Turtle Creek (Monongahela River)
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Turtle Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed August 15, 2011
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
Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
that is located in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties 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 ...
of
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 ...
. Situated at its juncture with the Monongahela is
Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...
, where the
Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, ...
("Braddock's Defeat") was fought in 1755. During the mid-nineteenth century, the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
laid tracks along the stream as part of its Main Line from
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 ...
to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
.


Course

The
headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
of Turtle Creek are located in Delmont. The stream flows westward through the municipalities of Export, Murrysville, Monroeville, Penn Township, Trafford, Pitcairn, Wilmerding, Turtle Creek, East Pittsburgh and North Braddock, before and entering the Monongahela River in North Versailles Township.


History


The western frontier: 1700s

Turtle Creek is the English translation of the Native American name, naming the area for its abundance of turtles. During the mid-eighteenth century, the Turtle Creek valley lay on the western frontier of the British colony of Pennsylvania, and much of its early
written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...
revolved around the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
. In 1755, the first major battle in the theater took place near the mouth of Turtle Creek at the Monongahela river, where the British General
Edward Braddock Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...
was mortally wounded and his forces compelled to retreat from what became a failed expedition to capture the French
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...
. In 1758, General John Forbes led a more formidable and ultimately successful expedition against the fort, establishing a more northerly
military road A military road is a type of road built by an armed force A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...
which crossed Turtle Creek in what is now Murrysville. In 1763, the war with the French was concluded and
Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754– ...
began, in which
Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native America ...
's forces engaged a group of allied tribal forces at the
Battle of Bushy Run The Battle of Bushy Run was fought on August 5–6, 1763, in western Pennsylvania, between a British column under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet and a combined force of Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo, and Huron warriors. This action occurred d ...
. Upon defeating his opponents, Bouquet followed them downstream to the banks of Turtle Creek near what would become the town of
Pitcairn The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islan ...
, where he found the Native American forces had hastily abandoned their camp site, which Boquet referred to as a "Dirty Camp." Bouquet's description inspired the name of small stream that flows into Turtle Creek there, "Dirty Camp Run." After these hostilities abated,
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, who was part of both Braddock's ill-fated expedition and Forbes' successful campaign, returned to the area and is believed to have followed roads along Brush Creek and Turtle Creek en route to and from Fort Pitt. Washington traveled through the area multiple times, and was known to have stopped at the residences of two early settlers of the Turtle Creek area. One was Martha Miers, a French and Indian war widow, who had an inn near Thompson Run. The other was John Fraser, who had served with Washington under General Braddock and who settled near the mouth of Turtle Creek.


Railroads and industrialization: ~1850-1900s

A century after the first military roads were carved through the Turtle Creek valley, another type of road took advantage of the gentle gradient that the creek carved through the surrounding hills. In 1852, the Main Line of the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
opened for business, transporting passengers and freight between
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 ...
and
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
via track laid along the left bank of the lower section of Turtle Creek and farther upstream through the Brush Creek valley. In 1891, the Turtle Creek Valley Railroad began service from
Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...
, proceeding along the middle and upper sections of Turtle Creek. It was acquired by the PRR in 1903, and the railroad would be further extended beyond the bounds of the Turtle Creek watershed to Saltsburg.
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
's Union Railroad was laid along Turtle Creek and its tributary, Thompson Run connecting to his
Edgar Thomson Steel Works The Edgar Thomson Steel Works is a steel mill in the Pittsburgh area communities of Braddock and North Braddock, Pennsylvania. It has been active since 1875. It is currently owned by U.S. Steel and is known as Mon Valley Works – Edgar Thomson ...
in Braddock.
George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for bei ...
's Interworks Railway began service in 1902, connecting his three major manufacturing facilities in the lower Turtle Creek valley. As industry grew in the Turtle Creek valley, several towns began to grow around the factories, railroads and resources along the creek. By 1876, the largest towns along Turtle Creek were the railroad towns of
Port Perry Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto, north of Oshawa, and east of Whitby, Ontario, Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,553 as of 2021. Port Perry serves as the admi ...
, which no longer exists, and Turtle Creek, which was incorporated in 1892. Pitcairn incorporated in 1894 and the borough of
Wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...
incorporated on the opposite bank of the creek a decade later; both grew in response to the sprawling rail-yard between them. East Pittsburgh,
Wilmerding Wilmerding is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2020 census. It is located southeast of Pittsburgh. At the start of the twentieth century, it had extensive foundries and machine shops o ...
and Trafford were all populated by the workers of the Westinghouse factories. The town of
Export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...
was established near the headwaters of Turtle Creek as a mining community, which exported coal via the Turtle Creek Branch of the PRR to industrial areas downstream and elsewhere.


