Ashtabula River

Ashtabula River
The Ashtabula River as viewed from the Riverview Covered Bridge
Map of the Ashtabula River and its watershed
Location
Country	United States of America
State	Ohio
County	Ashtabula County
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Confluence of east and west branches in Monroe Township, Ashtabula County
• coordinates	41°48′51″N 80°36′57″W[2]
• elevation	850 feet (260 m)[1]
Mouth
• location	Lake Erie at Ashtabula, Ohio
• coordinates	41°54′36″N 80°47′55″W[2]
• elevation	571 feet (174 m)[2]
Length	40 miles (64 km)^[citation needed]
Basin size	137 square miles (350 km^2)[3]
Discharge
• location	mouth
• average	220.72 cu ft/s (6.250 m^3/s) (estimate)[4]

The Ashtabula River^[5] is a river located northeast of Cleveland in Ohio. The river flows into Lake Erie at the city of Ashtabula, Ohio. It is 40 miles (64 km) in length and drains 137 square miles (350 km²).^{[citation needed]}

Name

Ashtabula derives from Lenape language ashte-pihële, 'always enough (fish) to go around, to be given away',^[6] a contraction from apchi 'always'^[7] + tepi 'enough' + hële (verb of motion).^[8][9][10]

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Ashtabula River has also been known as:^[2]

• Ashtibula River
• Riviere Auscubalu
• Riviere Oscubolu

Watershed

On October 30, 2008 the river was designated a State Scenic River by the Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.^{[citation needed]}

Pollution

In 1985 the first two miles of the river was named an "Area of Concern" by the International Joint Commission, primarily because of Fields Brook, a tributary that had received discharges from 19 industries between the 1940s and 1970s.^{[citation needed]} The cleanup was deemed complete in 2014^[11] and the river was delisted in 2021.^[12]

Tributaries

• Fields Brook
• Strong Brook
• Hubbard Run
• Ashtabula Creek
• West Branch Ashtabula River
• East Branch Ashtabula River

See also

• List of rivers of Ohio
• Ashtabula River railroad disaster (1876)
• Smolen–Gulf Bridge, a covered bridge across the river (2008–present)
• USS Ashtabula (AO-51)

References

1. United States Geological Survey. Pierpont quadrangle, Ohio. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington D.C.: USGS, 1994.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ashtabula River
3. "Map of Ohio watersheds". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11.
4. United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Report: Ashtabula River". watersgeo.epa.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-07-04. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
5. United States Geological Survey Hydrological Unit Code: 04-11-00-03-050
6. Mahr, August C. (November 1959). "Practical Reasons for Algonkian Indian Stream and Place Names". Ohio Journal of Science. 59 (6): 365–375. hdl:1811/4658. ISSN 0030-0950. Retrieved 2016-08-03.
7. "apchi". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
8. "tèpihële". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
9. "History Page - City of Ashtabula". Archived from the original on 2008-07-31.
10. Rose, William Ganson (1950). Cleveland: The Making of a City. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. p. 1065. ISBN 0873384288.
11. Sheil, Bill (2014-09-07). "It's Official: Ashtabula River Is Clean After 25-year Project". WJW-TV. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
12. Gillespie, Taylor (August 19, 2021). "EPA Removes Ohio's Ashtabula River from Binational List of Areas of Concern on the Great Lakes" (Press release). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved September 15, 2021.