Sligo Creek is a free-flowing

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the Northwest Branch of the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. (The Anacostia, in turn, feeds into the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

and eventually empties into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

via

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

.) The creek is approximately long, with a

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

of about .

Geography

The creek rises in the Kemp Mill section of Silver Spring in Montgomery County and joins with Northwest Branch near the city of Hyattsville in Prince George's County. The lower portion of the creek has been channelized.

Elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

s in the subwatershed range from above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

to at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

with Northwest Branch; the average

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

for the course of the creek is 0.72%. Contributing streams that flow into the creek include Wheaton Branch, Comstock Branch, Takoma Park Branch, and Long Branch. Sligo Creek is one of the most heavily urbanized subwatersheds in the Anacostia watershed, with a population density of 7,081 people per mi². 75% of the watershed is in Montgomery County, 20% is in Prince George's County, and 5% is in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Less than 15% of the subwatershed is undeveloped, and only 10% is forested. Less than 0.01% of the area is

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s. From its source to the confluence with the Northwest Branch, the creek crosses through the communities of Silver Spring, Wheaton,

Takoma Park Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City", is a Tree ...

, Carole Highlands, Chillum and Hyattsville. In these towns, the banks of the creek are in many stretches maintained as public parkland, with grassy lawns and playing fields. The Sligo Creek Trail, a hiker-biker trail, runs along the creek from Wheaton to the confluence, where it connects with the Anacostia Tributary Trail System. An automobile parkway runs along many parts of the creek in Montgomery County.

Pollution and stream restoration

The Sligo Creek watershed is a highly urbanized area, and as a result the

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

in the creek and tributaries is degraded. In 2002 the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) classified the creek as having poor water quality. The Montgomery County Government began installing several

stormwater management Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil (infiltration (hydrology), infiltrate) and become groundwater, be ...

and

stream restoration Stream restoration or river restoration, also sometimes referred to as river reclamation, is work conducted to improve the environmental health of a river or stream, in support of biodiversity, recreation, flood management and/or landscape develop ...

projects in the watershed in 1989, and by 2009 MDE had recognized some improvements in stream quality. Additional county projects are ongoing as of 2018.

Ecology

Several species of native

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...

fish spawn in the Sligo Creek watershed, including alewife (''Alosa pseudoharengus''),

blueback herring The blueback herring, blueback shad, or summer shad (''Alosa aestivalis'') is an anadromous species of herring from the east coast of North America, with a range from Nova Scotia to Florida. Blueback herring form schools and are believed to mi ...

(''Alosa aestivalis''), and

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true Percidae, perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The common ...

(''Morone americana''). According to the Friends of Sligo Creek, other species of fish found in Sligo Creek include the

American eel The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous eel found on the eastern coast of North America. Anguillidae, Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the Elopomorpha, elopomorph superorder, a group of Phylogenetics, phylogen ...

Bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

, Rosyside dace,

Longnose dace The longnose dace (''Rhinichthys cataractae'') is a freshwater minnow native to North America. ''Rhinicthys'' means snout fish (reference to the long snout) and ''cataractae'' means of the Waterfall, cataract (first taken from Niagara Falls). Lo ...

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...

creek chub ''Semotilus'' is the genus of creek chubs, ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae. The term "creek chub" is sometimes used for individual species, particularly the common creek chub, ''S. atromaculatus''. The creek chub species of minnows can ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

tessellated darter The tessellated darter (''Etheostoma olmstedi'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is native to Ca ...

golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...

Eastern blacknose dace Eastern blacknose dace (''Rhinichthys atratulus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus '' Rhinichthys''. Its name originates from the Old French word "dars" which is the nominative form of the word "dart" in reference to their swimming pa ...

, and

green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...

. Non-native introduced species living in Sligo Creek include '' Faxonius virilis'', the virile crayfish. Virile crayfish have been found in Sligo Creek since at least 1997, and are considered invasive.

History

Sligo Creek was named after the crossroads named "Sligo" founded in the mid 19th century by Irish immigrant workers on the C&O Canal. It may have been named after

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

in Ireland. The crossroads was located at Colesville Road and the 7th Street Pike, currently the corner of Colesville Road and

Georgia Avenue Georgia Avenue is a major north-south artery in Northwest, Washington, D.C., Northwest Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Maryland. In Washington, D.C., and for a short distance in Silver Spring, Maryland, Georgia Avenue is also U.S. Rout ...

in Silver Spring. At the time of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Sligo had a toll gate on the 7th Street Pike, an inn and a post office. A half mile from the Sligo crossroads Colesville Road crosses Sligo Creek. The 1878 Hopkin's atlas of the area around Washington, labels the southern portion of the creek as "Sligers Bra ch (although "Sligo Branch" is used on the atlas' map for Montgomery County). Over the years, Sligo Creek has served many purposes for area residents, including powering grist mills and as a

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

source. In the Takoma Park section of the creek (near

Washington Adventist University Washington Adventist University is a Private university, private Seventh-day Adventist university in Takoma Park, Maryland. History Washington Adventist University was established in 1904 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Washington ...

), the remains of a dam and associated building foundations for the Sligo Creek Waterworks can still be seen. From 1900 to 1930, the waterworks, the earliest public water system in the area, served the city of Takoma Park. The water system was sold to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in 1919, which abandoned the facility in 1930. Another dam, located where Flower Avenue crosses Sligo Creek, served Sligo Mill which was located where the current

New Hampshire Avenue New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

crosses Sligo Creek. Sligo Mill was built in 1812 by investors that included several members of the prominent Maryland Carroll family. In addition to milling grain for local farmers, Sligo Mill distilled

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

. The mill was demolished in the 1920s. Overlooking the dam and millpond for Sligo Mill on the right bank of Sligo Creek, the Glen Sligo Hotel and Wildwood Amusement Park were built in 1900. The hotel and amusement park ceased operations in 1903. Sligo Creek served as the inspiration and title for "Sligo River Blues", a song by

guitarist John Fahey, who popularized the area amongst folk artists. It also inspired "Sligo Creek," an Irish traditional reel composed by an American banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar player Danny Noveck, who lived near the creek at the time he composed the melody. Another prominent folk guitarist, Al Petteway, composed "Sligo Creek" while living in the Takoma Park area. This Scots-influenced guitar tune was later featured as the theme song of '' The National Parks'', a PBS miniseries directed by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

. The creek, where her son and his friends played as children, was part of the inspiration for

Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson (née Womeldorf; born October 31, 1932) is an American writer best known for Children's literature, children's novels, including ''Bridge to Terabithia (novel), Bridge to Terabithia'' (1977), which won the Newbery Medal in 197 ...

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

award-winning book '' Bridge to Terabithia''.

References

External links