39-690: The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland . There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C. , the Patapsco River to the northeast passing through Baltimore, and the Patuxent River between the two. The 908-square-mile (2,352 km) Patuxent watershed had a rapidly growing population of 590,769 in 2000. It
78-540: A compelling discussion on the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, led by host Frank Sesno. Tributary A tributary , or an affluent , is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ( main stem or "parent" ), river, or a lake . A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean . Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they flow, drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater , leading
117-400: A new river, to be given its own name, perhaps one already known to the people who live upon its banks. Conversely, explorers approaching a new land from the sea encounter its rivers at their mouths, where they name them on their charts, then, following a river upstream, encounter each tributary as a forking of the stream to the right and to the left, which then appear on their charts as such; or
156-517: Is a crucial tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Despite the central role the river has played in the history of the Bay's environmental movement and abundant conservation resources funneled to it over the years, it remains polluted. Its riverkeeper, Fred Tutman, believes that environmental injustice exists along its banks. On 21 April 2022, PBS released a 56 minute special: " The Chesapeake Bay Summit 2022 " - Experts, scientists and policy makers converge for
195-611: Is a large planned community in Howard County that opened in 1967. Columbia's major downtown roadway is called Little Patuxent Parkway, and Maryland Route 175 in East Columbia was known as the Patuxent Parkway until May 2006, when it was renamed for Columbia's founder, the late James Rouse , and his wife, Patty. It was the largely unchecked erosion from this late 1960s and 1970s building spree that contributed
234-763: Is the 20 square mile Patuxent Research Refuge, which helps to protect Patuxent River wildlife. The Little Patuxent River , the Middle Patuxent River , and the Western Branch are the three largest tributaries. The Middle Patuxent flows into the Little Patuxent just upstream from the historic Savage Mill in Savage . The Little Patuxent then joins the Patuxent just southwest of Crofton . The Middle Patuxent flows 24 miles (39 km) through
273-591: Is the largest and longest river entirely within Maryland, and its watershed is the largest completely within the state. The river source, 115 miles (185 km) from the Chesapeake, is in the hills of the Maryland Piedmont near the intersection of four counties – Howard , Frederick , Montgomery and Carroll , and only 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from Parr's Spring, the source of the south fork of
312-566: Is the sole known source for Maryland's State Gemstone, a form of agate called Patuxent River stone . According to EcoHealth Report Cards, the Patuxent River has a below average health rating, scoring a 38%, compared to the Chesapeake's over all health rating of 54%, as of 2016. However, the river does have higher ratings in dissolved oxygen, and likely, will soon have higher ratings in phosphorus. The Middle and Little Patuxent watersheds include nearly all of Columbia, Maryland , including its downtown urban Lake Kittamaqundi and Wilde Lake. Columbia
351-534: The British fleet under Admiral Sir George Cockburn . To keep them from British hands, Barney's men ignited the magazines of his ships in the four mile (6 km) stretch above Pig Point (44 miles (71 km) upriver from the Chesapeake when the British approached. The British then launched their attack on Washington, D.C. , from their warships in the Patuxent at Benedict , 22 miles (35 km) away. From there,
390-546: The Patapsco River . Flowing in a generally southeastward direction, the Patuxent crosses the urbanized corridor between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. , and opens up into a navigable tidal estuary near the colonial seaport of Queen Anne in Prince George's County, Maryland , just southeast of Bowie . The river is bounded by significant marsh areas for 22 miles (35 km) from the Waysons Corner area to
429-554: The "place where tobacco grows". The Patuxent River was first named ("Pawtuxunt") on the detailed map resulting from the 1608 voyage upriver by Jamestown, Virginia settler John Smith . Captain Smith got as far as the rough vicinity of the present-day Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary ( Lyons Creek ) area, 40 miles (60 km) from the Chesapeake near what is now the Anne Arundel–Calvert–Prince George's County tripoint. This
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#1732780318278468-631: The Baltimore-Washington bedroom community sprawl . The southern half of the U.S. Army's Fort Meade was added to the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center , which, at 12,300 acres (50 km), is the second largest contiguous public park-refuge within 30 miles (50 km) of either Washington or Baltimore . It is located midway between these two cities. The contiguous public area of 8,575 acres (35 km) centered on Jug Bay, 42 miles (68 km) upriver from
507-533: The Chesapeake that are today part of Patuxent River Park. By 1705, the Snowden iron ore furnace (also known as the Patuxent Iron Works ) just southeast of Laurel , was shipping " pig iron " downriver from the current vicinity of the 1783 Montpelier Mansion , also part of Patuxent River Park. In August 1814, Commodore Joshua Barney and his Chesapeake Bay Flotilla were trapped in the Patuxent by
