Sutton 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 drai ...

of the Susquehanna River in

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Dallas Township, Franklin Township, and Exeter Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek has one named tributary, which is known as Cider Run. Sutton Creek is located a few miles upriver of the Wyoming Valley. The surficial geology in its watershed consists of alluvium, Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, and bedrock, while the bedrock geology consists of sandstone. Major land uses in the watershed of Sutton Creek include forested land and agricultural land. Lakes in the creek's watershed include Lake Louise and

Cummings Pond Cummings Pond is a lake in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It has a surface area of more than and is located in Franklin Township. The lake is fed by springs and an unnamed tributary of Sutton Creek flow from it. It is up to ...

. A number of gristmills and sawmills have been built on the creek in Franklin Township and Exeter Township. The Elisha Atherton Coray Mill, which operated along the banks of the creek, is on the Historic American Buildings Survey. The creek's watershed is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery and the creek was historically stocked with trout. Many macroinvertebrate taxa have been observed on the creek.

Course

Sutton Creek begins in a valley in Dallas Township. It flows east-southeast and east-northeast for several tenths of a mile, passing through two lakes and entering Franklin Township. The creek then turns east-southeast for several tenths of a mile and passes through Lake Louise. From the eastern end of the lake, the creek flows east-southeast for a few tenths of a mile before turning northeast. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it turns southeast for several tenths of a mile before turning northeast for more than a mile. In this reach, it receives Cider Run, its only named tributary, from the left, and turns east. After a few tenths of a mile, the creek enters Exeter Township, where it turns southeast and then east-northeast. The creek then meanders southeast for some distance before turning north-northeast and crossing

Pennsylvania Route 92 Pennsylvania Route 92 (PA 92) is a north–south state highway located in northeast Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in West Pittston. The northern terminus is at the New York-Pennsylvania border in ...

. It then turns east and reaches its confluence with the Susquehanna River several hundred feet further downstream. Sutton Creek joins the Susquehanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Sutton Creek has one named tributary, which is known as Cider Run. Cider Run joins Sutton Creek upstream of its mouth and drains an area of .

Hydrology

At its mouth, the peak annual discharge of Sutton Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of reaching and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching . At the border between Franklin Township and Exeter Township, the peak annual discharge of Sutton Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of reaching and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching . Upstream of the confluence of Cider Run, the peak annual discharge of Sutton Creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching . It has a 2 percent chance of reaching and a 1 percent chance of reaching . The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching .

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Sutton Creek is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The elevation of the creek's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is between above sea level. Sutton Creek runs in a generally easterly direction. As of 2012, there are of pipelines in the watershed. However, another of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

pipeline were proposed. The creek flows from a notch in a mountain. Sutton Creek and its tributaries have narrow 100-year

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s. Most of the floodplains in Franklin Township are on the creek and its tributaries. The creek is located roughly upriver of the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan ...

. All of the bedrock in the watershed of Sutton Creek is made of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The surficial geology along the floor of the valley of Sutton Creek in its lower reaches mainly consists of

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...

. However, Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift occurs near the creek's mouth and some patches of a

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

known as Wisconsinan Till occur further upstream. Additionally, many areas have surficial geology featuring bedrock made of

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 ...

, conglomeratic sandstone, sandstone, and shale. The surficial geology alongside the creek continues to feature alluvium as far upstream as Lake Louise. However, in the watershed's upper reaches, Wisconsinan Till and bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale are more common. There is also a patch of Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift near the creek's headwaters.

Watershed

The watershed of Sutton Creek has an area of . The portion of the watershed that is upstream of the tributary Cider Run has an area of . The mouth of the creek is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Ransom. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Center Moreland. There are a total of of streams in the watershed of the creek. Since the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

is the

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

of the Susquehanna River, the watershed of Sutton Creek is part of the basin of the Chesapeake Bay. The main

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

in the watershed of Sutton Creek 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 land. However, a significant fraction of the watershed is devoted to agricultural land. Lakes in the creek's watershed include Cummings Pond and Lake Louise, as well as a number of smaller lakes. Sutton Creek occasionally experiences

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing. However, this flooding rarely causes significant damage since the creek's

is relatively undeveloped.