Twenty-first century

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, much of the infrastructure that changed the Turtle Creek valley remained in place, but had changed in form and purpose. The Pennsylvania Railroad's main line has become
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
's
Pittsburgh Line The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is part of the Keystone Corridor, Amtrak-Norfolk Southern's combine ...
, where heavy freight traffic still runs, but passenger service has been reduced to once per day on
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's ''
Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, on the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesc ...
''. Passengers no longer board trains at Pitcairn Station; its yards have been converted into NS's Intermodal Terminal. The Edgar Thomson Steel Works and Union Railroad still operate, now under the control of
US Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...
and its subsidiary Transtar. Westinghouse's railroad is gone, but his airbrake facility still operates at its original site under the name
Wabtec Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Wab ...
; the Westinghouse electrical plant is now the Keystone Commons industrial park, and portions of the foundries in Trafford have become baseball facilities, with other parts awaiting redevelopment. The Turtle Creek Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad served out its final three decades as a privately owned short-line, the
Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad The Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad was a short line railroad, short line freight railroad that operated in western Pennsylvania between the boroughs of Export, Pennsylvania, Export and Trafford, Pennsylvania, Trafford, where it connected to ...
, before flooding from the creek prompted its end of service and eventual conversion into part of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail. The coal mines in the Turtle Creek watershed have all closed, but the abandoned mine drainage they emit continues to adversely effect the aquatic life in the creek.


Watershed

The Turtle Creek watershed is the region drained by Turtle Creek. Sixty-six percent of its area is located in Westmoreland County, with the balance in
Allegheny County Allegheny County ( ) is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pit ...
. The watershed's area is . It drains forests, farmlands, abandoned mines, and urban and suburban communities. The watershed includes portions of thirty-three municipalities. The lower watershed drains a heavily industrial area between the cities of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
and
McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela River, Monongahela and Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the ...
. The number of "subwatersheds" within the Turtle Creek Watershed depends on which organization defines the boundaries of these geographical regions. The
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
(USGS) divides the Turtle Creek Watershed into four subwatersheds, giving each a 12-digit
hydrologic unit code A hydrological code or hydrologic unit code is a sequence of numbers or letters (a ''geocode'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such as a river, river reach, lake, or area like a drainage basin (also called watershed in North Americ ...
(HUC). The Turtle Creek Watershed Association (TCWA), motivated by guidelines which stated that a watershed should be "2 to 15 square miles" in size, has further divided most of the USGS subwatersheads into fourteen subwatershed planning units. Both the USGS's and the TCWA's defined watersheds are listed in the table in this section.


Flow Alterations


Channelization

The flow-line of mid-twentieth century Turtle Creek meandered noticeably less than it did a hundred years earlier, particularly in its lower regions between Trafford and the mouth of the creek at the Monongahela River. This artificial channelization of the creek was prompted by industrialization of the region. Diversions to suit the expanding railroads of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company had the most obvious impacts, while alterations to suit the needs of George Westinghouse's manufacturing companies and Andrew Carnegie's steel operations are also evident in changes shown in historical maps of the creek. In 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company began running its main line along the left bank of the lower section of Turtle Creek. In 1874, it acquired of land for its Wall Yard (later known as Pitcairn Yard), construction of which would involve relocating much of Turtle Creek northward before the completion of the yards on the left bank of the creek in 1892. Sometime between 1903 and 1915 the creek was further diverted to straighten the tracks of the railroad on its right bank, where the Westinghouse Interworks Railway company ran its trains. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also diverted the flow of the creek in the Blackburn neighborhood of Trafford to create a wye (pronounced like the letter "Y") to enable its trains to switch directions there. The pond formed by part of the old creek-bed eventually took a name derived from that of Blackburn's farm and this wye, "B-Y Pond". Turtle Creek served as part of the political boundary between what were once North Versailles and Patton townships, as well as part of the boundary between Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. When the flow-line of the creek was altered, the political divisions were not redrawn, and so some seemingly out of place borders now exist near the banks of Turtle Creek. For example: a portion of US Steel's Edgar Thomson Works which appears to be in North Braddock is actually in North Versailles. Businesses in Broadway Park on PA Route 130 are also in North Versailles, but have addresses in Monroeville. The Pitcairn Intermodal Terminal (formerly Pitcairn Yard, and Wall Yard before that) lies in both Monroeville and North Versailles, but, ironically, not in Pitcairn. All American Park, a baseball and softball complex built at a former Westinghouse site in Trafford, has some fields which straddle the Allegheny/Westmoreland County border.


