The Pigg River is a

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 ...

in south-west

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

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 ...

. It 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 drainage ...

of the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...

, which flows to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

via

Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a ba ...

. The Pigg River rises on Fivemile Mountain in western Franklin County and flows generally eastwardly through Franklin and Pittsylvania Counties, past the town of Rocky Mount. It joins the Roanoke River from the south (along a section of the Roanoke often known locally as the Staunton River) as part of the Leesville Reservoir, which is formed by a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

on the Roanoke. Recently, several dams across the Pigg River have been removed. In 2017, the 100 year old power dam at Rocky Mount was breached to restore the historic flow and to improve the habitat of the Roanoke logperch, an endangered species. Other dams removed recently include the dam near the Rocky Mount Veterans Memorial Park in 2013, and the Wasena dam in 2009. The river is named for John Pigg, an early settler from Amelia County, Virginia, who in 1741 acquired 400 acres of land through which the unnamed river passed.

External links

Pigg River float trip route

References

* Rivers of Virginia Rivers of Franklin County, Virginia Rivers of Pittsylvania County, Virginia Tributaries of the Roanoke River {{Virginia-river-stub

See also

External links

References