Little Kanawha River
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Little Kanawha River
| image = Little Kanawha River Parkersburg West Virginia.jpg
| image_caption = The Little Kanawha River just upstream of its mouth in Parkersburg
| source1_location = Upshur County, West Virginia
| mouth_location = Ohio River, Parkersburg, West Virginia
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| length_mi = 169
| source1_elevation =
| discharge1_location= mouth
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|3187.67|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} (estimate){{Cite web|title=Watershed Report: Little Kanawha River|author=United States Environmental Protection Agency|url=https://watersgeo.epa.gov/watershedreport/?comid=19415423|access-date=2021-07-03|url-status=live|website=watersgeo.epa.gov|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703123237/https://watersgeo.epa.gov/watershedreport/?comid=19415423|archivedate= 2021-07-03}}
| basin_size_mi2 = 2,320
| map = Littlekanawhamap.png
}}
File:Little Kanawha River (2023).jpg]]
The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. {{ISBN|0-9778498-0-5}}. in western West Virginia in the United States. Via the Ohio, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 2,320 mi2 (6,009 km2)Willis, Todd C. (ed.) 1987. "Length of rivers and watershed areas in West Virginia." West Virginia Blue Book. Vol. 71. on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. It served as an important commercial water route in the early history of West Virginia, particularly in the logging and petroleum industries.[http://www.newsandsentinel.com/communities/commprofiles/littlekriver.asp "Little Kanawha once was vital transportation link," Parkersburg News & Sentinel website]
Course
The Little Kanawha rises in southern Upshur County, approximately 20 mi (32 km) south of Buckhannon. It follows a meandering course generally west-northwestwardly, through Lewis, Braxton, Gilmer, Calhoun, Wirt and Wood Counties, past the communities of Burnsville, Stouts Mills, Sand Fork, Glenville, Grantsville, Bigbend, Creston, Burning Springs, Palestine, Elizabeth, and Newark, to its mouth at the Ohio River in Parkersburg.DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. {{ISBN|0-89933-246-3}}.
About 3 mi (5 km) upstream of Burnsville,[https://web.archive.org/web/20041017143820/http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/projects/lakes/bus/ Burnsville Lake website, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam causes the river to form Burnsville Lake, which was completed in 1976 at a cost of $56.2 million.[http://www.dailymail.com/static/specialsections/lookingback/lb06151.htm Hohmann, George. "Lock offered combination for growth." Charleston Daily Mail. 15 June 1999.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208011658/http://www.dailymail.com/static/specialsections/lookingback/lb06151.htm |date=8 February 2005 }}
Tributaries
Along its course the Little Kanawha River collects the Right Fork Little Kanawha River on the boundary of Lewis and Braxton counties; Saltlick Creek, England Run and Oil Creek in Braxton County; Sand Fork, Cedar Creek and Leading Creek in Gilmer County; Steer Creek in Calhoun County; the West Fork Little Kanawha River, Spring Creek, Reedy Creek, and the Hughes River (its largest tributary) in Wirt County; and Walker Creek, Tygart Creek, Slate Creek and Worthington Creek in Wood County.
Additionally, a minor tributary near Grantsville is known as the Bull River; despite being named a "river," it is no larger than dozens of other small streams that flow into the Little Kanawha.
Name
The Little Kanawha River was named for its smaller size relative to the nearby Kanawha River.{{cite book|last=Kenny|first=Hamill|title=West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009099824;view=1up;seq=405;size=125|year=1945|publisher=The Place Name Press|location=Piedmont, WV|page=377}}
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Little Kanawha River has also been known as:{{Gnis|1542136|Little Kanawha River}}
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Recreation
=Fishing=
Multiple West Virginia stage record fish were caught along the Little Kanawha River.{{Cite web |title=West Virginia Fishing Records
|url=https://wvdnr.gov/fishing/state-records/|access-date=August 25, 2024|publisher=West Virginia DNR}}{{Cite web |title=West Virginia Fishing Records |url=https://www.landbigfish.com/staterecords/records.cfm?state=Westvirginia |access-date=August 25, 2024 |website=Land Big Fish}}{{Cite web |last=Kirk |first=Sam |date=January 10, 2024 |title=West Virginia DNR creates 5 new state fishing record categories |url=https://www.wvnstv.com/outdoors-wildlife/west-virginia-dnr-creates-5-new-state-fishing-record-categories/?nxsparam=1 |access-date=August 25, 2024 |website=WBOY}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/hows-my-waterway United States Environmental Protection Agency, watershed profile for Little Kanawha River]
- [http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bradytrilogy/memories/images/bibliography/little-kanawha-river.htm Local Little Kanawha River history on rootsweb.com]
{{coord|39.26535|N|81.56901|W|source:GNIStemplate_region:US-WV|display=title}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Rivers of West Virginia
Category:Tributaries of the Ohio River
Category:Rivers of Upshur County, West Virginia
Category:Rivers of Lewis County, West Virginia
Category:Rivers of Braxton County, West Virginia
Category:Rivers of Gilmer County, West Virginia
Category:Rivers of Calhoun County, West Virginia
Category:Rivers of Wirt County, West Virginia