The Salt River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 13, 2011 river in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

that drains . It begins near Parksville, Kentucky, rising from the north slope of Persimmon Knob south of KY 300 between Alum Springs and Wilsonville, and ends at the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

near

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. Taylorsville Lake is formed from the Salt River, and Guist Creek Lake is also in its

drainage basin 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, ...

. Annual flooding swells the normally quiet waters to a rapidly flooding torrent, especially along the Rolling Fork, which runs largely along the base of steep, shaly knobs that mark the boundary between the Pennyroyal Region (a Mississippian limestone plateau) to the west and south and the Outer Bluegrass. (See the

Ohio River flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, for an example.) The Taylorsville Lake Dam, built in the early 1970s, has tamed the worst of the floods and changed the nature of the river downstream. Some flooding still occurs, especially near the Brashears Creek confluence at Taylorsville, but it is primarily back flow from the Ohio. The river receives the most rain in the month of May and the least in September, according to data from the local National Weather Service office. Dams were proposed on the Rolling Fork at Howardstown and on the Beech Fork at Campground, but were not deemed economically feasible. These two tributaries are marked on maps as the Rolling Fork River and the Beech Fork River. A tributary of the Beech Fork, the Chaplin River, rises near the source of the Salt.

Wildlife

The Salt River has areas protected by the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

because of several rare creatures and plants. The flood waters created rich bottom lands and support a variety of wetland habitats. Turtles, fish, waterfowl abound, deer, river otters and beaver are some of the typical animals living in the area. However, some not so common animals live in the area like the

Indiana bat The Indiana bat (''Myotis sodalis'') is a medium-sized mouse-eared bat native to North America. It lives primarily in Southern and Midwestern U.S. states and is listed as an endangered species. The Indiana bat is grey, black, or chestnut in colo ...

gray bat The gray bat (''Myotis grisescens'') is a species of microbat endemic to North America. It once flourished in caves all over the southeastern United States, but due to human disturbance (ecology), disturbance, gray bat populations declined severe ...

, fanshell, and Louisville (Knob Creek) crawfish.Nature.com - Kentucky - Salt River/Rolling Fork Conservancy
/ref> In addition to the animals, there are several rare or unique plants that live in the area. These include '' Carex crawei'' (Crawe's sedge), '' Cypripedium candidum'' (small white lady's-slipper), ''Leavenworthia exigua'' var. ''laciniata'' (glade cress), '' Sporobolus heterolepis'' (Prairie dropseed), '' Symphyotrichum pratense'' (silky aster), and '' Viola egglestonii'' (Eggleston's violet).

Geology

The river has a drainage area and is the fifth largest watershed in the state.Kleber, John E. ''The Encyclopedia of Louisville'' (University Press of Kentucky) page 784 The terrain around much of the river is deeply ridged until it nears its outlet at the Ohio, near West Point. The river itself is roughly above sea level.Groundwater Resources in Kentucky - Salt River
/ref> The shallow river valley is above sea level, but there are usually steep hillsides that climb quickly to elevations at , a common ground level in the central Kentucky area. This creates areas of flat topped ridges separated by narrow valleys or "hollows," often washed out by small creeks or streams draining into the river. Flash floods are common in these narrow valleys, and they complicate travel between ridges, often requiring a circuitous path. It was not uncommon for folks in the valley and folks on the ridge-tops to see each other infrequently. The Salt River in Bullitt County contains class I

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

and is .River Facts.com - Kentucky Whitewater Salt River
/ref> On cool mornings, fog fills the valley floor, stabilizing and cooling the temperature, while on the ridge, it may be hot and dry.

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 ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s do well in the lower fields, even while droughts parched the drier, hotter ridges.

History

The river received its name from the

Bullitt's Lick Bullitt's Lick is a historic salt lick west of Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Shepherdsville in Bullitt County, Kentucky. It was the first commercial supplier of salt in Kentucky, and the first industry in Kentucky as well, supplying jobs for many res ...

settlement that was founded at an animal salt lick in 1779 by Henry Crist. The river has been used for navigation and sustenance since humans occupied the area. Old Indian artifacts are found along the length of the river valley by farmers and new construction work in the area. Log cabins and settlements grew on the banks, using it as a source of water, power and transportation. The river bank flats and water made travel over through the ridged terrain easier. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, an earth-walled fort was established on a tall hill overlooking the Ohio, near the Salt River. It guarded passage through Louisville and south on the road along the Ohio River, which much later became known as the

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

. It also protected against Southern forces attacking from the Ohio River and up the Salt River. Fort Duffield may be the best-preserved earthen Civil War fort in America and illustrates how important river access via the Salt River and the Ohio was to early travelers. In 1983 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a dam on the river just above Taylorsville, forming Taylorsville Lake.

Economy

During early settlements, high water was used to ship timber and local product down stream to the Ohio River. In quieter waters, small boats came upstream, helping settlers move goods to remote farms. It also flooded towns like Taylorsville, Shepherdsville, and to a lesser extent southern

and

, changing their architecture and growth pattern. A number of mills used to dot the length of the Salt River and its tributaries, using the water to grind feed and flour, saw lumber and more. These include those of

and Bell's Mill on Floyd's Fork. The Salt River was a primary water source for a number of towns and farms. Taylorsville, Mount Washington and Shepherdsville all used to draw water from the river until water lines were extended from Louisville.

References

External links