Sandy Creek (West Virginia)

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Sandy Creek
none Sandy Creek near its mouth in Ravenswood in 2006
Sandy Creek near its mouth in Ravenswood in 2006
Country United States
State West Virginia
Watershed 124 sq mi (321 km²) [1]
Primary source Left Fork Sandy Creek
 - location South of Rockport, southeastern Wood County
 - coordinates 39°02′54″N 81°33′37″W / 39.04833, -81.56028 [2]
 - elevation 1,014 ft (309 m) [3]
Other source Right Fork Sandy Creek
 - location northwestern Roane County
 - coordinates 38°52′22″N 81°30′27″W / 38.87278, -81.5075 [4]
 - elevation 879 ft (268 m) [3]
Source confluence
 - location South of Sandyville, northern Jackson County
 - coordinates 38°53′46″N 81°39′28″W / 38.89611, -81.65778 [5]
 - elevation 581 ft (177 m) [2]
Mouth Ohio River
 - location Ravenswood, West Virginia
 - coordinates 38°56′43″N 81°45′42″W / 38.94528, -81.76167 [5]
 - elevation 564 ft (172 m) [5]
For other uses, see Sandy Creek. For the tributary of the Cheat River in northern West Virginia, see Big Sandy Creek (West Virginia)

Sandy Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River in western West Virginia in the United States. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 124 square miles (321 km²) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as Big Sandy Creek and as Buffalo Creek.[5] A 1906 report of the West Virginia Department of Archives transcribes the name in an unspecified Native American language as Mol-chu-con-ic-kon.[6]

Sandy Creek is formed in north-central Jackson County by the confluence of its left and right forks:

  • The Left Fork Sandy Creek[2] rises south of the community of Rockport in extreme southeastern Wood County, and flows south-southwestwardly through the western extremity of Wirt County into Jackson County, past the communities of Lockhart and Sandyville. The Left Fork is paralleled by the former U.S. Route 21 (now a county highway) for most of its course.[7]
  • The Right Fork Sandy Creek[4] rises approximately five miles (8 km) west-southwest of Reedy in northwestern Roane County and flows generally westwardly into Jackson County, past the community of LeRoy.[7]

From the confluence of the left and right forks south of Sandyville, Sandy Creek flows west-northwestwardly, past the community of Silverton, to Ravenswood, where it flows into the Ohio River from the east.[7] According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 80% of the Sandy Creek watershed is forested, mostly deciduous. Approximately 19% is used for pasture and agriculture, and less than 1% is urban.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Watershed Atlas Project. Middle Ohio River 2. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  2. ^ a b c Geographic Names Information System. Geographic Names Information System entry for Left Fork Sandy Creek (Feature ID #1541719). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  3. ^ a b Google Earth elevation for GNIS source coordinates. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  4. ^ a b Geographic Names Information System. Geographic Names Information System entry for Right Fork Sandy Creek (Feature ID #1545698). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  5. ^ a b c d Geographic Names Information System. Geographic Names Information System entry for Sandy Creek (Feature ID #1546404). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  6. ^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, West Virginia: The Place Name Press, p.553. 
  7. ^ a b c (1997) West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Me.: DeLorme, p. 33. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.