Stoney Creek, or Stony Creek, is a watercourse in
Wayne County, North Carolina
Wayne County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 117,333. Its county seat is Goldsboro and it is home to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Wayne County comprises the Goldsboro, NC ...
, USA, that flows through the city of
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro, originally Goldsborough, is a city and the county seat of Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 33,657 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropol ...
in its lower course before joining the
Neuse River
The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in No ...
.
Location
Stony Creek is named in local records as early as 1756.
In the Price map of 1808 it is called Rocky Creek.
It is a tributary of the Neuse River.
It is about long.
The Stoney Creek watershed covers in central Wayne County.
The headwaters are near
Wayne Executive Jetport
Wayne Executive Jetport is a public use airport three miles north of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Goldsboro, in Wayne County, North Carolina. The airport is owned by Wayne County, North Carolina, Wayne County. It was formerly Goldsboro-Wayne Munici ...
at an elevation of about .
From there the creek drops about 4 to 6 feet per mile (.75 to 1.1 meters per kilometer) to its mouth, which is at an elevation of about above sea level.
Land use
The upper part of the Stoney Creek watershed, north of New Hope Road, was mostly agricultural land or undeveloped as of 2004.
Lower down, about 40% of the watershed is within the Goldsboro city limits and is used for housing, commerce, light industry and military purposes (
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for U.S. Navy Lt. Seymour A. Johnson, a test pilot from Goldsboro who died in an airplane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, ...
).
Stoney Creek Park is in Goldsboro south of Ash Street on the west side of Stoney Creek.
It has a butterfly garden, a play area for children, an 18-hole
disc golf
Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...
course and a covered picnic area.
Historically development has spread from the lower areas upstream, and in the 2000s there has been growth in commercial and residential land use in the upper basin.
Hydrology
Stoney Creek is in the inner coastal plain of North Carolina, an area with slow streams and large swamp areas.
From upstream to downstream the creek's tributaries are Stoney Run, Howell Creek, Reedy Branch and Billy Branch.
The upper watershed contains slowly moving
blackwater streams, low lying wooded swamps and marsh floodplains.
Often the streams flow through swampy areas.
There are many small dams in the upper watershed made by farmers or beavers.
About 42% of the floodplain is developed, 28% used for agriculture, 23% is forested and 6.1% is wetlands.
The area is prone to flooding.
Annual rainfall is about with highest rainfall from June to September, usually from thunderstorms.
Waste water is not discharged into the creek.
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoney Creek
Rivers of Wayne County, North Carolina
Tributaries of the Neuse River
Rivers of North Carolina