Antietam Creek

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Antietam Creek

Antietam Creek is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a Mainstem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water....
of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a Drainage basin of about 14,700 square miles ....
located in south central Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
and western Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, a region known as Hagerstown Valley

Hagerstown Valley

Hagerstown Valley is located in Maryland in the United States. It is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, which continues northward as Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, and southward as Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia and Virginia....
. The creek became famous as a focal point of the Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern United States soil....
during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
. The term Antietam is thought to be a derivative of a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
phrase meaning "swift flowing stream."

The creek is formed in Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Franklin County is a county located in South Central Pennsylvania Pennsylvania. A large part of Franklin County lies within the Cumberland Valley....
at the confluence of the West and East Branches of Antietam Creek about 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, located 78 miles northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, and 2 miles north of the old Mason-Dixon Line....
.

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Encyclopedia

Antietam Creek is a tributary

Tributary

Potomac River

Pennsylvania

Maryland

United States

Hagerstown Valley

Battle of Antietam

American Civil War

Native Americans in the United States

Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Waynesboro is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, located 78 miles northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, and 2 miles north of the old Mason-Dixon Line....
. The stream runs for about 0.5 mile (0.8 km) before entering Washington County, Maryland

Washington County, Maryland

Washington County is a county located in the Western Maryland of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering Southern Pennsylvania to the north, Northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west....
. The total length of the creek is 41 miles (65 km).

The watershed area is 93 square miles (241 km²) and includes parts of Franklin County, Pennsylvania and Washington County, Maryland. Major tributaries in Pennsylvania include the East Branch of Antietam Creek, the West Branch of Antietam Creek, Red Run and Falls Creek. Major tributaries in Maryland include Little Antietam Creek, Beaver Creek, and Marsh Run.

The creek is noted for numerous well preserved stone arch bridges dating to the 19th Century that still traverse the creek, the most famous of which is the 125 foot (38 meter) long Burnside's Bridge

Burnside's Bridge

Burnside's Bridge is a landmark on the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Crossing over Antietam Creek, the bridge played a key role in the September 1862 Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War when a small number of Confederate States Army soldiers from Georgia for several hours held off repeated attempts b...
in the Antietam National Battlefield

Antietam National Battlefield

Antietam National Battlefield is a National Park Service protected area along Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, Maryland which commemorates the American Civil War Battle of Antietam that occurred on September 17, 1862....
.

Most of the watershed area is relatively rural in nature but the area surrounding Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, Maryland, and the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland....
, is threatened by urban sprawl

Urban sprawl

Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is the spreading of a city and its suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area. Residents of sprawling neighborhoods tend to live in single-family homes and commute by automobile to work....
. The area is also heavily cultivated and waste runoff from farms is a growing ecological concern.

The creek was a major topographic feature during the Battle of Antietam (called the Battle of Sharpsburg in the American South) fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland

Sharpsburg, Maryland

Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland, Maryland, United States, approximately 13 miles south of Hagerstown, Maryland. The population was 691 at the 2000 census....
. Burnside Bridge, which traverses the creek, became a major focus of combat as Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the Federal government of the United States of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America....
forces under General Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Burnside

Ambrose Everett Burnside was an United States soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S....
repeatedly tried to capture the bridge from Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
forces guarding the crossing from a high bluff overlooking the creek. The day of the battle is known as "the day Antietam Creek ran red" due to the blood of thousands of Union casualties mixing with the creek waters.

Antietam Creek

See also

External links