Chowan River
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The Chowan River is a blackwater river formed with the merging of Virginia's Blackwater and Nottoway rivers near the stateline between Virginia and North Carolina.
Flowing for approximately 50 miles (80.4 km) before ending in the Albemarle Sound on North Carolina's coast, the river drains about 4800 square miles (12,432 km²)of land in North Carolina and Virginia. Flowing through mostly swamp land with occasional high ground, the Chowan River grows to nearly two miles wide (3.21 km) at its opening to the Albemarle Sound. The river offers excellent fishing for catfish and largemouth bass. While tidal, the variation in tide heights in the Chowan River are normally less than one foot between high and low tide.
The Edentonhouse bridge on US Route 17 marks the border between the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound.
Significant tributaries include Bonds Creek, the Meherrin River, Bennett's Creek (which connects the Chowan River with Merchant's Millpond State Park), and the Wiccacon River.
The river featured prominently in the Civil War in the region. As part of the Union plan to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Union ships sailed up the Chowan river, bombarding small Confederate posts outside of Harrellsville, North Carolina (at Deep Creek, also known as Swain's Mill Creek) and outside of Cofield, North Carolina (at modern-day Petty's Shore; until a 2006 landscaping and grading operation, an old canon and bunker were still visible). By the time the ships reached Winton, North Carolina, the local troops had been alerted to the oncoming ships. Hiding in the woods near the dock for an ambush, the Conderate battalion at Winton sent a slave girl down to the Union boats to tell them that the locals had fled in fear of a Union attack. The ambush was foiled, however, when a Union soldier saw the gleam of the sun on a musket barrel in the woods. The Union ships quickly pulled anchor, regrouped, and returned minutes later to burn Winton to the ground. That same Union fleet would go on to land at Murfreesboro, North Carolina (via the Meherrin River) and march west to the railroad at Weldon.
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