Middle Island Creek

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Middle Island Creek
none Middle Island Creek as it approaches the Jug in Tyler County, West Virginia
Middle Island Creek as it approaches the Jug in Tyler County, West Virginia
Country United States
State West Virginia
Length 77 mi (124 km) [1]
Watershed 565 sq mi (1,463 km²) [2]
Source Confluence of Meathouse Fork and Buckeye Creek
 - location Smithburg, Doddridge County
 - coordinates 39°17′04″N 80°43′41″W / 39.28444, -80.72806 [3]
 - elevation 794 ft (242 m) [4]
Mouth Ohio River
 - location St. Marys
 - coordinates 39°24′09″N 81°12′08″W / 39.4025, -81.20222 [3]
 - elevation 607 ft (185 m) [3]

Middle Island Creek is a river, 77 miles (124 km) long, in northwestern West Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles (1,463 km²) on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It is the longest stream in West Virginia to be named a "creek."[5] The stream is named for Middle Island, which is located in the Ohio River at its mouth.[1]

Middle Island Creek as viewed upstream from the North Bend Rail Trail in West Union
Middle Island Creek as viewed upstream from the North Bend Rail Trail in West Union
Middle Island Creek as viewed downstream from the North Bend Rail Trail in West Union
Middle Island Creek as viewed downstream from the North Bend Rail Trail in West Union

Middle Island Creek is formed at the community of Smithburg in Doddridge County by the confluence of Meathouse Fork[4] and Buckeye Creek.[6] It flows generally northwestwardly in a highly meandering course through Doddridge and Tyler Counties, past the towns of West Union and Middlebourne. From Middlebourne the creek turns to the southwest and flows roughly parallel to the Ohio River (excepting its numerous bends) as it enters Pleasants County, where it joins the Ohio in St. Marys.[7] The lowermost 12 miles (19 km) of the creek are inundated by backup from the Willow Island Locks and Dam downstream on the Ohio River.[1]

The creek's environs were the site of substantial oil and gas extraction activities in the late 19th and 20th centuries. An oil boom began in the region in the 1860s.[8] It peaked in Middlebourne in the 1890s,[9] and an oil refinery operated in St. Marys between 1914 and 1987.[8] Glass- and carbon-manufacturing facilities were built in West Union and Smithburg in the early 20th century, owing to the availability of natural gas.[10]

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 fishing; 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, smallmouth bass, rock bass, various species of sunfish, freshwater drum, channel catfish, and flathead catfish.[1]

Contents

[edit] The Jug

The remains of the 18th-19th century cut across the peninsula of the Jug, as viewed in 2006. The creek is partially prevented from flowing here by the dam effect of the low water bridge visible at left (see photograph below); the creek is slightly visible at right, having emerged from a 7 mile (11 km) meander.
The remains of the 18th-19th century cut across the peninsula of the Jug, as viewed in 2006. The creek is partially prevented from flowing here by the dam effect of the low water bridge visible at left (see photograph below); the creek is slightly visible at right, having emerged from a 7 mile (11 km) meander.
A 1947 low water bridge maintains the partial flow of Middle Island Creek (left) around the Jug. The creek emerges from the bend just to the right of the frame of the photograph.
A 1947 low water bridge maintains the partial flow of Middle Island Creek (left) around the Jug. The creek emerges from the bend just to the right of the frame of the photograph.

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[1] only to return to within 100 feet (30 m) of itself. Sometime prior to 1800, an early European settler named George Gregg had a raceway carved across the narrow point of the peninsula and harnessed the resulting hydropower of the stream's 13-foot (4 m) fall for a gristmill and sawmill at the site. These mills were destroyed by a flood in 1852; four more mills were subsequently built and respectively washed away by flooding in the later 19th century. Flooding had the effect of widening the raceway across the peninsula such that it became the main channel of the stream, inhibiting the flow of water through the longer loop and transforming the peninsula to an island. 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.[5] The low water bridge is known to be frequently impassible due to flooding. The land encircled by the creek's loop is operated as a Wildlife Management Area by the state of West Virginia.[11]

[edit] Variant names

According to sources gathered by the Geographic Names Information System, Middle Island Creek has also been known historically as:[3]

  • 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

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Morrison, Scott (March 1997). "Middle Island Creek". Wonderful West Virginia 61 (1): 14–15. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. 
  2. ^ West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Watershed Atlas Project. Middle Ohio River watersheds (cited figures are for the sum of the Upper and Lower Middle Island Creek, Arnold Creek, McElroy Creek, and Point Pleasant Creek watersheds). Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  3. ^ a b c d Geographic Names Information System entry for Middle Island Creek. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
  4. ^ a b Geographic Names Information System entry for Meathouse Fork. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
  5. ^ a b Ratliff, Gerald S. "Jug of Middle Island Creek." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  6. ^ Geographic Names Information System entry for Buckeye Creek. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
  7. ^ DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.
  8. ^ a b Bailey, Matthew Scott. "St. Marys." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  9. ^ Kraina, Jane. "Middlebourne." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  10. ^ Kreiser, Christine M. "Doddridge County." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
  11. ^ West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. West Virginia Wildlife Management Areas. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.