Altamaha River

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Altamaha River
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Length	137 mi (220 km) [1]
Watershed	14,000 sq mi (36,260 km²) [2]
Discharge at	Doctortown, GA
- average	13,520 cu ft/s (383 m³/s) [3]
- maximum	178,000 cu ft/s (5,040 m³/s)
- minimum	1,410 cu ft/s (40 m³/s)
Source	near Hazelhurst
- coordinates	31°57′33″N 82°32′37″W / 31.95917, -82.54361 [4]
- elevation	82 ft (25 m) [5]
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Altamaha Sound
- coordinates	31°18′57″N 81°17′5″W / 31.31583, -81.28472 [4]
- elevation	0 ft (0 m) [5]
Major tributaries
- left	Ohoopee River, Beards Creek
- right	Penholoway Creek
Map of the Altamaha River watershed showing the two main tributaries, the Ocmulgee River and the Oconee River.

The Altamaha River is a major river of the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles (220 km) from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River to the Atlantic Ocean. There are no dams on the river. Including its tributaries, the Altamaha River's watershed is 14,000 square miles (36,260 km²) in size, making it among the largest river basins of the US Atlantic coast.^[1] It is the third largest contributor of freshwater to the Atlantic Ocean from North America.^[2] Including its longest tributary (the Ocmulgee River) in length calculations as is standard USGS practice, its length of 470 miles places it seventh on the list of U.S. rivers entirely within one state, behind only four Alaska rivers, the Sacramento-Pit in California, and the Trinity River in Texas.^[6]

According to the USGS, variant and historical names of the Altamaha River include A-lot-amaha, Alatahama, Alatamaha, Allamah, Frederica River, Rio Al Tama, Rio de Talaje, and Talaxe River.^[4]

[edit] Course

The Altamaha River originates at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River, near Hazlehurst. At its source, the Altamaha River forms the border between Jeff Davis County to the south and Montgomery County to the north.

Bullard Creek Wildlife Management Area occupies the southern floodplain of the river's first few miles, after which the river marks the boundary between Toombs County to the north and Appling County to the south.

On the north side, Toombs County gives way to Tattnall County, in which the Ohoopee River joins the Altamaha. The Big Hammock Wildlife Management Area and Big Hammock Natural Area are located along the Altamaha at the Ohoopee confluence. Big Hammock Natural Area is a National Natural Landmark site, noted for its ecological biodiversity and many rare plant species, including Georgia plume.

Below Big Hammock, the tributary Beards Creek joins the Altamaha River from the north, after which the river marks the border between Long County to the north and Wayne County to the south. The Altamaha passes through Griffin Ridge Wildlife Management Area before flowing by Doctortown, near Jesup. A wide and swampy floodplain surrounds the river in this area.

Several miles below Doctortown Long County gives way to McIntosh County on the north side of the river. From this point to the river's mouth there are numerous wildlife management areas. The Sansaville Wildlife Management Area lies on the south side of the river, while the Altamaha Wildlife Management Area lies on the north and extends down to the river's mouth at Altmaha Sound. Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge occupies Wolf Island on the Atlantic coast, north of Altamaha Sound. In its last several miles, the Altamaha River marks the boundary between McIntosh County on the north and Glynn County on the south.

The city of Darien lies just north of the Altamaha River's mouth. Several miles to the south lies the larger city of Brunswick. St. Simons Island lies on the south side of the Altamaha estuary.^[7]

The estuary of the Altamaha River, where fresh and salt water mix, is about 26 square miles (67 km²) in size, one of the largest intact, relatively undegraded estuary on the Atlantic coast.^[2]

[edit] Natural history

Although used in the 19th century as a route for commerce between central Georgia and the coast, the river is nearly entirely still in its natural state, and was designated a bioreserve by The Nature Conservancy in 1991. Over 100 rare or endangered species may be found in the river basin, and the delta is a major stopover for many species of migratory birds.

The Altamaha River flows through a floodplain up to 5 miles wide (8 km) and consisting of some of the last remaining hardwood bottomlands and cypress swamps in the American South. As the river approaches the Atlantic Ocean it becomes a broad estuary. At least 120 species of rare or endangered plants and animals live in the Altamaha River watershed, including 11 species of pearly mussels, 7 of which are endemic to the Altamaha. The river basin also supports the only known example of old growth Longleaf Pine and Black oak forest in the United States. Other notable species include Shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, West Indian manatee, Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), Greenfly orchid, and Georgia plume.^[1] The unusual Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha), now extinct in the wild, was found by William Bartram along the Altamaha River in 1765. Bartram sent seeds from the trees to England and planted some in his garden in Philadelphia.^[2]

[edit] History

In prehistoric times the Timucua people occupied northern Florida and a portion of Georgia reaching as far north as the Altamaha River. The Utinahica tribe lived along the river and the Spanish mission of Santa Isabel de Utinahica was established around 1610 near the source of the Altamaha. Along the coast of Spanish Florida the Altamaha River marked the boundary between the Guale and Mocama missionary provinces.

In the later 17th century a group of Yamasee Indians under Chief Altamaha took up residence near the mouth of the Altamaha.

The Altamaha River marked the western border of the Colony of Georgia until the American Revolution and therefore the western border of the English settlement in North America. It also marked the boundary between the Spanish missionary provinces of Guale and Mocama. The name comes from a Yamasee chief named Altamaha.

In 1770, Oliver Goldsmith referred to the river in The Deserted Village (ll. 343 - 358):

"Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go,

Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.

Far different there from all that charm'd before,

The various terrors of that horrid shore;

Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray,

And fiercely shed intolerable day;

Those matted woods where birds forget to sing,

But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling;

Those poisonous fields, with rank luxuriance crown'd,

Where the dark scorpion gathers death around;

Where at each step the stranger fears to wake

The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake;

Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey,

And savage men more murderous still than they:

While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies,

Mingling the ravag'd landscape with the skies."

In 2004, filmmaker Les Stroud taped an episode of his show Survivorman in the swamps of the Altamaha basin.

[edit] See also

• List of rivers in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Altamaha-ha

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Altamaha Riverkeeper
• Altamaha River Partnership
• www.altamahariver.net
• Watershed land use map