West Fork River

Geobox River
name = West Fork River


image_size = 290
image_caption = The West Fork River in Enterprise in 1996
image_first =
country = United States
state = West Virginia
length =
length_imperial = 103
length_note =cite book| last= Venable |first= Wallace |editor= Ken Sullivan (ed.) | title= The West Virginia Encyclopedia |year= 2006 |publisher= West Virginia Humanities Council |location=Charleston, W.Va. |isbn= 0-9778498-0-5 |pages= p. 758 |chapter=West Fork River]
watershed =
watershed_imperial = 881
watershed_note = [cite web |url= http://www.dep.state.wv.us/watershed/ |pages = [http://web.archive.org/web/20060523112232/www.dep.state.wv.us/watershed/w5020002.html West Fork River] | title= Watershed Atlas Project. | author= West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection | accessdate=2007-02-26 |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20050404165853/www.dep.state.wv.us/watershed/ |archivedate=2006-05-07]
discharge_location = Enterprise
discharge_average =
discharge_average_imperial = 1160
discharge_max_imperial =
discharge_min_imperial =
discharge_note =(2005) [cite web |url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/annual/?referred_module=sw&site_no=03061000&por_03061000_1=1119485,00060,1,1907,2005&year_type=W&format=html_table&date_format=YYYY-MM-DD&rdb_compression=file&submitted_form=parameter_selection_list |title=USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics for the Nation: USGS 03061000 West Fork River at Enterprise, West Virginia| author= United States Geological Survey |authorlink=United States Geological Survey |accessdate=2007-03-17]
discharge1_location =
discharge1_average_imperial =
source_name = Confluence of Straight Fork and Whites Camp Fork
source_location = near Rock Cave, Upshur County
source_location_note =
source_lat_d = 38
source_lat_m = 51
source_lat_s = 08
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 80
source_long_m = 21
source_long_s = 32
source_long_EW = W
source_coordinates_note =cite web |url=Gnis3|1548931 |title=Geographic Names Information System entry for West Fork River (Feature ID #1548931) |author=Geographic Names Information System |authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-12]
source_elevation =
source_elevation_imperial = 1309
source_elevation_note =cite web |url=Gnis3|1547564 |title=Geographic Names Information System entry for Straight Fork (Feature ID #1547564) |author=Geographic Names Information System |authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-12]
source_length =
source_length_imperial =
source1_name =
source_meet =
mouth_name = Monongahela River
mouth_location = Fairmont
mouth_location_note =
mouth_elevation =
mouth_elevation_imperial = 863
mouth_elevation_note =
mouth_lat_d = 39
mouth_lat_m = 27
mouth_lat_s = 53
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 80
mouth_long_m = 09
mouth_long_s = 11
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_coordinates_note =
tributary_left =
tributary_left1 =
tributary_right =
tributary_right1 =


map_size = 290
map_caption = Map of the Monongahela River basin, with the West Fork River highlighted
map_first =

The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, 103 miles (166 km) long, in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 881 square miles (2,284 km²) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau.

The river is formed near the community of Rock Cave in southwestern Upshur County by the confluence of small headwaters tributaries known as Straight Fork and Whites Camp Fork. [cite web |url=Gnis3|1549092 |title=Geographic Names Information System entry for Whites Camp Fork (Feature ID #1549092) |author=Geographic Names Information System |authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-12] From this confluence the West Fork River flows generally northwardly through Lewis, Harrison and Marion Counties, through the communities of Weston, West Milford, Clarksburg, Lumberport, Shinnston, Enterprise, Worthington, and Monongah to Fairmont, where it joins the Tygart Valley River from the west to form the Monongahela River. Among other tributaries, it collects Stonecoal Creek in Weston; Hackers Creek in southern Harrison County; Elk Creek in Clarksburg; and Simpson Creek and Tenmile Creek in northern Harrison County.DeLorme (1997). "West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer". Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. pp. 25, 36. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.]

