Tulpehocken Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011

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

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

in southeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and during the American Canal Age, once provided nearly half the length of the

Union Canal Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** '' ...

linking the port of Philadelphia, the largest American city and the other communities of

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

with the Susquehanna basin and the

Pennsylvania Canal System The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assem ...

connecting the Eastern seaboard to

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 ha ...

and the new settlements of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

via the Allegheny}, Monongahela. and

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 ...

s at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. An important transportation route in the early United States, the creek drains a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

hill country area of Berks County south of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

and is considered one of the finest

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 ...

streams in southeastern Pennsylvania. The valley of the creek was known in colonial times as the Tulpehocken, stretching west of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

. It was inhabited by the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...

and was a destination for early

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-speaking settlers. The name comes from a

word ''Tulpewikaki'', meaning "land of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

s". It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River. Major tributaries include the

Cacoosing Creek Cacoosing Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map/ref> tributary of the Tulpehocken Creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It starts in Fritztown and flows ...

, Spring Creek and

Northkill Creek Northkill Creek is a stream primarily located in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It feeds into Tulpehocken Creek and covers part of the Schuylkill River and Delaware River watersheds. Northkill Creek and its tributaries are high quality trout strea ...

Description

Tulpehocken Creek rises in eastern

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Lebanon County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Lebanon Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon. The county was formed from portions of Dauphin ...

, and flows generally east, in a winding course, through Myerstown, entering Berks County, passing north of Womelsdorf. At Womelsdorf it turns abruptly north, then flows southeast, through the

Blue Marsh Lake Blue Marsh Lake is an artificial lake located northwest of the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, USA and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District. It is in western Berks County, fed into by the Tulpehocken Creek. The main ...

reservoir and joins the Schuylkill at Reading. In the 1720s, the creek's valley, like many in those days of dependence upon

water power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a ...

with a poor transportation infrastructure system, was a destination for early

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

and Palatine settlers, who used the creek for extensive milling operations. In the 19th century, as it had for the light canoes of the

Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern pa ...

and

Delaware people The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

s, it provided an important early transportation route with the building in 1828 of the

along the river, connecting from its headwaters to those of Quittapahilla Creek in Lebanon County. The proposed canal, again surveyed in the 1790s as the private stock corporation

Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company The Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company was a limited liability corporation founded in Pennsylvania on September 29, 1791. Reprint of 1990 volume. The company was founded for the purpose of improving river navigation, which in the post ...

and its successor, the

Union canal Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** '' ...

taken together with the Schuylkill Canal (1822) running W-E from Reading to Philadelphia (allowing large shipments 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 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

), provided one of only two water routes between the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

and the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

. The other was the

Chesapeake and Delaware canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Au ...

. Using the canal, manufacturies in Philadelphia and New Jersey could ship goods west to the newly settled lands west of the gaps of the Allegheny, out to the midwest. The

and the Schuylkill Canal companies were private stock companies and worked with the State built

Pennsylvania Canal The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and ass ...

to tranship grain to Philadelphia. The improvements along Tulpehocken Creek by engineering

navigations Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

of the two companies provided nearly half the length of the final Union Canal completed in 1828. The creek is impounded for

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

above Reading by the earthen Blue Marsh Dam (see Blue Marsh State Park) completed in 1979 by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to form the Blue Marsh Lake reservoir. The bottom-release design of the dam allows for the discharge of a cold water at a constant temperature, resulting in an ideal habitat for

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

, which are stocked annually in the stream.

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stationsTulpehocken Creek "Tully" Fly Fishing Reports, Hatch Chart, and Fly Fishing InfoEverything you need to know about fishing or visiting the Tulpehocken Creek "Tully"Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Reports, Hatch Chart, and Fly Fishing Info
{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Schuylkill River Rivers of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Berks County, Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers of Pennsylvania Protected areas of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Protected areas of Berks County, Pennsylvania

Description

See also

References

External links