Mispillion River
Mispillion River | |
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![]() The Mispillion River in Milford in 2006 | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Delaware |
Counties | Kent Sussex |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | confluence of Beaverdam and Tantrough Branches at Blairs Pond |
• location | near Milford |
• coordinates | 38°52′53″N 75°30′00″W / 38.88139°N 75.50000°W[1] |
• elevation | 29 ft (8.8 m)[2] |
Mouth | Delaware Bay |
• location | near Mispillion Light |
• coordinates | 38°57′05″N 75°18′48″W / 38.95139°N 75.31333°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m)[1] |
Length | 15 mi (24 km)approximately[3] |
Basin size | 76 sq mi (200 km2)[4] |
Discharge | |
• average | 91.77 cu ft/s (2.599 m3/s) at mouth with Delaware Bay[5] |
Basin features | |
Progression | east and northeast |
River system | Delaware Bay |
Tributaries | |
• left | Beaverdam Branch Lednum Branch Mullet Run Swan Creek Fishing Branch Beaverdam Branch Kings Causeway Branch Crooked Gut |
• right | Tantrough Branch Johnson Branch Bowman Branch Deep Branch |
Waterbodies | Blairs Pond Griffith Lake Haven Lake Silver Lake |
The Mispillion River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) long and drains an area of 76 square miles (197 km²) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
It rises in northern Sussex County, approximately 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Milford, and flows generally east-northeastwardly, defining the boundary between Sussex and Kent counties; it passes through the center of Milford on its course to its mouth at Delaware Bay, 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Cape Henlopen.[3][6] The lower 12 miles (19 km) of the river are considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be navigable.[7]
A boardwalk known as the Mispillion Riverwalk follows the river in Milford. As of 2003[update], an effort was underway to preserve a greenway along the river upstream and downstream of Milford.[8]
Variant names and spellings
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Mispillion River has also been known historically as:[1]
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Name origin
"The first occurrence of this name (of the river) is in the form Mispening on a map of 1664, tentatively analyzed as meaning "as the great tuber (stream);" (Dunlap and Weslager, 1950)
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
References
- ^ a b c d Geographic Names Information System. "GNIS entry for Mispillion River (Feature ID #214330)". Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Mispillion River Topo Map, Sussex County DE (Mispillion River Area)". TopoZone. Locality, LLC. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry for Mispillion River". 2000. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ United States Environmental Protection Agency (2005). "Decision Rationale: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs) for Bacteria and Nutrient Impairments on the Mispillion River and Cedar Creek Watershed, Kent and Sussex Counties, Delaware". pp. pp.1–2. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ "Mispillion River Watershed Report". Waters Geoviewer. US EPA. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ DeLorme (2004). Maryland Delaware Atlas & Gazetteer. pp.52-53. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-279-X.
- ^ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. "Navigable waterways of the Philadelphia District". Archived from the original on 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation. "Greenways & Trails". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2007-02-05.