The West Fork has a low gradient and is slow-moving throughout its course. It is locally popular for fishing, and is stocked with muskellunge by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Other fish species in the river include carp; channel and flathead catfish; golden and rainbow trout; largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass; sauger; and walleye.cite journal | last = Jernejcic | first = Frank | title = Best of the West Fork | journal = Wonderful West Virginia | volume = 59 | issue = 1 | pages = 2–4 | publisher = West Virginia Division of Natural Resources | date = March 1995]

Jackson's Mill was established along the river north of Weston around the year 1800 by Edward Jackson; his grandson, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson lived there during much of his youth. The site has been operated as a 4-H facility since the 1920s. [Meador, Michael M. (2006). "Jackson's Mill." "The West Virginia Encyclopedia". Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. pp. 375-376. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.]

A walking trail parallels the river for 1.2 miles (2 km) in River Bend City Park in Clarksburg. For much of its length between Clarksburg and Fairmont, the West Fork is paralleled by a pair of rail trails on the route of a mid-19th century line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The Harrison County Trail extends northward from Clarksburg, and the West Fork River Trail connects Shinnston to Fairmont. A long-term closure of the connection between the two trails is anticipated, due to the presence of hazardous waste at an industrial site near the community of Spelter in northern Harrison County. [cite web |url=http://www.mcparc.com/parks/westfork.htm |title=Ralph S. LaRue / West Fork River Trail |author=Marion County Parks And Recreation Commission |year=2006 |accessdate=2007-02-12] [cite web |url=http://www.wvrtc.org/trails/harrisonco-dirs.html |title=Harrison County Trail |author=West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council |year=2002 |accessdate=2007-02-12]

Dams and navigation

The West Fork River is not navigable by commercial barge traffic; it is classified by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources as "recreationally navigable" for canoes and similar craft. During the early history of the United States, the government of Virginia attempted to maintain commercial navigability on the river, chartering a company for that purpose in 1793 and requiring that dams for milling operations provide a chute for boats to pass downstream. Construction of a system of locks, dams, and chutes was begun by the Monongahela Navigation Company in 1817; the project was abandoned following damage by floods in 1824.

Three miles (5 km) south of Weston, the river is dammed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to form Stonewall Jackson Lake. The project was authorized by the federal Flood Control Act of 1966 for the stated purposes of flood control, improvement of water quality and water supply, improvement of habitat for fish and wildlife, hydropower, and recreation.cite web |url=http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/stonewal.htm |title=Stonewall Jackson Lake |author=United States Army Corps of Engineers |authorlink=United States Army Corps of Engineers |accessdate=2007-02-12] Construction of the dam was delayed by the opposition of local residents and began in the mid-1980s at an ultimate cost of $208 million; it became fully operational in 1988. [Johnson, Skip (2006). "Stonewall Jackson Lake." "The West Virginia Encyclopedia". Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. p. 684. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.] The dam is 95 feet (29 m) tall and forms a 2,650-acre (1,060 ha) lake, with a larger capacity during periods of flood. Land along the lake is leased to the West Virginia government and is used as a wildlife management area [cite web |url=http://www.wvdnr.gov/Hunting/WMAAreas.shtm#37 |title=West Virginia Wildlife Management Areas |author=West Virginia Department of Natural Resources |year=2003 |accessdate=2007-02-12] and as Stonewall Jackson Resort State Park. [cite web |url=http://www.stonewallresort.com/ |title=Stonewall Resort/Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park |accessdate=2007-02-12]

Between the years of 1905 and 1931, four small dams were constructed by the Clarksburg Water Board on a sixteen-mile (26 km) stretch of the river upstream (south) of Clarksburg, for the provision of local drinking water. The dams in later years have come to be regarded as good fishing areas.

Variant names

The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "West Fork River" as the stream's name in 1902. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the West Fork River has also been known historically as:
*Muddy River
*West Branch
*West Fork
*West Fork Monongahela River
*West Fork of Monongahela River
*West River

ee also

*List of West Virginia rivers

References