Cohansey River

The Cohansey River in Bridgeton in 2006

The Cohansey River (also called Cohansey Creek) is a 30.6-mile-long (49.2 km)^[1] river in southern New Jersey in the United States. The river drains approximately 108 square miles (280 km²) of rural agricultural and forested lowlands on the north shore of Delaware Bay.

It rises in central Salem County, approximately 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Woodstown, and flows south, through rural Cumberland County. It interconnects with Sunset Lake, which is in turn fed from Mary Elmer Lake, both of which are located in Bridgeton's park system.^[2] At Bridgeton it becomes navigable, although very shallow at low tide: 1 foot to a few inches coming through downtown Bridgeton. The city boat ramp downtown is unusable during low tide due to about 20 feet (6 m) of mud between the channel and the ramp. The river widens into a tidal estuary, approximately 10 miles (16 km) long, that flows south, then west, entering Cohansey Cove on Delaware Bay, approximately 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Bridgeton. The mouth of the estuary is surrounded by extensive wetlands and salt marshes.

In colonial times the river provided an anchorage for vessels approaching Philadelphia. In 1774, the small port village of Greenwich on the river near its mouth was the scene of an incident similar to the more famous Boston Tea Party in which imported tea was burned as a protest against taxation. The river was also known as the Cesaria River in colonial times.

See also

• Bridgeton, New Jersey Flood of 1934
• List of New Jersey rivers
• Mahlon Williamson (barque)

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011
2. ^ Bridgeton Parks Division

External links

• "Jersey Tea Party" on Cohansey Creek
• U.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stations

Coordinates: 39°23′18″N 75°18′55″W / 39.38845°N 75.31539°W / 39.38845; -75.31539