The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in

. The Trent River joins the Neuse at New Bern. Its drainage basin, measuring in area, also lies entirely inside North Carolina. It is formed by the confluence of the Flat and

Eno Eno may refer to: Music * English National Opera, London * ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics * "Eno", a song by X-Wife from '' Rockin' Rio EP'' Organisations and businesses * Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories busine ...

rivers prior to entering the Falls Lake reservoir in northern Wake County. Its fall line shoals, known as the ''Falls of the Neuse'', lie submerged under the waters of Falls Lake. This River also creates the beauty of the Neuse River Trail, a long greenway that stretches from Falls Lake Dam,

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

to Legend Park, Clayton, North Carolina.

Geography

The Neuse begins at the confluence of the Flat and Eno rivers near Durham, North Carolina. The river enters Pamlico Sound just east of Maw Point Shoal near Hobucken, North Carolina while en route to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. Typical of rivers in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, the Neuse enters a basin of chocolate intermittent bottomland swamp on its journey towards its outlet. One interesting exception is the " Cliffs of the Neuse" area near Goldsboro, where the river cuts a narrow 30 m (90 ft) gorge through

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

bluffs. The Neuse is prone to extremes in its flow carriage, often escaping its banks during wet periods, then reducing to a trickle that can be forded on foot during prolonged drought conditions. The Neuse flows through parts of seven counties. Major cities and towns in proximity to the Neuse are Durham; Neuse Township; Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina; Smithfield; Goldsboro; Kinston and New Bern. Neuse River in Raleigh

History

For thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, different civilizations of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

lived along the river. Many artifacts found along its banks have been traced to ancient

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

Native American settlements. Archaeological studies have shown waves of habitation. Carolina Vintage Map

The river has one of the three oldest surviving English-applied placenames in the U.S. Explorers named the Neuse River after the American Indian tribe known as Neusiok, with whom the early Raleigh expeditions made contact. They also identified the region as the "Neusick". Two English captains, Arthur Barlowe and Phillip Amadas, were commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 to explore the New World. They landed on North Carolina's coast July 2, 1584 to begin their research. In their 1585 report to Raleigh, they wrote favorably of the Indian population in "…the country Neusiok, situated upon a goodly river called Neuse…", as it was called by the local population. In 1865 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, the Confederates burned one of the last ironclad warships which they had built, the ''Ram Neuse'', to prevent its capture by Union troops. The level of the river had fallen so that it prevented the ship from passing downriver. Nearly a century later, during another period of historically low water, the remains of the ship were discovered. It was raised in 1963. Later the ship was installed beside the river at the Governor Caswell Memorial in Kinston. William Larry Stewart II, a.k.a. Billy Stewart (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970), an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, died in a broad-daylight car accident in January 1970, just two months prior to his 33rd birthday. The accident happened when the Ford Thunderbird that Stewart was driving approached a bridge across the Neuse River near Smithfield, North Carolina. His car left the highway, ran along the median strip at a slight angle to the highway, struck the bridge abutment, and then plunged into the river, killing Stewart and his three passengers instantly. The low-head Quaker Neck Dam was built in 1952 at Neuse River kilometer 225 to impound cooling water for a steam electric plant. A fish ladder was included. The dam was removed in May 1998, opening up access for anadromous fish to of the mainstem Neuse River.

Water quality

The Neuse has been plagued in recent years with environmental and public health problems related to municipal and agricultural waste water discharge, storm runoff, and other sources of pollution. Pollution was particularly bad in the aftermath of hurricanes Fran and Floyd in the late 1990s. The dinoflagellate ''

Pfiesteria piscicida ''Pfiesteria piscicida'' is a dinoflagellate species of the genus '' Pfiesteria'' that some researchers claim is responsible for many harmful algal blooms in the 1980s and 1990s on the coast of North Carolina and Maryland. North Carolinian med ...

''Facts about Pfiesteria
NCDENR is present in the river, and has a

bloom Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

in growth when nutrient levels are increased due to too much runoff. This organism may be connected to fish kills as well as adverse health effects in grapes.

Tributaries

* Eno River * Flat River * Little River * Stoney Creek * Crabtree Creek *

Walnut Creek A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

West Bear Creek West Bear Creek is a small tributary to Bear Creek located in eastern North Carolina. The West Bear Creek watershed is a tiny contributing area of the Neuse River basin. The geology of the area is mostly siliclastic sediments and organic soils. D ...

* Bear Creek * Contentnea Creek *Lefferts' Creek * Trent River

References