546-756: The Chesapeake, form the fifth largest such Baltimore-D.C. preserve and largest tidewater one and consist of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary , the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Jug Bay component of the Patuxent River Park. The 6,600-acre (27 km) Patuxent River State Park in the uppermost part of the basin is the seventh largest. On 20 April 2022, PBS released a 26 minute documentary: " Troubled Tributary: Maryland's Patuxent River " - The Patuxent River
585-495: The Hunting Creek confluence. The 52 miles (84 km)-long tidal estuary is never wider than 2.3 miles (3.7 km). It marks the boundary between Montgomery , Prince George's , Charles and St. Mary's counties on the west and Howard , Anne Arundel , and Calvert counties on the east. The Chesapeake estuary's deepest point, 130 feet (40 m) below sea level, is in the lower Patuxent. The two largest cities in
624-471: The Patuxent near Upper Marlboro . Native Americans have lived along the Patuxent River since at least 1100 BC. An archaeological dig at Pig Point (just north of Jug Bay at the end of Wrighton Road ) uncovered some of the oldest known artifacts in the Mid Atlantic states, including pottery, arrow and spear points, and remnants of wigwams, fires and foodways. The site was probably a center of trade in
663-413: The bulk of the Patuxent River's highest and most damaging sediment , siltation , and pollution levels to date downstream. This in turn led to a nearly complete destruction of a once thriving seafood industry along the brackish portion of the river. "The Patuxent River has known no greater friend, advocate, and defender than Bernie Fowler ." Fowler, as an early-1970s Calvert County commissioner, led
702-409: The first-order tributary being typically the least in size. For example, a second-order tributary would be the result of two or more first-order tributaries combining to form the second-order tributary. Another method is to list tributaries from mouth to source, in the form of a tree structure , stored as a tree data structure . Bristol, MD Too Many Requests If you report this error to
741-451: The handedness is from the point of view of an observer facing upstream. For instance, Steer Creek has a left tributary which is called Right Fork Steer Creek. These naming conventions are reflective of the circumstances of a particular river's identification and charting: people living along the banks of a river, with a name known to them, may then float down the river in exploration, and each tributary joining it as they pass by appears as
780-424: The joining of tributaries. The opposite to a tributary is a distributary , a river or stream that branches off from and flows away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas . Right tributary , or right-bank tributary , and left tributary , or left-bank tributary , describe the orientation of the tributary relative to the flow of the main stem river. These terms are defined from
819-499: The mid and lower Patuxent valley into a period of decline that would last until the 1930s, when there were fewer residents in the Patuxent's Calvert County than there were in the 1840s, and only a few hundred more than in the first Calvert County census in 1790. The Patuxent was plied by regular steamship service, mostly from the Weems Line, from the 1820s to the 1920s, replacing the schooners and sailing packets that had for
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#1732780318278858-546: The middle of Howard County, while the Little Patuxent flows 38 miles (61 km) through northeast and southeast Howard County and western Anne Arundel County. Western Branch originates under the name Folly Branch in the Wingate Drive area of the northern part of Glenn Dale , assuming the name "Western Branch" in Woodmore , continuing southward through Prince George's County, joined by Collington Branch before it joins
897-469: The opposite bank before approaching the confluence. An early tributary is a tributary that joins the main stem river closer to its source than its mouth, that is, before the river's midpoint ; a late tributary joins the main stem further downstream, closer to its mouth than to its source, that is, after the midpoint. In the United States, where tributaries sometimes have the same name as
936-476: The perspective of looking downstream, that is, facing the direction the water current of the main stem is going. In a navigational context, if one were floating on a raft or other vessel in the main stream, this would be the side the tributary enters from as one floats past; alternately, if one were floating down the tributary, the main stream meets it on the opposite bank of the tributary. This information may be used to avoid turbulent water by moving towards
975-527: The previous centuries served the river's many landings and docks along the 52-mile (84 km) tidal reach. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission constructed two dams on the main branch in the mid-twentieth century. Brighton Dam was constructed 96 miles (154 km) from the Chesapeake in 1943, impounding the waters of Triadelphia Reservoir ; in 1952 the T. Howard Duckett Dam was constructed 14 miles (23 km) farther downstream, near Laurel, thus creating Rocky Gorge Reservoir . The land surrounding
1014-673: The region and has one of the best unbroken archaeological records on the East Coast. The Pig Point site includes remnants of the oldest structures ever found in Maryland, wigwam post holes dating to the third century. The word Patuxent is derived from the Algonquin language used by the indigenous people living in the area prior to the arrival of the European settlers. Its meaning is debated. According to some sources it means "water running over loose stones" while others believe it means
