Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a long river located in the northeastern United States. The Susquehanna begins in New York and flows through Pennsylvania, meeting several tributaries and a secondary branch, before reaching the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The river has been a central point of human activity since nomadic groups of Native Americans first used the area more than ten thousand years ago. Later, European American inhabitants used the river extensively for industry, shipping, and transportation, largely via an extensive network of canals. The river remains a popular recreational area in modern times, although it has faced serious pollution problems. Major floods of the river in 1972 and 2011 brought widespread damage to nearby communities.

Brief History

The Susquehanna River formed millions of years ago due to plate tectonics, or the shifting of enormous land masses across the surface of the planet. Geologists estimate it is one of the oldest rivers in the world to still exist. The main body of the river, along with its various branches and tributaries, were further developed during many later geologic events, including the passing and melting of glaciers.

The first known people to live along the Susquehanna River were groups of Native Americans who arrived more than ten thousand years ago. These first people were migratory hunters and gatherers. For thousands of years, they traveled along the river and nearby areas in search of food. Game animals, fish, nuts, and berries were abundant. Later, with the development of agriculture, some groups established permanent villages, most often on fertile flatlands near the banks of the river.

By the time European settlers discovered the river around the early 1600s, the waterways and adjoining lands were used or occupied by a variety of Native American groups, mainly of Algonquin and Iroquoian linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Some of these groups included the Susquehannocks and Lenape (often called the Conestoga and the Delaware, respectively). Historians believe the name Susquehanna is derived from the Lenape language. Later, smaller groups displaced by European settlement in other regions also arrived along the river. These included the Mahican, Shawnee, and Nanticoke people.

In the 1600s and 1700s, European settlers began aggressively colonizing the lands through which the Susquehanna ran, forming the colonies of New York, Pennsylvania (with some territory claimed by Connecticut), and Maryland. Through an ongoing process of trades, treaties, and wars, Europeans slowly removed most Native Americans from land near the river and claimed it for themselves. The river figured importantly into the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and other conflicts. It then became an important asset to the new country of the United States.

Overview

The Susquehanna River is one of the longest rivers in the Eastern United States, reaching approximately 444 miles (714 kilometers) in length. Its main branch begins in Otsego Lake in Cooperstown in central New York State. It flows generally southward into Pennsylvania and Maryland, where it ultimately meets the Chesapeake Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean. Along its course, the Susquehanna connects with a secondary branch (the West Branch) and meets many other tributaries, including the Lackawanna, Juniata, and Chemung Rivers.

The main branch of the Susquehanna that begins in Otsego Lake is sometimes known as the North Branch. This branch winds its way into eastern Pennsylvania, passing between numerous hills and mountains. The West Branch of the Susquehanna begins in western Pennsylvania, in Cambria County. It flows generally eastward and intersects with the main or North Branch in Northumberland, near Sunbury, Pennsylvania. The waterway formed by the joined branches then continues southward to the Chesapeake.

For more than ten thousand years, humans have relied on the Susquehanna and its surrounding flats for food and living places. It also provided people with an important means of transportation. Native Americans traveled by canoe in the river. Later, European Americans used the river extensively for boating. First, settlers established ferry crossings to allow people to cross the river easily. The ferry system was eventually replaced by hundreds of bridges.

The Susquehanna became the basis for a massive system of canals in the 1800s. Canals allowed boat traffic to move in controlled waterways running immediately parallel to the river itself. By the 1820s, Susquehanna canals formed an extensive, rapidly expanding shipping network, allowing goods such as anthracite coal and lumber to travel with relative ease over long distances. This activity brought an economic boom to many towns and cities along the Susquehanna, but it proved short-lived. In the mid-1800s, railroads proved an even more efficient means of transportation and shipping, and engineers eventually filled in many canals and fitted them with railroad tracks.

During the era of canals and railroads, the Susquehanna and its adjoining lands bustled with economic activity. Coal mining, water-powered milling, shipping, and manufacturing thrived in the area. This allowed local towns and cities, including Binghamton in New York and Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Williamsport, and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, to prosper. Later, engineers created several hydroelectric plants along the river to generate power from the water current.

The industrial uses of the Susquehanna faded by the mid-1900s with the slowing of the railroad and coal industries. However, many residents still use the river for fishing and recreational boating. Boat races and canoe tours are popular in many regions. The river has been a source of inspiration and beauty for many, including the novelist James Fenimore Cooper, who based many of his frontier stories on the region. Former canal locks and dams and other areas have been converted into parks and lakes. In addition, historians and archaeologists study the area to learn more about the earliest residents of the river valleys.

Despite the importance of the Susquehanna and its legacy, it has faced many problems. Farming and industrial waste, sewage, and runoff frequently pollute the water and alter its chemical balance. In the twenty-first century, it ranks among the most endangered rivers in the country. The river also gained a level of notoriety due to destructive floods, mainly resulting from Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011, that damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Nevertheless, the river continues to offer important industry and opportunities to the area. In 2024, federal regulators gave initial approval to a proposed dam and power turbine project on the river.

Bibliography

Beatty, Christopher. The Susquehanna River Guide. Midpoint Trade Books, 1998.

Brubaker, Jack. Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake. The Pennsylvania State UP, 2002.

Kent, Barry C. Susquehanna's Indians. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2001.

McDevitt, Rachel. "Federal Regulator Gives Initial Approval to Contested Hydroelectric Project on Susquehanna River." Lancaster Online, 21 Nov. 2024, lancasteronline.com/news/federal-regulator-gives-initial-approval-to-contested-hydroelectric-project-on-susquehanna-river/article‗f033dc80-a849-11ef-a32e-e7e39476abed.html. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025. 

Minderhout, David J., editor. Native Americans in the Susquehanna River Valley, Past and Present. Bucknell UP, 2013.

"River Towns." Susquehanna Greenway, www.susquehannagreenway.org/river-towns. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.

Stranahan, Susan Q. Susquehanna, River of Dreams. Johns Hopkins UP, 1995.

"The Susquehanna River." Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau, www.visitcentralpa.org/things-to-do/the-susquehanna-river. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.

"Susquehanna River Watershed." Department of Environmental Conservation, www.dec.ny.gov/lands/48020.html. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.

"Water Trails." Susquehanna Greenway, www.susquehannagreenway.org/water-trails. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.