Pennypack Creek from Pennypack Trail in Pennypack Park

Pennypack Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 creek in southeastern

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It runs southeast through lower Bucks County, eastern Montgomery County and the northeast section of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, before emptying into the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

Name

The creek draws its name from the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

word ''pënëpèkw'' meaning "downward-flowing water" or "deep, dead water; water without much current." Early cartographers gave various spellings for the name, including Pennishpaska, La Riviere de Pennicpacka, and Pennishpacha Kyl. In early Swedish patents it was called Pemipacka. Thomas Holme called it Dublin Creek, while in later maps it is called Pennypack and Pennepack.Philly H2O
"Changes in the Names of Streams In and About Philadelphia." ''Public Ledger Almanac: 1879''. Pages 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, & 13. (Accessed 2008-08-18)

Course

The Pennypack creek was first surveyed by Thomas Holme in 1687. The creek begins in two branches, one in

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, the other in Warminster, joining in Bryn Athyn. The creek then flows through Lower Moreland, Abington and Northeast Philadelphia.

Early use as an industrial waterway

Pennypack Creek was once the site of several mills. When

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

founded the

province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

in 1682, the Pennypack valley was occupied by Swedish colonists, who continued to live as English settlement began. Penn ordered the first bridge built across the creek along the King's Highway (now Frankford Avenue) in 1697; the bridge still stands. Despite the lack of navigability beyond the Fall Line (near the Frankford Avenue bridge), several early settlers built mills along the Pennypack, including Penn's "Pemmapecka Mill," built in 1701. The mills contributed to the growth of Holmesburg, the neighborhood near the mouth of the creek, and provided local farmers a place to sell their grain that was nearer than the city of Philadelphia. Fetter's Mill was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1999.

Conversion to parkland

With the development of steam power in the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, water power's influence on industry declined. As a result, many of the mills on the Pennypack closed, and by 1905 the land around it was acquired by the city for parkland. The creek now runs through Pennypack Park in Philadelphia and Lorimer Park in Montgomery County. Segments of park trail help form the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long trail system connecting Maine to Florida.

Historic bridges

Several historic bridges cross Pennypack Creek and its tributaries. *The Frankford Avenue Bridge, a triple-span stone-arch bridge built in 1697, carries Frankford Avenue. It is the oldest stone bridge in the United States still in use. *The Fetters Mill Road Bridge, a Pratt through-truss bridge built in 1883, is still in use. *The Krewstown Road Bridge, a stone arch bridge built in 1800 and rehabilitated 1907, is still in use. *The Holme Avenue Bridge, a closed-spandrel concrete arch bridge built in 1918, is still in use. *The Roosevelt Boulevard Bridge, a closed-spandrel concrete arch bridge built in 1920, is still in use. *The Holme Avenue Bridge, a closed-spandrel concrete arch bridge across Wooden Bridge Run built in 1921, is still in use. *The Ryan Avenue Bridge, a closed-spandrel concrete arch bridge over Sandy Run built in 1929, is still in use. *The Rhawn Street Bridges, two closed-spandrel concrete arches bridge built in 1930, are still in use.Rhawn Street Bridge
at bridgehunter.com

External links

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations
*
picture
of Pennypack Creek from Windows Live Local. This scene shows the creek as it flows beneath the bridge on Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg, believed to be the oldest stone arch bridge in use in the United States. *
Friends of Pennypack Park
- from the Lincoln Cartledge Collection of the Historical Society of Frankford

(now part of Philadelphia: see

Act of Consolidation, 1854 The Act of Consolidation, more formally known as the act of February 2, 1854 (P.L. 21, No. 16), is legislation of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that created the consolidated City and County of Philadelphia, expanding the city's territory t ...

) * Headquartered at 2955 Edgehill Road in Huntingdon Valley, th
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust
manages the Pennypack Preserve which is open to the public and includes of pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle trails.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Delaware River Rivers of Philadelphia Rivers of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Bucks County, Pennsylvania