Big Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 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 ...

stream of the

South Branch Potomac River The South Branch Potomac River has its headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia near Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

, belonging to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

and

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 / ...

watersheds. Big Run flows through the city of Romney and the campus of the

West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB) were established by an Act of the Legislature on March 3, 1870. The School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind offer comprehensive educational programs for hearing impaired and vi ...

in Hampshire County,

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 B ...

. The stream is known by local residents as Town Run and Town Creek.

Headwaters and course

Big Run rises on the western flanks of

South Branch Mountain South Branch Mountain is a mountain ridge that runs southwest to northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia, rising to its greatest elevation of 3,028 feet (923 m) above sea-level in ...

to the east of Romney. From its source, the stream parallels the

Northwestern Turnpike The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia (Virginia at the time the road was created), important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 183 ...

( U.S. Route 50) as it travels down the mountain. From the base of South Branch Mountain, Big Run flows under Grassy Lick Road (County Route 10) and beneath the old Miller's Market store followed by US 50. Once it flows north of US 50, Big Run meanders around the Koolwink Motel and continues to parallel the highway. On its northwestern track, the stream trickles through a number of residential communities before entering the grounds of the

. At the WVSDB, Big Run serves as a forested scenic stream that meanders through the school's grounds. As of 2008, the old dam behind the school's maintenance buildings remains. From the school, Big Run continues to the northwest by the community's

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationbaseball field and below Romney's Savilla-Vale neighborhood. After it flows beneath High Street (

West Virginia Route 28 West Virginia Route 28 is a north–south route through the Potomac Highlands of the U.S. state of West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 39 in Huntersville. The northern terminus is at the Maryland state l ...

), Big Run parallels WV 28 moving northward and passes through the Hampshire County Industrial Park. It then flows beneath the

South Branch Valley Railroad The South Branch Valley Railroad is a railroad in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The branch line, which parallels the South Branch Potomac River, runs north from Petersburg to Green Spring, where it connects to the national rail net ...

and passes the old "Cold Storage" facility and Wappocomo farm before it empties into the

Flora

Trees along the creek's path include

White oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...

(''Quercus alba''),

Pin oak ''Quercus palustris'', the pin oak or swamp Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae'') of the genus ''Quercus''. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native range due to its ease of ...

(''Quercus palustris''),

Silver maple ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...

(''Acer saccharinum''),

Sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prim ...

(''Acer saccharum''),

Virginia pine ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, Possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. T ...

(''Pinus virginiana''),

Eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...

(''Tsuga canadensis''),

American Tulip Tree ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ''Liriodendron'' (the other ...

(''Liriodendron tulipifera''), and American sycamore (''Platanus occidentalis'').

Bridges

References

External links

{{authority control Rivers of Hampshire County, West Virginia Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River

Headwaters and course

Flora

Bridges

See also

References

External links