{{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Coord|41|13|44|N|77|2|26|W|display=title}} {{More citations needed|date=August 2007}} {{Infobox river | name = Lycoming Creek | image = Lycoming Creek at Trout Run.JPG | image_caption = Lycoming Creek at Trout Run in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania | source1_location = near [[McNett Township, Pennsylvania|McNett Township]], [[Lycoming County, Pennsylvania|Lycoming County]] | mouth_location = [[West Branch Susquehanna River]], at [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania|Williamsport]] | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States]] | length_mi = 37.5 | source1_elevation = {{convert|2161|ft}} | discharge1_avg = | basin_size_mi2 = 272 }}
'''Lycoming Creek''' is a {{convert|37.5|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}<ref name=NHD>U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329155652/http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ |date=2012-03-29 }}, accessed August 8, 2011</ref> [[tributary]] of the [[West Branch Susquehanna River]] located in [[Tioga County, Pennsylvania|Tioga]] and [[Lycoming County, Pennsylvania|Lycoming]] counties in [[Pennsylvania]] in the [[United States]].
==Geography== Lycoming County is about {{convert|130|mi|km|0}} northwest of [[Philadelphia]] and {{convert|165|mi|km|0}} east-northeast of [[Pittsburgh]]. The [[stream|creek]] shares its [[headwaters]] between Lycoming and Tioga counties, and is {{convert|25|mi}} in length from the Tioga County / Lycoming County line in [[McNett Township, Pennsylvania|McNett Township]] to its [[confluence]] with the West Branch Susquehanna River at [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania|Williamsport]]. Smaller streams feeding Lycoming Creek include Pleasant Stream, Grays Run, Roaring Branch, Hoagland Run, and Trout Run.
[[File:Major Watersheds in Lycoming County Pennsylvania.png|thumb|300 px|left|Map of the West Branch Susquehanna River (dark blue) and major streams in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Lycoming Creek (yellow) is the third major creek entering the river in the county, between the [[Larrys Creek]] (orange) and [[Loyalsock Creek]] (green) watersheds.]]
==Watershed== Approximately 81.5% of the Lycoming Creek [[drainage basin|watershed]] is in Lycoming County, with 16.5% in Tioga County, and 1.5% in [[Sullivan County, Pennsylvania|Sullivan County]]. The watershed has a total [[Population (human biology)|population]] of 19,978 (as of 2000) and a total area of {{convert|272|sqmi}}. Of that area, {{convert|222|sqmi}} are [[forest]]ed, {{convert|45|sqmi}} are given to [[agricultural]] uses, only {{convert|3|sqmi}} are [[urban area|developed]], and the remaining {{convert|1|sqmi}} is classified as barren.
===Recreation=== Lycoming Creek is a popular site for [[trout]] [[fishing]] and is usually heavily stocked with fish in the [[spring (season)|spring]], especially in its upper reaches in Lycoming County. Much of the creek runs through heavily wooded areas, including the [[Tiadaghton State Forest]] near Grays Run. North of Trout Run, [[Pennsylvania Route 14]] runs parallel to the creek. From Trout Run south to Williamsport, [[U.S. Route 15]] (and old route 15) run parallel to the creek. Historic [[Bowman Field (stadium)|Bowman Field]], home to the [[minor league baseball]] [[Williamsport Crosscutters]], is located along the creek near its mouth in the western Newberry section of Williamsport.
==History== [[File:Lycoming Creek in Williamsport.JPG|thumb|Lycoming Creek in [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania]], near its mouth. Note flood control levees on either side.]]
Lycoming Creek served as a highway of sorts during the colonial era of [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania's]] history. The local [[Lenape]] (Delaware) people called it Legani-hanne, meaning "sandy stream" - the name was later rendered by Europeans as Lycaumick and then Lycoming.<ref name="piper">{{cite book |title=Lycoming College, 1812–2012: On the Frontiers of American Education |author=John F. Piper |page=317 |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2011 |isbn=9781611483710}}</ref> The stream was used by early explorers and the Native Americans in the area as a means of travel. They were able to float their canoes down the creek and into the [[West Branch Susquehanna River]]. This mode of transportation was considerably faster than walking the path.
