Paxton Creek

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Paxton Creek

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| image = Paxtoncreek.JPG

| image_caption = View of Paxton Creek from Maclay Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, near the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

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| map_size = 300

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| pushpin_map = USA Pennsylvania

| pushpin_map_size = 300

| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of Paxton Creek in Pennsylvania

| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = United States

| subdivision_type2 = State

| subdivision_name2 = Pennsylvania

| subdivision_type3 = County

| subdivision_name3 = Dauphin

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| length = {{convert|13.9|mi|km|abbr=on}}

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| source1 =

| source1_location = Linglestown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

| source1_coordinates= {{coord|40|21|29|N|76|48|9|W|display=inline}}

| source1_elevation = {{convert|1220|ft|abbr=on}}{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=L. C. |author2=W. F. Busch |others=Prepared in Cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey |title=Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams, Part II |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Forest and Waters |location=Harrisburg, PA |date=June 1984 |series=Water Resources Bulletin |volume=16 |pages=226}}

| mouth = Susquehanna River

| mouth_location = Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|40|14|35|N|76|51|50|W|display=inline,title}}{{cite web |title=Paxton Creek |year=2008 |publisher=Geographic Names Information System |access-date=December 11, 2008 |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1183406}}

| mouth_elevation = {{convert|292|ft|abbr=on}}

| progression =

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| basin_size = {{convert|27.4|sqmi|abbr=on}}

| tributaries_left = Black Run (Paxton Creek)

| tributaries_right = Asylum Run

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Paxton Creek is a {{convert|13.9|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map], accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

File:Paxton Creek in Wildwood Park, PA.jpg in Wildwood Park]]

The Paxton Creek watershed covers an area of {{convert|27.4|sqmi}} and joins the Susquehanna River at South Harrisburg, Harrisburg.{{cite web| url=http://www.hacc.edu/paxtoncreek/missionandhistory.html| year=2004| title= Mission and History of PCWEA| last=Paxton Creek Watershed and Education Association| publisher=paxtoncreek.org| access-date=2006-12-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060907072235/http://www.hacc.edu/paxtoncreek/missionandhistory.html |archive-date = 2006-09-07}}

The name Paxton, or Paxtang, is derived the Susquehannock term "Peshtank", meaning "where the waters stand" or "the place of springs". It is born from two branches on the southern slopes of Blue Mountain to form the main stem in Lower Paxton Township. It then forms Wildwood Lake in Susquehanna Township, artificially formed in 1908 by damming the creek for recreational activities.{{Cite web|title=City of Harrisburg Comprehensive Plan 2020|url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/harrisburgpa.gov/wp-content/uploads/20200910110539/Comprehensive-Plan-DRAFT-July-2020_.pdf|access-date=1 September 2021|website=City of Harrisburg|page=120}} Later, it extends downstream approximately 6.2 miles to Harrisburg as a concrete channel built in 1914 (against the wishes of Warren Manning) to mitigate urban runoff and flooding, which is common after severe storms. This urban stream section of the confluence has been subject to planned restoration efforts, with a 2018 study published by PennDOT stating a goal aiming to "restore the creek’s ecosystem and improve its functions and services" by reversing the negative effects of the concrete channel and its degradation.{{Cite web|date=February 21, 2018|title=Paxton Creek Master Plan|url=http://www.planthekeystone.com/Documents/02.21.18%20-%20Paxton%20Creek%20Master%20Plan%20(53MB).pdf|access-date=February 9, 2022|website=Plan the Keystone}}

{{Blockquote

|text=Where the stream passes through the city it receives the discharges from several large sewers, which, during dry weather, pollute the water and foul the shores and bottom of the creek to a very objectionable extent.

|author=Warren Manning

|source=Proposed Municipal Improvements for Harrisburg, PA, 1901

}}