Stonecoal 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
West Fork River
The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, long, in north-central West Virginia, United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 881 square ...
, long,
in north-central
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
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 ...
. Via the West Fork,
Monongahela and
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
Rivers, 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 stream is believed to have been named in the late 1760s by a group of explorers and
settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s (including
Jesse Hughes), who found
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
in nearby hills and mixed with pebbles in the stream.
Stonecoal Creek rises approximately five miles (8 km) west-northwest of
Buckhannon
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,299 at the 2020 United States Census ...
in northwestern
Upshur County and flows westwardly into northern
Lewis County, where it joins the West Fork River from the east in the city of
Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* ...
. Its principal tributary, the
[ Right Fork Stonecoal Creek, was ]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 ...
med in Lewis County to form Stonecoal Lake in 1972 by Allegheny Energy
Allegheny Energy was an electric utility headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It owned and operated electric generation facilities and delivered electric services to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. Allegh ...
for the purpose of providing water to a power plant in Harrison County. The lake is privately owned, but is managed by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state ...
, as is a Wildlife Management Area
A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife.
New Zealand
There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand:
* Horsham Downs Wildlife Ma ...
surrounding the lake.
According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 77% of Stonecoal Creek's 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 approximately 2% is urban.[
]
Variant spellings
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 ...
, Stonecoal Creek has also been known historically as:
*Stone Coal Creek
*Stone Cole Creek
*Stone Cole Run
See also
*List of West Virginia rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of West Virginia.
List of West Virginia rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (i.e., branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in the state. Exc ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of West Virginia
Rivers of Lewis County, West Virginia
Rivers of Upshur County, West Virginia