Quantico Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed August 15, 2011 partially tidal

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

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 ...

in eastern Prince William County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Quantico Creek rises southeast of Independent Hill, flows through Prince William Forest Park and

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

and empties into the Potomac at Possum Point.

History

John Smith in 1608 reported the existence of a Doeg community called ''Pamacocack'' on the banks of this creek, as well as on the directly opposite (

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 ...

) side of the Potomac. This is thought to be a likely candidate for the place Henry Spelman was found living among the natives, which he reported was named "Nacottawtanke, but by our english cald icCamocacocke". Early land patents spell the name of the creek variously as ''Quancico'' (1654), ''Quanticotte'' (1654, 1658), ''Quantecot'' (1657), ''Quanticoke'' (1664), ''Quonticutt'' (1665), and ''Quanticutt'' (1665).Nugent, ''Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents''. In 1690, settler Richard Gibson erected a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

on Quantico Creek near what is now the town of

. Scottish settlers then established a settlement and port on the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of Quantico Creek downstream after the bars to Virginia's profitable

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

trade were lifted by the Navigation Law of 1707. West of that port, the land was quickly cleared of its timber and was planted with crops such as

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and tobacco. These

cash crop A cash crop, also called profit crop, is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate a marketed crop from a staple crop ("subsi ...

s were harvested and shipped out through the port of Dumfries at the head of the Quantico harbor. A customhouse and warehouse followed in 1731, and many others cropped up along the estuary by 1732. The growth of tobacco caused the area around the creek to

erode Erode (; īrōṭu), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Kaveri river and is surrounded by the Western Ghats. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. It is the administrativ ...

, and the creek was filled with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

. The mid-19th century saw the development of some mining operations along the creek, consisting of the Greenwood Gold Mine, located at the headwaters of the North Branch near Independent Hill, and the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine, located about 1 mile west of

and now within the Park. Both mines were significant sources of pollution on the creek. The

pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...

mine was a source of

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

, formed from the natural breakdown of pyrite, while mercury was used extensively in the

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

extraction process. At one point, the water in the creek was nearly as acidic as

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

. Both mines have since undergone significant reclamation to restore the creek and its surroundings to an acceptable state of health, especially within the park. Today, the creek is not navigable because of silting in. Most of its watershed lies in Prince William Forest Park and the town of Dumfries. The mines are no longer in operation. A

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

on Possum Point uses the water from the creek to cool itself.

Communities

Several communities, some extinct, lie near Quantico Creek. Communities are listed from the Quantico's source to its mouth on the Potomac. * Independent Hill * Hickory Ridge (extinct) * Batestown (extinct) *

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

* Quantico, site of the Marine Corps Base Quantico

References

"A Ground Electromagnetic Survey Used to Map Sulfides and Acid Sulfate Ground Waters at the Abandoned Cabin Branch Mine, Prince William Forest Park, Northern Virginia Gold-Pyrite Belt"
by Jeff Wynn, ''U.S. Geological Survey'', Reston, VA 20192, retrieved April 7, 2006 {{authority control Rivers of Prince William County, Virginia Rivers of Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River

History

Communities

See also

References