Swatara Creek
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Swatara Creek (nicknamed the Swattie) is a 72-mile-long (116 km)[1] tributary of the Susquehanna River in east central Pennsylvania in the United States. The name Swatara is said to derive from a Susquehannock word, Swahadowry or Schaha-dawa, meaning 'where we feed on eels'.[2]
It rises in the Appalachian Mountains in central Schuylkill County, north of the Sharp Mountain ridge, approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) west of Minersville. It then flows southwest in a winding course, passing south of Tremont, then cutting south through Second Mountain ridge. It passes through Swatara State Park then turns south to pass through Swatara Gap in the Blue Mountain ridge northwest of Lebanon. After emerging from the ridge it flows southwest, north of Hershey, past Hummelstown, and joins the Susquehanna at Middletown. It receives Quittapahilla Creek from the east 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Palmyra.
The creek was a significant transportation route in the colonial period of North America up through the middle 19th century. The Union Canal, an early public works project conceived by William Penn in the 1690s and begun in 1792 to connect the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers, followed the lower course of the river below Union Water Works. The upper course above Union Water Works into the mountains provided the route of a feeder to the main canal, as well as providing a route to ship anthracite from the mountains to Philadelphia.
On September 8, 2011, Swatara Creek reached record heights at 26.8 feet near Hershey, PA, due to devastating rains from Tropical Storm Lee and remnants of Hurricane Irene. This was a new record since measurements began in 1975. Farther upstream at the Harpers Tavern gauge, 24.60' was recorded, making it the worst flooding since 1889. The flooding caused thousands of people to be evacuated from their homes throughout Central Pennsylvania, and at least one death was blamed on the flooding.[3]
Contents
Tributaries
- Iron Run
- Beaver Creek (Swatara Creek)
- Spring Creek (Swatara Creek)
- Manada Creek
- Quittapahilla Creek
- Brandywine Creek (Quittapahilla Creek)
- Bow Creek (Swatara Creek)
- Indiantown Run
- Little Swatara Creek
- Lower Little Swatara Creek
- Upper Little Swatara Creek
- Good Spring Creek
Ships
Two ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Swatara after the creek:
- The first USS Swatara (1865) was a wooden, screw sloop, launched in 1865 and dismantled in 1872 to become the second ship of this name.
- The second USS Swatara (1873) was a screw sloop, launched in 1873 and decommissioned in 1891.
See also
References
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 8, 2011
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Swatara Creek's record-setting rise Penn Live, September 08, 2011
- U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
- Swatara Creek Water Trail
- Canal Museum: Union Canal
- Swatara Creek Greenway
- Northern Swatara Creek Watershed Association
