Nolan River is a river in north central Texas, running through Johnson County and Hill County and is part of the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Dr ...

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 ...

. The Nolan's headwaters are in farm land in northwest Johnson County. The river runs generally parallel to, and about east of, the

. The Nolan flows in a southeasterly direction from its headwaters for about to its confluence with the

in the headwaters of Lake Whitney in Hill County, south of the town of

Blum, Texas Blum is a town in Hill County, Texas, United States. The population was 444 at the 2010 census. Geography Blum is located in northwestern Hill County at (32.142367, –97.395481), at the junction of Farm to Market Highways 67 and 933. It is no ...

. In 1961, the Nolan River was dammed at Highway 67, west of the city of Cleburne, submerging the site of Wardville, the original county seat of Johnson County. The reservoir, named Lake Pat Cleburne, is the municipal water source for the city of Cleburne and serves as a recreational body for the county. The Nolan, north of the dam, is a narrow, tree-lined, slow-moving, rather shallow stream primarily flowing through private farm land, and is popular with anglers. Below the lake, the river takes on a different character as it flows through limestone bluffs with a hard-packed clay and gravel river bottom, and the banks are vegetated with many species of large trees. The river, below the dam, flows with a considerable volume of water, . The stream contains significant fish populations and is home to the

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

and snowy egret. The river bends sharply in some places and has very limited straight length. The lower part of the Nolan River is popular for

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and rapids in some areas create very fast-moving water for challenging recreational activities. Flow can reach as much as . The Nolan River has one primary tributary, Buffalo Creek, which has its confluence with the Nolan less than a mile southeast of Lake Pat Cleburne.

Philip Nolan

Four miles south of Rio Vista on Highway 174 is a marker erected to the memory of Philip Nolan (1771–1801). This is on the Hill County side and a small cemetery is west-northwest in the timber, near the river. The river is named after Philip Nolan, who was known to have been a horse trader to the U.S. Army in 1791.Viola Block, "History of Johnson County and Surrounding Area: Rio Vista - River View." http://users.htcomp.net/JCGS/vb/Part_II/20.htm

References

*
USGS Geographic Names Information Service
* USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Texas (1974) * Place Names.com http://www.placenames.com/us/p1342646/ {{authority control Rivers of Texas Brazos River Rivers of Johnson County, Texas Rivers of Hill County, Texas

Philip Nolan

See also

References