Westinghouse Dams

By 1908, two dams were known to exist on Turtle Creek; both were built at water intakes for industrial facilities. One was at the Westinghouse Machine Company in East Pittsburgh; it was described as being low and not appreciably obstructing the flow of the stream. The Trafford dam, located just upstream of Turtle Creek's confluence with Brush Creek, was more imposing, once standing at tall and wide in the shadow of the bridge which carried PA Route 130. By the time the Westinghouse plant in Trafford closed, the nearby dam had outlived its original purpose. The water which pooled around the dam had found use as a swimming hole by those who would break through the fence around it, and this was considered a potential drowning hazard, in part due to the currents which could form around the dam. The dam was also hazardous to fish and other aquatic life, promoting a rise in water temperature which causes a decrease in its dissolved oxygen, while physically impeding the migration of fish up and down the stream. It not only blocked the travel of fish, but also that of local canoeists, who described the dam as "dangerous, unrunnable and unportageable". The Trafford dam was finally removed in September 2013.


Flood Control

Because of their relatively low elevation with respect to that of the Monongahela river, the Westinghouse facilities in East Pittsburgh and Turtle Creek were vulnerable to back water flooding, when the waters of the Monongahela reach such a height as to cause water to back up into the Turtle Creek channel. This happened multiple times, notably during the Great St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936. The Westinghouse Floodgate project was undertaken from 1937 to 1938 for the purpose of blocking similar floods from backing up into the Turtle Creek channel. The project consisted of two adjoining floodgates, one gate which could be lowered to block the creek itself, and an adjoining gate that would be simultaneously block (Old) Braddock Avenue, which runs parallel to Turtle Creek in its floodplain. On the left bank of the creek next to the gates stands a gatehouse/pump-house, which held three pumps capable of pumping of water downstream per second in the event that the gates needed to be lowered. The height of the gates meant that they could withstand backwater from the Monongahela river as long as the river surface remained below 750 feet above sea level. In 1999, the Turtle Creek Valley Council of Governments determined that operating and maintaining the facility placed too great a financial burden upon the boroughs of Wilmerding, Turtle Creek and East Pittsburgh. Photos taken in 2013 indicate the floodgate facility is no longer being maintained. While the Westinghouse Floodgates protected the lower Turtle Creek Valley from backwater flooding from the Monongahela River downstream, it was not designed to protect from flash flooding pouring down from tributaries upstream. Flash floods in 1911, 1942 and 1950 all deposited rain at a rate which exceeded the capacity of Turtle Creek to drain it, and, in October 1954, the remnants of
Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second-costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before it struck the United States near the border between North and Sou ...
caused what was then the flood of record by attempting to discharge of water per second through a Turtle Creek channel that had a drainage capacity of only , overflowing its banks and causing an estimated $13 million in damages (approximately $ in ). The following year, the Turtle Creek District Flood Authority was organized to work with the Army Corps of Engineers on a massive channelization project whose design and construction continued into the next decade. From its confluence with Brush Creek in Trafford to a point downstream, Turtle Creek was channelized to the extent needed to accommodate a flow equal to that caused by Hazel. For the downstream to the river, the channel was improved with stone and concrete walls and a similarly lined bottom, affording a capacity for this more heavily developed, lowest section of the creek. Construction of the concrete channel lining was completed in 1967, and control was turned over to the local flood authority, which was expected to maintain the channel at its constructed drainage capacity by occasionally removing accumulation of sediment, vegetation and other debris. The channel proved adequate to discharge the rainfall caused by the remnants of
Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...
in June 1972 ( at East Pittsburgh),
Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...
in September 2004 ( at Wilmerding), and a non-tropical cyclone-related flash flood in June 2009 ( at Wilmerding). The June 2009 flood not only damaged the Thompson Run valley, but also flooded parts of Turtle Creek several miles upstream of the concrete-lined lower section. The town of Export, which the upper section of Turtle Creek flows through, sustained nearly $2 million in damages (approximately $ in ) from this flood alone. Construction on its flood control system began in 2010, and work on the $9.8 million (approximately $ in ) project was completed in the fall of 2012. The completed project begins just upstream of Puckety Drive, with a levee near the eastern edge of the Dura-Bond steel tube coating facility. The levee contains a small removable gate though which the tracks of the company's
Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad The Turtle Creek Industrial Railroad was a short line railroad, short line freight railroad that operated in western Pennsylvania between the boroughs of Export, Pennsylvania, Export and Trafford, Pennsylvania, Trafford, where it connected to ...
pass, though the railroad's services were halted due to damage from the 2009 flood and it would never resume regular operation. The levee directs Turtle Creek into a concrete channel that runs beneath the road and continues for . At this point low flow waters are allowed into the natural Turtle Creek stream channel alongside Old William Penn Highway, while excess flow is directed underground through an additional of culvert to rejoin the meandering stream on the west side of Export. Initially, a second phase of construction with additional protective elements was planned, which was needed for "full 100-year protection", but state officials later decided that the second phase was not necessary and the protection from a "50-year storm" provided by phase one of the project would suffice.


See also

*
List of rivers of Pennsylvania This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Delaware Bay Chesapeake Bay *''E ...


References


External links

* * {{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Monongahela River Rivers of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Allegheny Plateau