Middle Island Creek 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 w ...

, 77 miles (124 km) long, in northwestern

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 ...

in the United States. It 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 Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles (1,463 km²) on the unglaciated

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York (state), New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Oh ...

. It was named by late 18th century pioneering travelers on the Ohio River, who noted the location of the Creek's mouth opposite Middle Island in the larger river. In an artifact of nomenclature, it is often pointed out that Middle Island Creek is the longest stream in West Virginia bearing the name of "creek".Ratliff, Gerald S. "Jug of Middle Island Creek." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. .

Geography

Course

Middle Island Creek is formed at the community of Smithburg in

Doddridge County Doddridge County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,808. Its county seat is West Union. Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

by the confluence of

Meathouse Fork The Meathouse Fork is a tributary of Middle Island Creek, long, in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via Middle Island Creek and the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of U.S. Ge ...

and Buckeye Creek. It initially flows generally northwestward in a winding course through Doddridge and

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

Counties, through the unincorporated community of Avondale and the town of West Union in Doddridge County; and in Tyler County, the unincorporated communities of Josephs Mills,

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

, Frew, and Bridgeway, and the town of Middlebourne. From Middlebourne the creek turns to the southwest and flows roughly parallel to the Ohio River (excepting its numerous bends), through the unincorporated communities of

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

, Little, Shiloh, and Falls Mills in Tyler County; and into Pleasants County, where it flows through the unincorporated communities of Arvilla, Sugar Valley, Union Mills, and DeLong and joins the Ohio River in the city of St. Marys. DeLorme (1997). ''West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . The lowermost of the creek are inundated by backup from the Willow Island Locks and Dam downstream on the Ohio River. In addition to the Meathouse Fork and Buckeye Creek, the largest tributaries of Middle Island Creek (ordered upstream to downstream) are Arnold Creek, which it collects on the boundary of Doddridge and Tyler counties;

McElroy Creek McElroy Creek is a tributary of Middle Island Creek, long, in northern West Virginia in the United States. Via Middle Island Creek and the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of U.S. Geological S ...

, Indian Creek, Point Pleasant Creek, and Sancho Creek, each of which it collects in Tyler County; and Sugar Creek and McKim Creek, both of which it collects in Pleasants County.The National Map
, accessed 2013-08-10

The Jug

Middle Island Creek's most extreme meander forms a peninsula known as " the Jug," located upstream of Middlebourne. The creek rounds a 7-mile (11 km) bend only to return to within 100 feet (30 m) of itself. Sometime prior to 1800, a settler named George Gregg had a

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...

carved across the narrow point of the peninsula and harnessed the resulting

hydropower 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 w ...

for a

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

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 ...

. These were destroyed by a flood in 1852, while later mills were subsequently built and also washed away by floods. In 1947 the West Virginia Conservation Commission constructed a low water bridge which substantially dammed the cut-through and restored a steady flow to the bend of the creek. The land encircled by the creek's loop is operated as a

Wildlife Management Area A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Man ...

by the state of West Virginia.

Variant names

According to sources gathered by 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 ...

, Middle Island Creek has also been known historically as: *Be-Van-Soss Creek of the Indians *Be-van-Soss Creek of the Indians *Be-van-soss *Be-yan-soss *Bulls Creek *By-En-Soss Creek *By-en-Soss Creek *By-en-soss *Louisa River

Economy

The creek's environs were the site of substantial

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

extraction activities in the late 19th century and 20th century. An oil boom began in the region in the 1860s.Bailey, Matthew Scott. "St. Marys." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. . It peaked in Middlebourne in the 1890s, and an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

operated in St. Marys between 1914 and 1987. Glass- and carbon-manufacturing facilities were built in West Union and Smithburg in the early 20th century, owing to the availability of natural gas.Kreiser, Christine M. "Doddridge County." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. .

Fish life

Throughout its course Middle Island Creek is a slow-moving, low-gradient stream. It is considered one of the best streams in the state for

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskell ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

; for many years in the 20th Century the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources harvested muskie eggs from the creek for use in its fish-stocking programs in streams elsewhere in the state. Other fish commonly found in the creek include

spotted bass The spotted bass (''Micropterus punctulatus''), also called spotty, or spots in various fishing communities, is a species of North American freshwater fish belonging to the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. It is noted fo ...

, smallmouth bass,

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

, various species of sunfish,

freshwater drum The freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', is a fish endemic to North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus ''Aplodinotus'', and is a member of the family Sciaenidae. It is the only North American member of the group that ...

, channel catfish, and

flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus '' ...

References

{{authority control Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Ohio River Rivers of Doddridge County, West Virginia Rivers of Pleasants County, West Virginia Rivers of Tyler County, West Virginia