History

Sutton Creek was entered into 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 ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1199653. The creek is also known as Sutton's Creek and Coray Creek. James Sutton and James Hadsall constructed the first

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...

and the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

in Exeter Township on Sutton Creek in 1776. However, the mills were destroyed in a military invasion in 1778. Samuel Sutton, the son of James Sutton, constructed a second

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

there a few years later. In 1864, E.A. Coray, who owned the site at that time, constructed a third mill on the creek. The first sawmill in Franklin Township was also built on the creek in 1808 by a Mr. Munson. In the same year, Elijah Brace constructed the first gristmill in the township on the creek. Two concrete

tee beam A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a -shaped cross section. The top of the -shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisting compress ...

bridges carrying Sutton Creek Road were built over Sutton Creek in 1925. Their lengths are . A two-span bridge carrying State Route 1037 was built over the creek in Franklin Township at Lake Louise in 1940. It is long. A concrete culvert bridge carrying State Route 1033/Bodle Road was constructed over the creek in Exeter Township in 1962. This bridge is long. In 1999, a prestressed box beam or girders bridge with a length of was built and carries

over the creek in Exeter Township. A concrete culvert bridge was built over the creek in Franklin Township in 2007. This bridge is long and carries State Route 1021. The Elisha Atherton Coray Mill was located on Sutton Creek. It is listed on the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Biology

The drainage basin of Sutton Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. A reach of of the creek was also historically stocked with

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

by the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a sepa ...

. However, in 1999, the reach of the creek was removed from the stocking program due to a rise in the frequency of landowner posting. A total of 208 individual

macroinvertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s were observed in Sutton Creek at site Sutn05 in August 2012. These included two

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

genera, the

caddisfly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

genus '' Macrostemum'', the crayfish genus ''

Orconectes ''Orconectes'' is a genus of cave dwelling freshwater crayfish, endemic to suitable habitats in the eastern United States. Surface dwelling species, formerly categorised here, were moved to ''Faxonius'' in 2017. Due to their subterranean habit ...

'', the dragonfly genus '' Boyeria'', and the leech genus '' Macrobdella''. Other taxa included three midge genera, a mayfly family, two scud genera, and the

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class G ...

genus ''

Physidae Physidae, common name the bladder snails, is a monophyletic taxonomic family of small air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Lymnaeoidea .MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Physida ...

''. A total of 13 taxa were observed at the site and the EPT taxa richness was 3. The Becks Index value was 1, the

Hilsenhoff Biotic Index The Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI) is a quantitative method of evaluating the abundance of arthropod fauna in stream ecosystems as a measurement of estimating water quality based on the predetermined pollution tolerances of the observed taxa. This bi ...

value was 5.077, and the Shannon Diversity Index value was 1.676. At site Sutn04 166 individual macroinvertebrates were observed in Sutton Creek in August 2012. These included the beetle genus '' Dubiraphia'', two caddisfly genera, the dancefly genus '' Chelifera'', and the dragonfly genus '' Boyeria''. Other macroinvertebrates included five mayfly genera, the midge family ''

Chironomidae The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many specie ...

'', and the scud genus ''

Crangonyx ''Crangonyx'' is a genus of crustacean in family Crangonyctidae. ''Crangonyx'' species can live in marshes, savannas or swamps as well as caves. It contains the following species: *''Crangonyx aberrans'' S. I. Smith, 1983 *''Crangonyx acicu ...

''. A total of 14 taxa were observed at this site and the EPT taxa richness was 7. The Backs Index value was also 7, the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index value was 3.976, and the Shannon Diversity Index value was 1.933.

References

External links

Satellite image of the watershed of Sutton Creek
{{authority control Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania