Beech Creek is a
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...
of
Goose Creek in
Clay County, Kentucky
Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 20,345. Clay County is included in the Corbin, Kentucky micropolitan area.
. Its county seat is Manchester. The county was forme ...
.
It is just under long and joins the Goose approximately below the mouth of
Laurel Creek.
Its headwaters are at Combs Lake in the Beech Creek Wildlife Area.
Tributaries and post offices
The mouth of Beech is upstream of Oneida, at altitude above sea level.
* Its major tributaries are:
** Little Beech Creek upstream, mouth at
*** forks upstream
** a branch upstream
The Mount Welcome postoffice was established on 1849-08-29 by postmaster
Reuben May, and closed in July 1852.
The Tankersley postoffice was established on 1882-07-31 by husband and wife postmasters James Franklin Tankersley and Drucilla Tankersley.
It was not named for themselves but for James' father, John M. Tankersley (born in 1810 and whose surname was spelled Tankisley in the 1870 census).
Initially it was opposite the mouth of Beech Creek, moving downstream along Goose by to Houchell Bend, and back up to Beech some time before the 1950s.
It was back at Beech Creek by the time of its closure in 1977.
The Cedral postoffice was established on 1901-04-10 by postmaster Thomas Jefferson Houchell.
Initially upstream along Beech, it moved downstream by , closed in 1905, reopened on 1909-12-09 by postmaster Lucy Hounchell upstream, and closed again in November 1913.
In 1918 Jefferson Jones had a mine on a minor branch of Beech upstream, and Thomas Gregory upstream on Beech itself.
Wildlife Area
At the headwaters of Beech Creek is a
gap that connects to the Hart Branch of
Goose Creek.
The Beech Creak Wildlife area surrounding Bert T. Combs Lake at the headwaters is adjacent to the
Daniel Boone National Forest
The Daniel Boone National Forest (originally the Cumberland National Forest) is a national forest in Kentucky, United States. Established in 1937, it includes of federally owned land within a proclamation boundary. The name of the forest was ...
and is accessed by road from
Littleton, although there are no roads within the wildlife area itself.
It is 94% forest, 4% open land, and 2% open water.
The Bert T. Combs lake was built in 1963 and was originally named the Beech Creek Lake.
It covers and was built to supply water to the city of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, which is further along the road down Hart Branch past Littleton and along Goose Creek.
See also
*
List of rivers of Kentucky
List of rivers in Kentucky (U.S. state).
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Kentucky flow to the Mississippi River, nearly all by virtue o ...
References
Sources
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Further reading
*
Rivers of Kentucky
Rivers of Clay County, Kentucky
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