Hackers Creek

Hackers Creek is a tributary of the West Fork River, 25.4 miles (40.9 km) long,[3] in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the West Fork, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 58 square miles (150 km2)[4] on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. The stream is believed to have been named for a settler named John Hacker (1743-1824), who lived near the creek for over twenty years from around 1770. He was a magistrate and patriarch in the settlement despite not being able to write.[5]

Hackers Creek
Hackers Creek in Jane Lew in 2006
Hackers Creek is located in West Virginia
Hackers Creek
Location of the mouth of Hackers Creek in Harrison County, West Virginia
Location
CountryUnited States
StateWest Virginia
CountiesUpshur, Lewis, Harrison
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationUpshur County, West Virginia
 • coordinates39°03′29″N 80°12′32″W[1]
 • elevation1,367 ft (417 m)[2]
MouthWest Fork River
 • location
Harrison County, West Virginia
 • coordinates
39°08′53″N 80°26′04″W[1]
 • elevation
984 ft (300 m)[1]
Length25.4 mi (40.9 km)
Basin size58 sq mi (150 km2)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • rightJesse Run

Hackers Creek rises approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Buckhannon in northern Upshur County and flows westwardly into northeastern Lewis County, where it turns northwestwardly and flows through the town of Jane Lew into southern Harrison County, where it joins the West Fork River from the southeast, approximately three miles (5 km) northwest of Jane Lew.[6]

According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 69% of the Hackers Creek watershed is forested, mostly deciduous. Approximately 28% is used for pasture and agriculture, and less than 1% is urban.[4]

Variant spellings

According to the Geographic Names Information System, Hackers Creek has also been known historically as:[1]

  • Hacker's Creek
  • Hackers Crick
  • Heackers Creek
  • Heckers Creek

NB: Neighboring Barbour County, West Virginia, also has a (much smaller) Hacker's Creek, a tributary of the Tygart Valley River, about 3 miles downstream from Philippi.

See also

References
  1. Geographic Names Information System. "Geographic Names Information System entry for Hackers Creek (Feature ID #1539819)". Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  2. Google Earth elevation for GNIS source coordinates. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
  3. United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results: Assessment Summary for Reporting Year 2008, West Virginia, West Fork Watershed". Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
  4. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. "Watershed Atlas Project". pp. West Fork River. Archived from the original on 2005-04-04. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
  5. Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 291.
  6. DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. p.36. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.
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