Little Hunting Creek

Little Hunting Creek

Little Hunting Creek is a tidal tributary of the Potomac River located in Fairfax County, Virginia, not to be confused with Hunting Creek farther north. A stone-arch bridge, completed in 1931,cite paper
url = http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.va1503
title = Historic American Engineering Record Survey Number HAER VA-42-D, Mount Vernon Memorial Highway: Little Hunting Creek Bridge
date = After 1968
publisher = Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Department of the Interior
accessdate = 2007-05-27
] carries traffic from the George Washington Memorial Parkway across the narrow mouth of the creek, located 83.9 nautical miles upriver from the mouth of the Potomac.cite book
author = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
title = United States Coast Pilot 3 (40th edition), Chapter 12: Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River
publisher = Federal Aviation Administration
date = 2007
location = Washington, D.C.
pages = 313
url = http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/nsd/CP3/CP3-40ed-Ch12_3.pdf
] The creek marks the location along the Potomac River where the Washington family built their Mount Vernon plantation during colonial times.cite web
url = http://www.oldandsold.com/articles28/mount-vernon-1.shtml
title = Mount Vernon's Beginnings [originally published in 1925]
accessdate = 2007-05-20
] cite web
url = http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ss/27/
title = History of Mount Vernon
publisher = [http://www.mountvernon.org/ George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens]
accessdate = 2007-05-20
] Today the creek is bordered by residential communities in addition to the Mount Vernon property. It is a popular location for recreational fishing, and much of the wildlife characteristic of the tidal Potomac wetlands can be spotted there.

History

During the time of John Smith's explorations of Virginia in the early 17th century, Little Hunting Creek was the site of a settlement of Indians from the Doeg (Dogue) tribe.cite book
author = Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin, and Patrick Reed
title = Fairfax County, Virginia: A History
publisher = Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
date = 1978
location = Fairfax County, Virginia
isbn = 0-9601630-1-8
pages = 3
] By the latter part of that century, the land by Little Hunting Creek had come into the hands of John Washington, great-grandfather of George Washington. What was originally known as Little Hunting Creek Plantation eventually became known as George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. The creek itself separated the Mansion House Farm to the west from the River Farm to the east.

In 1765, when Fairfax Parish was carved out of the existing Truro Parish, Little Hunting Creek marked the southeastern end of the dividing line.cite book
author = Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin, and Patrick Reed
title = Fairfax County, Virginia: A History
publisher = Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
date = 1978
location = Fairfax County, Virginia
isbn = 0-9601630-1-8
pages = 39, 68
] cite book
author = Philip Slaughter
title = The History of Truro Parish in Virginia
publisher = Genealogical Publishing Company
date = 2003 [originally published in 1908]
location = Baltimore, Maryland
isbn = 0-8063-4601-9
pages = 40
]

In 1929, a bridge was designed as a part of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, which was completed in 1931. The bridge was not part of the original plans for the highway - other creeks were successfully filled in with soil to cut costs; but the Little Hunting could not be filled in, because the soil in the creek bed was very unstable.

In modern times, residential communities began to spring up on both sides of the creek by the 1960s.cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111000689.html
title = A Front Row Seat to History
date = November 11, 2006
author = Ann Cameron Siegal
publisher = The Washington Post
pages = G01
] cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12818-2003Oct24.html
title = Peaceful Port Along a Fairfax County Creek
date = October 25, 2003
author = Ann Cameron Siegal
publisher = The Washington Post
pages = G01
] The remnants of a defunct sewage treatment plant are situated on the eastern shore of the creek downstream of the North Branch fork.

