Broadkill River

Geobox River
name = Broadkill River
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =

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image_size = 280
image_caption = The Broadkill River in Milton in 2006
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country = United States
country1 =
state = Delaware
state1 =
region =
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city =
city1 =
length =
length_imperial = 13.3
length_note =cite web |url=http://estuariesandcoasts.org/cdrom/CPSC1973_14_1_28_40.pdf | title=The Hydrography of the Broadkill River Estuary, Delaware | author = DeWitt, Piet | coauthors = Daiber, Franklin C. | work = Chesapeake Science, Vol. 14 No. 1 | year=1973 | month=March | accessdate=2007-02-04]
watershed =
watershed_imperial = 110
watershed_note =
discharge_location =
discharge_average =
discharge_average_imperial =
discharge_max =
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discharge_min =
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source_name = Wagamons Pond
source_location = Milton
source_location_note =
source_region =
source_country =
source_country1 =
source_lat_d = 38
source_lat_m = 46
source_lat_s = 37
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 75
source_long_m = 18
source_long_s = 47
source_long_EW = W
source_coordinates_note =cite web |url=Gnis3|213715 |title=GNIS entry for Broadkill River (Feature ID #213715)|author=Geographic Names Information System|authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-04]
source_elevation =
source_elevation_imperial =
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source_length =
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source_meet =
mouth_name = Delaware Bay
mouth_location = northwest of Lewes
mouth_location_note =
mouth_country =
mouth_region =
mouth_country1 =
mouth_elevation =
mouth_elevation_imperial = 3
mouth_elevation_note =
mouth_lat_d = 38
mouth_lat_m = 47
mouth_lat_s = 25
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 75
mouth_long_m = 09
mouth_long_s = 44
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_coordinates_note =
tributary_left =
tributary_left1 =
tributary_right =
tributary_right1 =


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The Broadkill River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is 13.3 miles (21 km) long and drains an area of 110 square miles (285 km²) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The Broadkill flows for its entire length in eastern Sussex County. It issues from Wagamons Pond in the town of Milton; the pond is fed by two tributaries known as Ingram Branch [cite web |url=Gnis3|214147 |title=GNIS entry for Ingram Branch (Feature ID #214147)|author=Geographic Names Information System|authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-04] and Pemberton Branch. [cite web |url=Gnis3|214434 |title=GNIS entry for Pemberton Branch (Feature ID #214434)|author=Geographic Names Information System|authorlink=Geographic Names Information System|accessdate=2007-02-04] From Milton, the Broadkill River flows generally eastwardly, passing through wetlands and salt marshes in the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. [cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/northeast/primehook/ |title=Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge |author= United States Fish and Wildlife Service |authorlink= United States Fish and Wildlife Service |accessdate=2007-02-04] After approaching to within one quarter mile (0.5 km) of Delaware Bay, the river parallels the shoreline a short distance inland for approximately two miles (3 km) before flowing into the bay, approximately one mile (1.6 km) northwest of Lewes. The United States Coast Guard maintains a station near the mouth of the Broadkill. The mouth is connected to Rehoboth Bay by the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal, which forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. [DeLorme (2004). "Maryland Delaware Atlas & Gazetteer". pp.44-45. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-279-X.]

In the 19th century the river was the center of a regional shipbuilding industry, arising from the access it furnished to inland forests; the industry fell into decline in the 1890s. [cite web |url=http://www.state.de.us/sos/dpa/markers/sc/SHIPBUILDING%20ON%20THE%20BROADKILL%20SC%20143.shtml |title= Shipbuilding on the Broadkill |author=State of Delaware |authorlink=Delaware |accessdate=2007-02-04]

A footpath known as the Governors Walk follows the Broadkill in central Milton. The Nature Conservancy established a preserve along the river downstream of Milton in 1998. [cite web |url=http://www.destateparks.com/greenway/traillist/traillist3.htm |title= Greenways & Trails |author= State of Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Division of Parks and Recreation |accessdate=2007-02-04] As of 2005, an annual canoe and kayak race was being held on the river in Milton. [cite web |url=http://www.miltonde.com/milton/festivals.html |title= Milton Fairs and Festivals |accessdate=2007-02-04]

Variant names and spellings

The United States Board on Geographic Names issued an opinion clarifying "Broadkill River" as the stream's name in 1961. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as:
*Broad Creek
*Broad Kill
*Broad Kill Creek
*Broadkill Creek
*Broadkiln Creek
*Lewis Creek

ee also

*List of Delaware rivers

References