The Black Fork is a principal tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Cheat River

Cheat River

The Cheat River is a tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed, ultimately draining into the Gulf of Mexico.-Geography:The Cheat is formed at...

 in eastern West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is a short stream, about four miles (6 km) in length,The American Rivers Outstanding Rivers List, Second Edition, May 1991. Compiled and edited by Matthew H. Huntington and John D. Echeverria. Washington, DC: American Rivers, Inc. formed by the confluence

Confluence (geography)

In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...

 of two other streams not far above its mouth.

Geography

Via the Cheat, Monongahela

Monongahela River

The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

 and Ohio

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 Rivers, it is part of the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, draining an area of 500 square miles (1,295 km²). The Black Fork flows for its entire length in Tucker County

Tucker County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,321 people, 3,052 households, and 2,121 families residing in the county. The population density was 18 people per square mile . There were 4,634 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...

. It is formed at the town of Hendricks

Hendricks, West Virginia

Hendricks is a town in Tucker County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 319 at the 2000 census. The Blackwater River and the Dry Fork join at Hendricks to form the Black Fork, a principal tributary of the Cheat River.-History:...

 by the confluence of the Dry Fork

Dry Fork (Cheat River)

The Dry Fork is a tributary of the Black Fork of the Cheat River in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia in the United States. Via the Black Fork, the Cheat, and the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The Dry Fork flows for much of its...

 and the Blackwater River

Blackwater River (West Virginia)

The Blackwater River is a river in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. Via the Black Fork, it is a principal tributary of the Cheat River. Via the Cheat, the Monongahela and the Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River and drains an area of...

, and flows generally northwestwardly through Hambleton

Hambleton, West Virginia

Hambleton is a town in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 246 at the 2000 census. Hambleton was established in 1889, but not incorporated until 1905. It was named by then United States Senator Stephen B. Elkins in honor of a stockholder by this name in the West Virginia...

 to Parsons

Parsons, West Virginia

The town of Parsons is the county seat of Tucker County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 1,463 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Parsons is Dorothy Judy and the city administrator is Jason Myers...

, where it joins the Shavers Fork

Shavers Fork (Cheat River)

Shavers Fork of the Cheat River is situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is 88.5 mi long and forms the Cheat at its confluence with Black Fork at Parsons. Its upper reaches are the highest river in the eastern United States...

 to form the Cheat River.

Name

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names settled on "Black Fork" as the stream's name in 1930. According to the Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...

, it has also been known historically as "Blackwater Fork" and as the Blackwater River

Blackwater River (West Virginia)

The Blackwater River is a river in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. Via the Black Fork, it is a principal tributary of the Cheat River. Via the Cheat, the Monongahela and the Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River and drains an area of...

.