The Nonconnah Creek (or the Nonconnah Creek Drainage Canal) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 3, 2011 waterway in southwest

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It starts in extreme southeastern

Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, both in terms of p ...

, near the town of Collierville. From there, it flows westward, forming the southern border of

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

. The creek continues to flow west through

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and through

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

. Nonconnah Creek empties into McKellar Lake, an

oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow lake, oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-sh ...

of 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 ...

. There are three major expressways that follow most of its route. These are

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

, Interstate 240, and

Tennessee State Route 385 State Route 385 (SR 385) is the designation for two separate segments of state highway in the Memphis Metropolitan Area in Shelby County in West Tennessee, which with Interstate 269 (I-269) forms a semicircle around and through the Me ...

, formerly named and still locally referred to as "Nonconnah Parkway".

History

Nonconnah Creek was created from glacial runoff around 12,000 years ago. Prior to around year 400, the creek flowed from its headwaters west-northwesterly until the location of the present-day I-240/TN 385 interchange. From there it continued across what is now East Memphis and Midtown and connected with the Wolf River just before it empties into the Mississippi River. Around AD 400, a massive seismic event in the Ellendale Fault (part of the New Madrid Fault system) raised a low ridge across present-day east Memphis, diverting Nonconnah Creek away from the Wolf, causing it to flow directly into the Mississippi River several miles south of the Wolf's mouth. The lowermost section of the Nonconnah that continued to flow into the Wolf eventually became known as Cypress Creek. Nonconnah Creek was widened and channelized in the 20th century (like many of the rivers in West Tennessee) from its mouth to near Houston Levee Road in Collierville.

Name

''Nonconnah'' is a name derived from the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

Chickasaw language The Chickasaw language (, ) is a Native American language of the Muskogean family. It is agglutinative and follows the word order pattern of subject–object–verb (SOV). The language is closely related to, though perhaps not entirely mutual ...

purported to mean "seer, prophet".

Drainage basin

The Nonconnah Creek watershed covers parts of two counties in Tennessee (Shelby and Fayette) and two counties in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

(

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and Desoto). The creek drains approximately half of the city of Memphis, the rest being drained by the Wolf River.

Major flooding

Major floods occurred in the basin on November 21, 1934,when 10.48 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, and on May 9, 1958, when 4.76 inches of rain fell in approximately eight hours. The most recent significant flood occurred on December 3, 1978, when 4.9 inches were recorded at the Memphis International Airport. The 1978 storm appears to be between the 5-year and 10-year frequency events. Under present day conditions, the 1934 and 1958 flood levels would cause considerably higher damages due to increased urbanization.

Backwater flooding

If the Mississippi River gets above 40 feet on the Memphis river gauge, the Nonconnah, along with other local streams and rivers connected to the Mississippi, will begin to experience backwater flooding, which is when these streams begin to flow backwards as the Mississippi river rises and fills them. Backwater flooding occurred in both the 1927 and 1937 floods along the Mississippi River. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an earthen levee system with pumping stations along the northern side of Nonconnah Creek from its mouth to Prospect Street in South Memphis. During the

2011 Mississippi River floods Major floods along the Mississippi River in April and May 2011 were among the largest and most damaging recorded along the U.S. waterway in the past century, comparable in extent to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and Great Flood of 1993. In ...

, these levees kept water off of the northern side. However, backwater flooding occurred on the south side causing damage to several subdivisions. The creek also flowed backwards within its channel to the Lamar Avenue (

U.S. Route 78 U.S. Route 78 (US 78) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 715 miles (1,151 km) from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. From Byhalia, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama, US 78 is concurrent with Interstate 2 ...

) overpass.

Greenbelt

The Nonconnah Greenbelt, a proposed system of trails, is currently being planned and constructed. If completed, it would stretch from Collierville to the Mississippi River. Phase I was completed in late 2007. It is located near Collierville near the intersection of TN 385 and Forest Hill Irene Road.Geology: Nonconnah Greenbelt Dedication Ceremony
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External links

National Weather Service, Hydrologic Prediction Service, Mississippi River

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi River At Memphis, TN (Weather Bureau Gage)Gage Zero: 183.91 Ft, Record High Stage:48.7 Ft. = 232.61' Memphis River Gage Record High in Feet Above Sea Level

Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA issued Flood Maps

Photo 35, Year 1927, Looking West from U.S. 61 bridge along the sandbagged levee and Photo 39 February 9, 1937. Looking west at Nonconnah Levee and Florida Street along the sandbagged levee. Photo 40 Nonconnah backwater in the vicinity of Federal Compress & Warehouse Company in South Memphis February 9, 1937.

* ttp://catalogquicksearch.memphis.edu/iii/cpro/ImageViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=0&sp=1000209&sp=T&suite=def Aerial view of the Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek
Nonconnah Flood Plain & Perkins Bridge Collapse

References

{{authority control Rivers of Tennessee Rivers of Mississippi Bodies of water of Shelby County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Fayette County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Marshall County, Mississippi Bodies of water of DeSoto County, Mississippi Mississippi placenames of Native American origin Tennessee placenames of Native American origin