[[Conrad Weiser]] guided [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] [[missionary|missionaries]] along the creek and path to reach [[Onondaga (village)|Onondaga]], the capital of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] in 1737. Raiding parties of Indian warriors used the creek and path in 1770 when conducting attacks on the [[West Branch Susquehanna Valley]] strongholds of Fort Muncy and Fort Freeland. Fort Freeland was also attacked and captured by Loyalists in July 1779. Colonel [[Thomas Hartley]] led the [[6th Pennsylvania Regiment]] up the [[Sheshequin Path]] during the [[American Revolution]]. Hartley's expedition in 1778 preceded the [[Sullivan Expedition]] of 1779. Both Hartley and Sullivan were instrumental in claiming the frontier of Pennsylvania and New York for the forces of the [[Continental Army]]. As Hartley and his men passed through Lewis Township the Sheshequin path was widened. The widening of the path helped to open this area to settlement in the years following the Revolution. <ref name="history">{{cite book | last = Meginness | first = John Franklin | title = History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: including its aboriginal history; the colonial and revolutionary periods; early settlement and subsequent growth; organization and civil administration; the legal and medical professions; internal improvement; past and present history of Williamsport; manufacturing and lumber interests; religious, educational, and social development; geology and agriculture; military record; sketches of boroughs, townships, and villages; portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, etc. etc. | year = 1892 | url = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/lyco-history-01.html | access-date = 2007-04-14 | edition = 1st | publisher = Brown, Runk & Co. | location = Chicago, IL | isbn = 0-7884-0428-8 | chapter-url = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/Chapter-34.html | quote = (Note: ISBN refers to Heritage Books July 1996 reprint. URL is to a scan of the 1892 version with some [[Optical Character Recognition|OCR]] typos). }}</ref>
In 1839, the [[Williamsport and Elmira Railroad]] was built along the creek from Williamsport to [[Ralston, Pennsylvania|Ralston]], and was extended to the source of the creek and beyond to [[Elmira, New York]], in 1854. The railroad was reorganized in 1860 as the [[Elmira and Williamsport Railroad]], and came under the control of the [[Northern Central Railway]] in 1863, and later the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]. [[U.S. Route 15]] and [[Pennsylvania Route 14]] were later built up the length of the creek. In 1972, flooding caused by [[Hurricane Agnes]] washed out several rail bridges and resulted in the abandonment of the railroad north of [[Hepburnville, Pennsylvania|Hepburnville]]; the remainder was abandoned in 1986.
There was severe [[flood]]ing on Lycoming Creek on January 19 and 20, 1996, when a combination of heavy snow on the ground, heavy rains and subsequent melting, and [[Ice jam|ice dam]]s led to flooding two feet higher than that seen in 1972 with Hurricane Agnes. Six people died as a result of flooding on Lycoming Creek in the greater Williamsport area, and there was millions of dollars of damage to property.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://water.usgs.gov/wid/FS_103-96/FS_103-96.html |title= Statewide Floods in Pennsylvania, January 1996 |access-date=24 November 2008 |publisher= [[United States Geological Survey]] |date= April 10, 1996 }}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of rivers of Pennsylvania]]
==External links==
===General reference=== {{reflist}} *[http://164.156.71.80/VWRQ.asp?docid=0442d740780d000000000dac00000dac&context=2&backlink=WXOD.aspx%3ffs%3d0442d740780d00008000000000000000%26ft%3d7 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 2001 ''Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams'']{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071004220750/http://www.lyco.org/lccd/lib/lccd/lycoming-watersheds-lg.gif Lycoming County Watersheds Map] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070810193522/http://dsf.seda-cog.org/lyco/lib/lyco/county_map1.pdf Official Lycoming County Map showing all townships, villages, boroughs, cities, county roads, rivers, creeks, and some streams]
===Lycoming Creek=== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050427134849/http://www.pagameandfish.com/fishing/trout-fishing/pa_aa054403a/ Pennsylvania Game and Fish Commission description of Lycoming Creek] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081009044819/http://www.chesapeakebay.net/wspv31/(3fwefm55tzka3q45qloiyxbu)/WspAbout.aspx?basno=169&topic=5 Chesapeake Bay Program page on Lycoming Creek Watershed] *[[USGS]] Real Time Water Data for Lycoming Creek: **[https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01550500 Gauge near the creek's mouth at Williamsport] **[https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01550000 Gauge upstream near Trout Run] *Lycoming County Stream Gauge Data for Lycoming Creek: **[https://web.archive.org/web/20071007032638/http://www.lyco.org/lyc-datawise/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=429285 Gauge at Hepburnville] **[https://web.archive.org/web/20071007033138/http://www.lyco.org/lyc-datawise/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=429271 Gauge at Bodines] **[https://web.archive.org/web/20071007032729/http://www.lyco.org/lyc-datawise/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=429264 Gauge at Ralston] **[http://www.lyco.org/lyc-datawise/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=429257 Gauge at Deer Crossing]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} **[https://web.archive.org/web/20071007033123/http://www.lyco.org/lyc-datawise/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=429250 Gauge at Roaring Branch] *[https://water.usgs.gov/wid/FS_103-96/FS_103-96.html#HDR2 Information on the 1996 floods from the USGS]
{{Susquehanna River System}}
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[[Category:Rivers of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Rivers of Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Rivers of Tioga County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River]]