Brush Creek (Blue River)
Brush Creek is a 10.5-mile-long (16.9 km)[1] stream that runs from Johnson County, Kansas through Jackson County, Missouri. It is a tributary of the Blue River, and by the Blue and the Missouri rivers it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.
The stream has played a major historic role in the Kansas City metropolitan area.[citation needed]
The Battle of Westport, the biggest battle in the American Civil War west of the Mississippi River, was fought on either side of it.
The Country Club Plaza is built on the banks of the creek. The expansive lawn of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art runs from the steps of the museum down to the creek.
Attempts to control flooding on the creek by paving it with concrete produced by companies owned by Boss Thomas Pendergast was a scandal in the 1930s.[citation needed]
Heavy rainfall in September 1977 resulted in Brush Creek flooding the Plaza with 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) of water. The next stream westward, Turkey Creek on the Kansas side, also flooded at the same time. Twenty-five people died in the flood, and damage exceed $66 million.[2]
Brush Creek begins near West 80th Street and Lamar Avenue in Overland Park, Kansas and drains to the Blue River at Blue Banks Avenue and Hardesty Avenue in Kansas City.[1] It drains 27 square miles.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 31, 2011
- ^ Rex C. Buchanan & James R. McCauley, Roadside Kansas: A Traveler's Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks, 1987, University Press of Kansas.
- The Brush Creek Flood Protection Project
- Riverwalk to provide help with flood control
- Kansas City Public Library Flood Resources
- Kansas City Public Library Brush Creek Resources
|
|||||
