Sandy Creek 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

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 western

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in the

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. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed 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 ...

, draining an area of on the

unglaciated A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

portion 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 ...

. The creek is long, or including its Left Fork. Sandy Creek is formed in north-central Jackson County by the confluence of its left and right forks: *The Left Fork Sandy Creek, long, rises south of the community of Rockport in extreme southeastern Wood County, and flows south-southwestward through the western extremity of

Wirt County Wirt County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,194, making it the least populous county in West Virginia. Its county seat is Elizabeth. The county was created in 1848 by the Virginia Gene ...

into Jackson County, through the communities of Wiseburg,

Lockhart Lockhart may refer to: *Lockhart (surname) Places Australia *Lockhart, New South Wales *Lockhart River, Queensland *Lockhart River, Western Australia United States *Lockhart, Alabama *Lockhart, Florida *Lockhart, Minnesota *Lockhart, Sout ...

, Drift Run, Odaville, and Sandyville. The Left Fork is paralleled for most of its course by the former

U.S. Route 21 U.S. Route 21 or U.S. Highway 21 (US 21) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Southeastern United States that travels . The southern terminus is in Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, south of the ...

(now a

county highway A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

). *The Right Fork Sandy Creek, long, rises approximately west-southwest of Reedy in northwestern Roane County and flows generally westward into Jackson County, through the communities of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, LeRoy, Duncan,

Meadowdale Meadowdale may refer to: *Meadowdale High School (Washington), Lynnwood, Washington *Meadowdale High School (Ohio), Dayton, Ohio *Meadowdale International Raceway *Carpentersville, Illinois Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois ...

, and Jones Crossing. From the confluence of the left and right forks south of Sandyville, Sandy Creek flows west-northwestward, through the community of Silverton to Ravenswood, where it flows into the Ohio River from the east. According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 80% of the Sandy Creek watershed is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed, mostly

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. Approximately 19% is used for pasture and agriculture, and less than 1% is urban. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, it has also been known historically as Big Sandy Creek and as Buffalo Creek. A 1906 report of the West Virginia Department of Archives transcribes the name in an unspecified Native American language as ''Mol-chu-con-ic-kon.''

References

{{authority control Rivers of Jackson County, West Virginia Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Ohio River

See also

References