County Line Branch (also known as the County Line Branch of Chillisquaque Creek) is a tributary of West Branch Chillisquaque Creek in Northumberland County and

Montour County Montour County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,136. Its county seat is Danville. The county is named for Andrew Montour, a prominent Métis interpreter who served with George Washi ...

, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Lewis Township in Northumberland County and Anthony and Limestone Townships in Montour County. The stream's watershed has an area of 8.97 square miles. Its tributaries include Beaver Run and McKee Run. The main rock formations in the watershed of County Line Branch are the Hamilton Group, the Onondaga and Old Port Formation, the Trimmers Rock Formation, and the Keyser and Tonoloway Formation. The

soil series Soil series as established by the National Cooperative Soil Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service are a level of classification in the USDA Soil Taxonomy classification system hierar ...

in the watershed include the Chenango-Pope-Holly series, the Berks-Weikert-Beddington series, the Hagerstown-Edom-Washington series, and the Watson-Berks-Alvira series. Industries in the watershed include agriculture and timbering. The Mountour County Natural Heritage Inventory lists the headwaters of County Line Branch as a "locally significant" site.

Course

County Line Branch begins near the border between Anthony Township, Montour County and Lewis Township, Northumberland County, near the northern borders of both townships. The headwaters are in the Muncy Hills. The stream flows south for several miles with few turns, following the Northumberland/Montour County line. Eventually it makes a sharp turn southeast and leaves the county line. Upon leaving the county line, the stream begins flowing roughly parallel to the border between Anthony Township and Limestone Township, Montour County. During this stretch, the stream crosses

Pennsylvania Route 44 Pennsylvania Route 44 (PA 44) is a -long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route, which is signed north-south, is designated from Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 80 (I-80) and Pennsylvania Route 42, PA 42 in Buckhor ...

and

Pennsylvania Route 54 Pennsylvania Route 54 (PA 54) is a state highway which runs for in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The highway runs from U.S. Route 15 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 15 (US 15), which is three miles (5 km) west of Montgomery, ...

and at the southern edge of the stretch, it receives the tributary Beaver Run. It then turns northeast into Anthony Township, where it picks up the tributary McKee Run. The stream then turns southeast and reaches its confluence with West Branch Chillisquaque Creek at the southern edge of Anthony Township. County Line Branch joins West Branch Chillisquaque Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Tributaries of County Line Branch include Beaver Run and McKee Run. The stream also has unnamed tributaries.

Hydrology

The entirety of County Line Branch and the entirety of each of its tributaries is considered by the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws ...

to be impaired. The stream and a number of its tributaries are affected by

siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...

due to agriculture.

Geography and geology

County Line Branch has an elevation of at its mouth. Much of the southern part of the watershed of County Line Branch lies over rock of the Onondaga and Old Port Formation. Some of the southern part of the watershed, however, is over rock of the Keyser and Tonoloway Formation. Most of the middle reaches of the watershed are on rock of the Hamilton Group and the uppermost and northernmost reaches of the watershed are on the Trimmers Rock Formation. There are several

in the watershed of County Line Branch. The Chenango-Pope-Holly series is found in a small part of the lowest reaches of the watershed, near the stream's mouth. The Hagerstown-Edom-Washington series is found in a much larger area in the southern part of the watershed. The Watson-Berks-Alvira series occurs in the watershed's middle reaches and the Berks-Weikert-Beddington series is found near the headwaters and also on its southwestern edge. There is

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

in the watershed of County Line Branch.

Watershed

The watershed of County Line Branch has an area of 8.97 square miles. Much of the watershed is in Anthony and Limestone Townships in Montour County, but a significant portion of it is in Lewis Township, Northumberland County. The watershed also occupies part of

Turbotville Turbotville is a borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the t ...

. Its northern edge is on the border of Lycoming County. The headwaters of County Line Branch and their vicinity are mostly forested. However, nearly all of the rest of it is agricultural land. There is little development anywhere in the watershed.

History and industries

An site called the Pulsifer Site (also known as Site 36Mo79) is a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

site on a

stream terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplain, other fluvial t ...

of County Line Branch. 32 artifacts have been unearthed at the site, 31 of which are

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

flakes. The other artifact is a

biface A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a Prehistory, prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger ...

. The material of these artifacts are dissimilar to the

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

in the area. Some of these artifacts date to the Archaic period and the Transitional period.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

ing are done in the upper reaches of the watershed of County Line Branch.

Biology

A large number of

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

plants and animals live at the headwaters of County Line Branch. There are also forests at the headwaters, which are part of a large tract of forested land. The Mountour County Natural Heritage Inventory lists the headwaters of County Line Branch as a "locally significant" site. There are 12

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

species at the headwaters of County Line Branch. These include three

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

species, two

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

species, and two

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

species. There is also a large population of

American beech American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

trees.

Shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s in this area include

witch hazel Witch-hazels or witch hazels (''Hamamelis'') are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America ('' H. ovalis'', '' H. virginiana'', and '' H. vernalis''), and one each in Japan ('' H.&nb ...

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

spicebush Dried fruits of ''Lindera neesiana'' used as spice (coll. MHNT) ''Lindera'' is a genus of about 80–100mountain laurel. There are also 23

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

species, including

Christmas fern ''Polystichum acrostichoides'', commonly denominated Christmas fern, is a perennial, evergreen fern native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota and south to Florida and eastern Texas.Indian cucumber, veined skullcap,

fleabane Fleabane is a common name for some flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Most are in the subfamily Asteroideae: * '' Conyza'' (butterweeds or horseweeds: Astereae) * '' Erigeron'' (Astereae) * '' Inula'' ("yellowheads": Inuleae) * '' Pluche ...

wild sarsaparilla ''Aralia nudicaulis'' (commonly wild sarsaparilla,Dickinson, T.; Metsger, G.; Hull, J.; and Dickinson, R. (2004) The ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 140. false sarsaparilla, shot bush, small spikenard, ...

, and numerous others. There are three

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

species inhabiting the headwaters of County Line Branch: the redback salamander, the northern spring salamander, and the northern two-lined salamander.

Stoneflies Plecoptera is an order of insects commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the most ...

and

fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

also live in the area. There are also ten species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s at the stream's headwaters, including

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers T ...

thrush Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

es,

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

s, and others. There are some

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

near the source of County Line Branch.

Beech bark disease Beech bark disease is a disease that causes mortality and defects in beech trees in the eastern United States, Canada and Europe.Tainter, Frank H., and Fred A. Baker . Principles of Forest Pathology. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.Sin ...

could potentially affect the beech trees in this area as well.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Montour County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Chillisquaque Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania