Monocacy River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other streams named Monocacy, see Monocacy.
The Monocacy River is a free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is approximately 58 statute miles (93.3 km) long, with a drainage area of about 744 mi² (1,927 km²). It is the largest Maryland tributary to the Potomac.
The name Monocacy comes from the Shawnee name for the river, Monnockkesey, which translates to "river with many bends." (However, another local tradition asserts that "Monocacy" means "well fenced garden" in an Indian language.) An unrelated stream, Monocacy Creek, is a tributary of the Lehigh River in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
The Monocacy Battlefield lies alongside part of the river, marking an 1864 engagement during the American Civil War, the Battle of Monocacy Junction. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal crosses over the river at the Monocacy Aqueduct, the largest of the 11 aqueducts on the canal.
[edit] Geography
The river rises in Carroll County, Maryland, west of the unincorporated town of Harney, near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. The river is formed by the confluence of Marsh Creek and Rock Creek, which flow out of Adams County, Pennsylvania. Maryland tributaries include Furnace Branch, Stony Creek, Carroll Creek and Linganore Creek in Frederick County and Double Pipe Creek in Carroll County; other Pennsylvania tributaries include Toms Creek in Adams and Franklin County.
About 60% of the Monocacy Watershed is dedicated to agricultural use; about 33% of the watershed is forested. The city of Frederick and its suburbs is the largest urban area within the watershed.
The Monocacy is categorized as a Maryland Wild and Scenic River, but it has one of the greatest nonpoint source pollution problems in the state due in large part to runoff from the 3,500 farms, livestock operations and dairies in the watershed. The river is part of a national water quality demonstration project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designed to help stem pollution due to erosion and runoff from agricultural operations.
[edit] External links
- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Monocacy River factsheet (PDF)
- EPA Monocacy Watershed profile
- Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance
- Monocacy Aqueduct
- Monocacy Basin Stream Monitoring Project
- Monocacy Battlefied
- Fishing the Monocacy River
- Kayaking/Canoeing the Monocacy
[edit] See also
| Potomac River system Cities and towns | Bridges | Islands | Tributaries | Variant names District of Columbia | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | West Virginia Streams shown as: Major tributaries • subtributaries • (subsubtributaries) • (subsubsubtributaries) |
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