Middle Island Creek
Middle Island Creek is a river, 77 miles long, in northwestern West Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It was named by late 18th century pioneering travelers on the Ohio River, who noted the location of the Creek's mouth opposite Middle Island in the larger river.
In an artifact of nomenclature, it is often pointed out that Middle Island Creek is the longest stream in West Virginia bearing the name of "creek".
Geography
Course
Middle Island Creek is formed at the community of Smithburg in Doddridge County by the confluence of Meathouse Fork and Buckeye Creek. It initially flows generally northwestward in a winding course through Doddridge and Tyler Counties, through the unincorporated community of Avondale and the town of West Union in Doddridge County; and in Tyler County, the unincorporated communities of Josephs Mills, Tyler, Blue, Frew, and Bridgeway, and the town of Middlebourne. From Middlebourne the creek turns to the southwest and flows roughly parallel to the Ohio River, through the unincorporated communities of Next, Little, [Shiloh, Tyler, West Virginia|Tyler County, West Virginia|Shiloh], and Falls Mills in Tyler County; and into Pleasants County, where it flows through the unincorporated communities of Arvilla, [Sugar Valley, Pleasants County, West Virginia|Pleasants County, West Virginia|Sugar Valley], Union Mills, and DeLong and joins the Ohio River in the city of St. Marys. The lowermost of the creek are inundated by backup from the Willow Island Locks and Dam downstream on the Ohio River.In addition to the Meathouse Fork and Buckeye Creek, the largest tributaries of Middle Island Creek are Arnold Creek, which it collects on the boundary of Doddridge and Tyler counties; McElroy Creek, Indian Creek, Point Pleasant Creek, and Sancho Creek, each of which it collects in Tyler County; and Sugar Creek and McKim Creek, both of which it collects in Pleasants County.
The Jug
Middle Island Creek's most extreme meander forms a peninsula known as "the Jug," located upstream of Middlebourne. The creek rounds a 7-mile bend only to return to within 100 feet of itself. Sometime prior to 1800, a settler named George Gregg had a mill race carved across the narrow point of the peninsula and harnessed the resulting hydropower for a gristmill and sawmill. These were destroyed by a flood in 1852, while later mills were subsequently built and also washed away by floods. In 1947 the West Virginia Conservation Commission constructed a low water bridge which substantially dammed the cut-through and restored a steady flow to the bend of the creek. The land encircled by the creek's loop is operated as a Wildlife Management Area by the state of West Virginia.Variant names
According to sources gathered by the Geographic Names Information System, Middle Island Creek has also been known historically as:- Be-Van-Soss Creek of the Indians
- Be-van-Soss Creek of the Indians
- Be-van-soss
- Be-yan-soss
- Bulls Creek
- By-En-Soss Creek
- By-en-Soss Creek
- By-en-soss
- Louisa River