburg, Pennsylvania
Millersburg is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,541 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Millersburg is located in northwestern Daup ...
, is a practical ferry for up to four vehicles and 50 passengers, while the ''
Pride of the Susquehanna'', based at Harrisburg, provides a passenger-only pleasure cruise.
Most of the canals have been filled in or are partially preserved as a part of historical parks. Dams generally are used to generate power or to provide lakes for recreation.
Environmental threats
![Shickshinny Flood March 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Shickshinny_Flood_March_2011.JPG)
The environmental group American Rivers named the Susquehanna "America's Most Endangered River for 2005" because of the excessive
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
it receives. Most of the pollution in the river is caused by excess animal
manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nutri ...
from
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
, agricultural
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
,
urban and suburban stormwater runoff, and raw or inadequately treated
sewage
Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...
. In 2003 the river contributed 50% of the freshwater, 44% of the
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
, 21% of the
phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...
, and 21% of the
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
flowing into the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
.
It was designated as one of the
American Heritage Rivers
American Heritage Rivers were designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s to receive special attention (coordinating efforts of multiple governmental entities) to further three objectives: natural resource and envir ...
in 1997. The designation provides for technical assistance from federal agencies to state and local governments working in the Susquehanna watershed.
![Three Mile Island 2012-04-21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Three_Mile_Island_2012-04-21.jpg)
Another environmental concern is radioactivity released during the 1979
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...
. However, extensive
radionuclide
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
studies over a 25-year period from 1979 through 2003, confirm that the Three Mile Island accident has not resulted in any harmful radiation effects. The areas in and along a 262-km length of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania were monitored for the presence of radioactive materials. This study began two months after the 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) partial reactor meltdown; it spanned the next 25 years. Monitoring points included stations at the PPL Susquehanna and TMI nuclear power plants. Monthly gamma measurements documented concentrations of radionuclides from natural and anthropogenic sources. During this study, various series of gamma-emitting radionuclide concentration measurements were made in many general categories of animals, plants, and other inorganic matter, both within and near the river. Sampling began in 1979 before the first start-up of the PPL Susquehanna power plant. Although all species were not continuously monitored for the entire period, an extensive database was compiled. In 1986, the ongoing measurements detected fallout from the
Chernobyl nuclear accident
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 nuclear reactor, reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainia ...
. These data may be used in support of dose or environmental transport calculations. The remaining reactor at
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (commonly abbreviated as TMI) is a closed nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania on Lake Frederic, a reservoir in the Susquehanna River just s ...
was shut down in 2019.
In 2015, a
smallmouth bass with a rare, cancerous tumor was caught from the river, raising renewed concerns about toxic materials and water pollution.
The
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
reported, "we do not have sufficient data at this time to scientifically support listing the main stem of the Susquehanna as
impaired
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
."
Recreation
The Susquehanna River has attracted boaters who watch or fish for its migratory species. Many tourists and local residents use the Susquehanna in the summer for recreation purposes such as kayaking, canoeing, and motor-boating. Due to the high volume of
smallmouth bass in the river, it is the host of numerous bass fishing tournaments each year and is regarded by many as one of the premier bass fishing rivers in North America. Canoe races are held annually on various sections of the river, such as the amateur race held in
Oneonta, New York
Oneonta ( ) is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of the Appalachian Region. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Oneonta had a population of 13,079. Its nickname is "City of the Hil ...
.
Susquehanna rowing and paddling have a long history. Starting in 1874, rowers from
Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania
Shamokin Dam is a borough in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,647 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census.
"Shamokin" , or "Shahëmokink" in the Unami language, Delaware langua ...
, raced men from
Sunbury. The General Clinton Canoe Regatta, a flat-water race, takes place each year in
Bainbridge, New York
Bainbridge is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The population was 3,308 at the 2010 census. The town is at the eastern border of Chenango County, halfway between Binghamton and Oneonta.
The Village of Bainbridge is located a ...
, on
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend. Binghamton University Crew and Hiawatha Island Boat Club are also located on the river, in the
Southern Tier
The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York region of New York State, consisting of counties west of the Catskill Mountains in Delaware County and geographically situated along or very near the northern border ...
of New York.
The
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...
passes through
Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Duncannon is a borough in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,473 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The center of population of Pennsylvania is located in D ...
, and crosses the Susquehanna on the
Clarks Ferry Bridge
The Clarks Ferry Bridge is a plate girder bridge that carries U.S. Routes 22 and 322 across the Susquehanna River near Duncannon, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is a 4 lane expressway standard bridge. The ...
.
See also
References
Further reading
*
External links
U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stationsSusquehanna River Basin CommissionAmerican Rivers article: ''Susquehanna River "Most Endangered"''Hiawatha Island Boat Club – Owego, New YorkBinghamton University Crew – Binghamton, New York
{{Authority control
Rivers of Otsego County, New York
Rivers of Pennsylvania
Rivers of Maryland
Rivers of New York (state)
American Heritage Rivers
Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
Environment of the Mid-Atlantic states
Allegheny Plateau
Rivers of Broome County, New York
Rivers of York County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Perry County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Juniata County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Snyder County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Montour County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Columbia County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Rivers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Significant places in Mormonism
Latter Day Saint movement in New York (state)
Latter Day Saint movement in Pennsylvania