The Scioto 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 central and southern

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 ...

more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of

Roundhead, Ohio Roundhead is an unincorporated community in southeastern Roundhead Township, Hardin County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 43346. History The first Euro-American settlement at Roundhead was made in 1832 on the si ...

, flows through

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, where it collects its largest

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 ...

, the

Olentangy River The Olentangy River is a tributary of the Scioto River in Ohio, United States. History It was originally called ''keenhongsheconsepung'', a Delaware word literally translated as "sharp tool river", based on the shale found along its shores ...

, and meets 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 ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Early settlers and Native Americans used the river for shipping,"Scioto River – Ohio History Central" but it is now too small for modern commercial craft. The primary economic importance for the river now is for

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

and

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

. It is the longest river that is entirely within Ohio.

Geography and geology

The lower Scioto River valley is large compared to the width of the river and is extensively farmed. Meltwaters from retreating glaciers carved the valley exceptionally wide. Valley bottoms are smooth, and flood deposits created during and since the most recent

Glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

cause floodplain soils to be very productive. As a result, farms line much of the lower Scioto where it flows through low, rolling hills covered in hardwood trees. The geologic history of the Scioto River is tied to the destruction of the

Teays River The Teays River (pronounced taze) was a major preglacial river that drained much of the present Ohio River watershed, but took a more northerly downstream course. Traces of the Teays across northern Ohio and Indiana are represented by a network ...

network during the Ice Ages and consequent creation of the

. The north flowing

was dammed by glaciers, and damming of other rivers led to a series of floods as lakes overflowed into adjacent valleys.

Glacial Lake Tight Lake Tight, named for geologist William G. Tight, was a glacial lake in what is present-day Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, during the Ice Age the early Pleistocene before 700,000 years. History Lake Tight's origins date to nearly 2 million y ...

is estimated to have been two-thirds the size of modern

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. Valleys beyond the reach of glaciers were reorganized to create the Ohio River, and the Scioto River replaced the Teays River. The Scioto River flows through segments of the Teays River valley but opposite the direction the Teays River flowed. In the cities of Columbus and Dublin, the river has cut a gorge in fossil-bearing

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

limestone, and many tributary streams have waterfalls, such as Hayden Falls.

History

The Scioto River valley was home to many Native American cultures. The best known groups are the

Mound Builders A number of pre-Columbian cultures are collectively termed "Mound Builders". The term does not refer to a specific people or archaeological culture, but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks erected for an extended period of more than 5 ...

of the

Hopewell tradition The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from ...

with mounds constructed by the Adena people more than 2000 years ago. Numerous

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

can be seen near Chillicothe at the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The former strength of these cultures is demonstrated in settler accounts from as far east as

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 ...

. The name ''Scioto'' is derived from the

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language Wyandot (sometimes spelled Wandat) is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot or Wya ...

word 'deer' (compare '' Shenandoah'', derived from the word for deer in another

Iroquoian language The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

). During the antebellum years, the Scioto River provided a route to freedom for many slaves escaping from the South, as they continued north after crossing the

. Towns such as Chillicothe became important stops on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

. A traditional fiddle tune in the Appalachian repertoire, “Big Scioty”, takes its name from the river. The melody is attributed to the Hammons family of West Virginia. In 2012, the river dropped to record- or near-record-low water levels as a result of the acute effects of the 2012 North American drought in Ohio.

Dams and reservoirs

There are two major dams on the river.

Griggs Dam Griggs Dam is located within the Columbus, Ohio city limits, on the Scioto River near Upper Arlington, Ohio, in Franklin County. The dam forms Griggs Reservoir, which is a major source of drinking water for the city of Columbus. Named after th ...

in Columbus was built in 1904–1908 to impound a water supply for the city. Farther upstream, at Shawnee Hills, the O'Shaughnessy Dam was built in 1922–1925 creating a larger reservoir which was billed at the time as "the finest inland waterway in the United States." Both dams are operated by the city of Columbus. The removal of the

Main Street Dam Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

in downtown Columbus, which was built in 1921, began in November 2013. The $35.5 million removal project was initially proposed in the 2010 Strategic Plan for downtown Columbus and was funded by a coalition of public and private entities. Prior to its demolition, the Main Street Dam impounded roughly of the Scioto River, artificially enlarging its width to an average of in downtown Columbus. Once completed, the Scioto Greenways project will reduce the width by nearly half, and expose of land which will be reclaimed as parkland by the city. Riffles and pools will be restored to the river channel, returning it to its natural riparian state. Experts believe the restoration project will result in a healthier river and better habitat for native plant, fish, and mussel species.

Cities and towns along the Scioto River

Cities and towns, listed from upstream to downstream: *

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

* McGuffey * Kenton * Hepburn * LaRue * Green Camp * Prospect *

Shawnee Hills The Shawnee Hills is a region of southern Illinois that rests mainly in an east-west arc roughly following the outline of the southern end of the Illinois Basin. Whereas Mississippian and Pennsylvania Age rock layers are deep beneath the soil su ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Upper Arlington Upper Arlington, often known by its initials U.A., is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The Old Arlington neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

* Grandview Heights *

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

* South Bloomfield * Circleville * Chillicothe * Waverly * Piketon * Lucasville * Rosemount * West Portsmouth

Notable crossings

* Main Street Bridge *

Rich Street Bridge The Rich Street Bridge is a bridge in Columbus, Ohio, United States, spanning the Scioto River and connecting downtown's Rich Street to Franklinton's Town Street. It carries U.S. Route 62 (US 62) and Ohio State Route 3 (SR 3). ...

* Discovery Bridge * Dublin Link * Bridge Street Bridge ( Chillicothe, Ohio)

Variant names

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 ...

, the Scioto River has also been known as: * Big Sciota River * Big Scioto River * Chianotho River * Great Siota River * Menkwi Siipunk * Riviere Chianouske * Sci-ou-to * Sciodoe Creek * Sciota River * Seeyotah River * Sinhioto River * Siothai River * Sioto River

References

External links

Hopewell Culture National Historic Park

Friends of the Scioto River
{{authority control Rivers of Ohio Tributaries of the Ohio River Rivers of Delaware County, Ohio Rivers of Ross County, Ohio Rivers of Pickaway County, Ohio Rivers of Marion County, Ohio Rivers of Franklin County, Ohio Rivers of Hardin County, Ohio Rivers of Pike County, Ohio Rivers of Scioto County, Ohio Landforms of Columbus, Ohio