1053-456: The river from the Snowden plantation to where Clarksville is sited. In 1702 George Plater I was the Patuxent naval officer (later based at Sotterley Plantation ), having earlier served as Collector after Calvert, Rousby, Sewall, Digges, and Payne held the collectorship. By the mid and late seventeenth century respectively, colonists spread upriver to Mt. Calvert and Billingsley Point, two 18th-century mansions 43.5 miles (70 km) upriver from
1092-666: The river into which they feed, they are called forks . These are typically designated by compass direction. For example, the American River in California receives flow from its North, Middle, and South forks. The Chicago River 's North Branch has the East, West, and Middle Fork; the South Branch has its South Fork, and used to have a West Fork as well (now filled in). Forks are sometimes designated as right or left. Here,
1131-404: The river's 115 miles including the reservoir land, the impact that recreation in natural settings now has on the river's economy is obvious. The Patuxent Naval Air Station at the mouth of the river has continued to grow during past decades along with tourism, providing another main economic engine in the lower river valley that includes the popular boating center of Solomons . The Patuxent River
1170-418: The smaller stream designated the little fork, the larger either retaining its name unmodified, or receives the designation big . Tributaries are sometimes listed starting with those nearest to the source of the river and ending with those nearest to the mouth of the river . The Strahler stream order examines the arrangement of tributaries in a hierarchy of first, second, third and higher orders, with
1209-432: The streams are seen to diverge by the cardinal direction (north, south, east, or west) in which they proceed upstream, sometimes a third stream entering between two others is designated the middle fork; or the streams are distinguished by the relative height of one to the other, as one stream descending over a cataract into another becomes the upper fork, and the one it descends into, the lower ; or by relative volume:
Patuxent River - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-411: The troops marched through Nottingham, Upper Marlboro , Bladensburg , and on to Washington. Tobacco farming dominated the Patuxent's economy for the two centuries following white settlement, with about sixty percent of Maryland's tobacco coming from the Patuxent valley by the late eighteenth century. Destruction of the plantations by the British and of the soil by centuries of tobacco farming brought
1287-452: The two reservoirs is administered by the WSSC, creating a forested reserve of 4,400 acres (18 km) accessible to the public for horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and picnicking in limited areas. The state of Maryland classifies the T. Howard Duckett Dam as "high hazard" because large releases of water flood areas of North Laurel. With public recreational land on one or both shores of 74 of
1326-466: The water out into an ocean. The Irtysh is a chief tributary of the Ob river and is also the longest tributary river in the world with a length of 4,248 km (2,640 mi). The Madeira River is the largest tributary river by volume in the world with an average discharge of 31,200 m /s (1.1 million cu ft/s). A confluence , where two or more bodies of water meet, usually refers to
1365-546: The watershed are Bowie and Laurel, Maryland . There is a percentage of agricultural activity in the region as well. The mid and lower banks of the river have swamp and marshland ecosystems . Many of those ecosystems are protected by some form of parkland, on the state and local levels. The most notable of which include Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary , Merkle Wetlands Sanctuary in the Edgar A. Merkle Wildlife Refuge , and Patuxent River Park , along with many more. Farther north, there
1404-399: The watershed by 2002. Of the Chesapeake's major tributaries, the Patuxent is the only one having most of its harmful phosphorus and nitrogen nutrient overloads coming from urban runoff . The river's other two largest contributors, point sources ( industrial , sewage , etc.) and the declining (24%) agricultural areas, contribute less of the nutrient load. Forested areas account for 43% of
1443-601: The watershed. In 2004, Fred Tutman became the first "Riverkeeper" for the Patuxent. The mission of the Patuxent Riverkeeper organization, a member of the worldwide Waterkeeper Alliance , is to protect and improve the quality of the river's water and watershed and provide access and education at its facility in Nottingham . Over the past 50 years, nationally recognized land preservation efforts in this part of Maryland have saved tens of thousands of acres from
1482-420: The way in a lawsuit filed by downriver Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties against upriver counties. The lawsuit forced the state, the upriver counties, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enact pollution control measures. Between 1985 and 2005, the Patuxent saw a 26% decrease in nitrogen , a 46% decrease in phosphorus , and a 35% reduction in sediment, despite urban areas increasing to 31% of
1521-501: Was most likely the second visit by Europeans to the Patuxent, as in June 1588 a small Spanish expedition under Vicente Gonzalez is believed to have anchored for the night in the Patuxent mouth. The river was an important colonial shipping port with the government's garrison situated at the mouth of the river where Charles Calvert was first Collector in 1673. In 1699, Thomas Browne , sometimes referred to as 'The Patuxent Ranger', followed
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