Watershed

The headwaters of Little Hunting Creek begin in Huntley Meadows Park on the other side of U.S. Route 1,cite web
url = http://www.fairfaxcounty-watersheds.net/htmls/public/watershed.aspx?indx=14
title = Little Hunting Creek Watershed
publisher = [http://www.fairfaxcounty-watersheds.net/ Fairfax County Community Watershed Planning Project]
accessdate = 2007-05-20
] about three miles northwest of the Potomac River entrance to the creek. The creek is fed by three major tributaries. The South Branch (known during colonial times as Carney's Gut, after the tenant there)cite map
url = http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g3882m+ct000085))
author = George Washington
title = A Plan of my farm on Little Huntg. Creek & Potmk. R. G.W. 1766.
publisher = Library of Congress
] is located in the southeast portion of what is now the Stratford Landing neighborhood. It empties into the east side of the creek a few hundred yards northeast of the Potomac River entrance, and bifurcates southeast of Fort Hunt Elementary School into a fork heading north and a fork heading east toward Fort Hunt Park. The North Branch breaks off from the main creek in a northeasterly direction about 1.5 statute miles up from the Potomac River entrance, near the northwestern end of Stratford Landing. The Paul Spring Branch breaks off about another 1.5 statute miles up the North Branch in the Hollin Hall area near Sherwood Hall Lane, and continues northward along Fort Hunt Road into the Hollin Hills community and beyond.

Wildlife

Little Hunting Creek is home to a variety of wildlife. Migratory birds such as mallards, Canada geese, great blue herons, and great egrets are common sights along the creek. Ospreys have been known to nest there, and even bald eagles have been spotted in the area. Muskrats and the occasional beaver have been seen in Little Hunting Creek, and groundhogs and foxes can be found in the woods near the water. Fish such as catfish, carp, perch, and largemouth bass are commonly found in the creek.cite web
url = http://www.littlehuntingcreek.org/fishing.htm
title = Fishing on Little Hunting Creek
publisher = [http://www.littlehuntingcreek.org/ Little Hunting Creek, Inc.]
accessdate = 2007-05-20
] In 2004 Little Hunting Creek became one of the first sites where invading northern snakehead fish were caught off the Potomac.cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16016-2004Jun29.html
title = Snakeheads May Be Making Home in Potomac
date = June 30, 2004
author = David A. Fahrenthold and Joshua Partlow
publisher = The Washington Post
pages = B01
]

Recreation

Little Hunting Creek remains navigable by canoe or kayak at least until the North Branch fork, depending on the tides. Both sides of the navigable creek border residential communities, and many homeowners maintain their own private boat docks for launching canoes, sailboats, personal watercraft, and other vessels into the creek and from there to the Potomac River.cite web
url = http://www.littlehuntingcreek.org/fishing.htm
title = Boating and Swimming [on Little Hunting Creek]
publisher = [http://www.littlehuntingcreek.org/ Little Hunting Creek, Inc.]
accessdate = 2007-05-20
] The creek is an excellent site for largemouth bass fishing.

In 2004 a debate arose about whether the installation of duck blinds and duck hunting should be permitted on the creek.cite news
url = http://www.mvcca.org/mv/NewsLetters/RECORD_OCT_2004.PDF
title = Environment and Recreation
date = October 2004
publisher = Mount Vernon Council of Citizens' Associations (MVCCA) "Record"
pages = 3
]

Swimming is not advised, particularly in light of drownings that have occurred in the vicinity of the stone-arch bridge.cite news
url = http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?archive=true&article=22860&paper=72&cat=104
title = Marine Patrol Extended For Homeland Security
date = August 27, 2003
author = Mike Salmon
publisher=Springfield Connection
]

References

External links

* [http://www.littlehuntingcreek.org/ Little Hunting Creek, Inc.]
* [http://www.friendsoflittlehuntingcreek.org/ Little Hunting Creek Watershed]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gwmlst.html#MV Maps drawn by George Washington of his lands surrounding Little Hunting Creek] , from the Library of Congress
* [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/maps/index.html Maps drawn by George Washington] in [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/ "The Papers of George Washington" Archive] at the University of Virginia, some of which include the Little Hunting Creek area
* [http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=1469564&state=VA&ftype=stream Little Hunting Creek satellite view] , from [http://www.satelliteviews.net/ SatelliteViews.net]
* [http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow.cgi?site=Mount+Vernon%2C+Virginia Mount Vernon Tide and Current Predictor] (near Little Hunting Creek), from the [http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/ Wethey Lab] at the University of South Carolina
* [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?01653600 Real-time water data for Piscataway Creek, Maryland] (near Little Hunting Creek), from [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis USGS Water Data for the Nation]
* [http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/bay_cond/bay_cond.cfm?param=wt&station=TF21 Historical Potomac River water temperature near Piscataway Creek] (near Little Hunting Creek), from the [http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/ Maryland Department of Natural Resources ColdFusion Application Server]


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