MARYLAND AT A GLANCE
WATERWAYS
RIVERS
Patuxent River & grasses near Benedict (Charles County), Maryland, November 2017. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
At the State level, the Department of the Environment seeks to protect Maryland waterways, including rivers, as does the Scenic and Wild Rivers Program within the Department of Natural Resources. In addition, county government units, such as Anne Arundel County's Severn River Commission also provide oversight.
Boats at piers, Severn River, Crownsville, Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Maryland's riverine system is a complex network of branches and tributaries, some of which are known both as rivers and creeks. Most rivers in Maryland run into the Chesapeake Bay. All of Maryland's rivers have helped to guide the development of the State since its inception.
Boat house on Susquehanna River, Havre de Grace, Maryland, April 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Many rivers are tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay, but the three largest are the Potomac, the Patapsco, and the Patuxent. The Potomac River runs west and creates a natural border between Maryland and Virginia, while the Patapsco runs north from the Bay through Baltimore. It is the Patuxent, however, which may be the greatest contributor to the watershed. Located between the Patapsco and the Potomac, the Patuxent River covers over 957 square miles, and bears the distinction of being the longest river exclusive to Maryland.
Patuxent River with Solomons Island Bridge in distance (from St. Mary's County), Maryland, May 2000. Solomons Island Bridge links Calvert and St. Mary's counties in southern Maryland. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
In the years before European expansion, native peoples used rivers, such as the Susquehanna and the Pocomoke, for food and transportation. Early European explorers traversed rivers from the Chesapeake Bay inland, establishing contact with Native Americans, setting up trading posts, and later settlements. One of the most notable explorers was John Smith, and by 1608, he had charted the Nanticoke River, as well as a number of smaller tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.
Little Gunpowder Falls (tributary of Gunpowder River), Baltimore & Harford Counties, Maryland, August 2014. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
Rivers were a major basis for the settlement of early towns, allowing colonists to go further inland. From these rivers, settlers procured food and water, as well as transport and other necessities. As wars broke out, river routes also became essential in the movement of troops by England and France.
In the War of 1812, while the HMS Tonnant was anchored in the Patapsco River during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814, Francis Scott Key began to write "The Defence of Fort M'Henry," later known as the "Star-Spangled Banner," the song that would become America's National Anthem.
At head of Patapsco River lies the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, November 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
During the American Civil War, Union and Confederate forces, blockade-runners, and even escaping slaves used the rivers of Maryland. One route for those trying to bypass the Union blockade was the Nanticoke River, where smugglers would stop at port towns, such as Vienna, acquiring much-needed goods to sell to southern states. Runaway slaves used similar routes, traversing rivers and streams on their trek north along the Underground Railroad. These routes followed many rivers and streams on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Potomac also was heavily traversed at this time, as both armies would sortie back and forth for the duration of the war. The River even lent its name to identify the Union Army on the eastern front. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee moved the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac in two foiled assaults in 1862 and 1863, and many Union generals crossed it with the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan in 1861 to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1865.
Tiber River, Ellicott City, Maryland, May 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Since then, evolving methods of transit and transportation, have lessened some riverine influences upon economic and other development, and Maryland rivers today primarily support boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits. At the same time, the condition of Maryland rivers greatly affects the health of State citizens and the Chesapeake Bay.
Patapsco River, Baltimore, Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
The Susquehanna River is an important factor in the health of Maryland's people and its rivers. Traveling some 500 miles from Cooperstown, New York, to Cheseapeke Bay, the Susquehanna carries in more than half the Bay's fresh water. Nonetheless, it is considered an "endangered river" due to the failure of the Conowingo Dam to trap pollutants and sediment from reaching Chesapeake Bay.
Susquehanna River, Havre de Grace, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
MARYLAND RIVERS
(by name)
- Anacostia River (from Algonquian (Nacostines) word meaning "stream" or "current")
- Antietam River (from Algonquian word meaning "swift water")
- Avon River
- Back River
- Back Wye River
- Big Annemessex River (from Algonquian word meaning "bountiful waters")
- Big Patuxent River
Bush River, Abingdon, Harford County, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
- Casselman River (formerly Little Youghiogeny; named for Jacob Casselman (1728-1803))
- Chester River (named for Chester, England)
- Chicamacomico River (from Algonquian words meaning "dwelling place by the big water")
- Chonk River (from Algonquian (Delaware & Powhatan) words meaning "river of wild geese")
- Choptank River
- Corsica River (named for Henry de Coursey (1662-1707))
- Eastern Branch River (part of Anacostia)
Casselman River Bridge, Grantsville, Maryland, October 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt
Big Gunpowder Falls (tributary of Gunpowder River), Baltimore County, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
- Little Annemessex River
- Little Blackwater River
- Little Choptank River
- Little Magothy River
- Little Monocacy River
- Little Savage River
- Little Patuxent River
- Little Youghiogheny River
- Magothy River
- Manokin River
- Middle River
- Middle Patuxent River
- Miles River
- Monocacy River
Monocacy River (Frederick County), Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.
Patapsco River at foot of Main St., Ellicott City, Maryland, May 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
- Patuxent River
- Port Tobacco River
- Pocomoke River (from Algonquian word meaning "pierced" or "broken ground")
Pocomoke River at Snow Hill (Worcester County), Maryland, June 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Fishermen on Potomac River, Point of Rocks, Maryland, October 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
- Sassafras River (originally named Tockwaugh Creek by Capt. John Smith, tockwaugh, an Indian word meaning sassafras)
- Savage River
Sassafras River at Georgetown, Kent County, Maryland, April 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Boats at piers, Severn River, Crownsville, Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
- Susquehanna River (from Algonquian word meaning "smooth flowing stream")
- Tiber River
- Transquaking River (formerly Katterine River; transquaking is Algonquian word meaning "place of the white water swamp")
- Tred Avon River
- Warwick River
- West River
- Whitehall River
- Wicomico River
- Wye East River
- Wye River (named by Edward Lloyd for River Wye, Wales)
- Youghiogheny River
Youghiogheny River, Friendsville, Maryland, October 2015. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
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