Nancy Run

Nancy Run (also known as Nancys Run) is a tributary of the Lehigh River in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 4.1 miles (6.6 km) long and flows through Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg.[1] The watershed of the stream has an area of approximately 6.14 square miles (15.9 km2). It is classified as a Coldwater Fishery and a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and has been home to trout and a diverse macroinvertebrate community.

Nancy Run
Etymologyan old fortune teller who lived near the creek
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationnear the Green Pond Golf Course in Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
 • elevation382 feet (116 m)
Mouth 
 • location
Lehigh River in Freemansburg, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
 • coordinates
40°37′55″N 75°20′00″W
 • elevation
220 feet (67 m)
Length4.1 mi (6.6 km)
Basin size6.14 square miles (15.9 km2)
Basin features
ProgressionLehigh River → Delaware River → Delaware Bay
Tributaries 
 • leftone unnamed tributary

Course

Nancy Run begins near the Green Pond Golf Course in Bethlehem Township. It flows southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning south-southwest for several tenths of a mile, crossing Easton Ave. The stream then receives an unnamed tributary from the left and turns west for some distance before entering the census-designated place of Middletown. It then turns south for a while before turning south-southwest and entering Freemansburg. Here, it turns south for a few tenths of a mile before reaching its confluence with the Lehigh River.[1]

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Nancy Run is 220 feet (67 m) above sea level.[2] The elevation near the source of the stream is approximately 382 feet (116 m) above sea level.[1]

The Lehigh Canal crosses Nancy Run.[3]

Near Nancy Run, "one of the best" beds of stromatolitic Limeport beds in eastern Pennsylvania is exposed.[4]

Hydrology and watershed

The watershed of Nancy Run has an area of 6.14 square miles (15.9 km2). The part of the watershed that lies above its unnamed tributary has an area of only 1.40 square miles (3.6 km2).[5] Nancy Run is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Nazareth.[2]

At its mouth, the peak annual discharge of Nancy Run has a 10 percent chance of reaching 3,605 cubic feet per second (102.1 m3/s). It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 4,019 cubic feet per second (113.8 m3/s) and a 1 percent chance of reaching 4,291 cubic feet per second (121.5 m3/s). The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 4,547 cubic feet per second (128.8 m3/s).[5]

Above its unnamed tributary, the peak annual discharge of Nancy Run has a 10 percent chance of reaching 1,022 cubic feet per second (28.9 m3/s). It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 1,153 cubic feet per second (32.6 m3/s) and a 1 percent chance of reaching 1,216 cubic feet per second (34.4 m3/s). The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 1,297 cubic feet per second (36.7 m3/s).[5]

History

Nancy Run was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 30, 1990 due to its presence on a 1975 county highway map published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1211971. The stream is also known as Nancys Run.[2] This variant name appears in a 1939 geological survey of Northampton County by Benjamin L. Miller et al..[6]

Nancy Run was named for an old woman named Nancy who historically lived in a log cabin on the creek and was well known as a fortune teller.[7][8] In the early 1800s, there was a large tavern on the stream.[9] The community of Freemansburg, which is located at the mouth of the stream, was incorporated in 1856.[10]

Two steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridges carrying Washington Street and Keystone Street were built over Nancy Run near Freemansburg in 1930. In 1938, a concrete culvert bridge carrying State Route 3007 was constructed over the stream. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying Middletown Road was constructed over the creek in 1958, and in 1960, a prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying State Route 3007 was built over the creek. Three concrete culvert bridges were built over Nancy Run in 2000; one carried Tenth Street in Nancy Run Estates and the other two carried Bridge Lane and Washington Street in the Emerald Hills Development.[11]

In 2014, the Northampton County Conservation District received a $5000 grant from the Coldwater Heritage Partnership to develop a Coldwater Conservation Plan for the watershed of Nancy Run.[12]

Biology

Wild trout naturally reproduce in Nancy Run from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.[13] Upstream of a State Route 3007 bridge, the creek's watershed is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Below this point, it is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.[14] The stream is designated as Class A Wild Trout Waters for brown trout in its lower 1.6 miles (2.6 km).[15]

In the 1990s, Nancy Run was found to support a benthic ecosystem of high biodiversity, including one sensitive species. The stream also supported a number of fish species. However, a proposed highway extension was believed to potentially impact biodiversity by releasing organic and inorganic pollutants into the stream, although they would not have been directly impacted by the construction.[16]

Macroinvertebrate taxa found in Nancy Run in the 1970s include Oligochaeta, sowbugs, scuds, mayflies, caddisflies, beetles, Diptera (flies/midges), blackflies, and snails.[16]

See also

References
  1. United States Geological Survey, The National Map Viewer, retrieved March 6, 2017
  2. Geographic Names Information System, Feature Detail Report for: Nancy Run, retrieved March 5, 2017
  3. Mallory Vough (March 29, 2013), Trout Season Starts Saturday in Nazareth Area, retrieved March 5, 2017
  4. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, Volume 66, Part 2, 1955, p. 825, retrieved March 6, 2017
  5. Federal Emergency Management Agency (December 14, 2011), Flood Insurance Study Volume 1 of 2 Northampton County, Pennsylvania (PDF), p. 27, retrieved March 6, 2017
  6. Geographic Names Information System, Variant Citation, retrieved March 5, 2017
  7. Bethlehem Township, History, retrieved March 5, 2017
  8. Full text of "History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh under supervision and revision of William J. Heller, assisted by an advisory board of editors..", 1920, retrieved March 5, 2017
  9. Philip Columbus Croll, Henry Addison Schuler, Howard Wiegner Kriebel (1910), The Pennsylvania-German, Volume 11, p. 603, retrieved March 5, 2017CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. An Illustrated History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, p. 994, retrieved March 6, 2017
  11. Northampton County, retrieved March 5, 2017
  12. Northampton County Conservation District, 2014 Annual Report (PDF), p. 7, retrieved March 5, 2017
  13. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (February 2016), Pennsylvania Wild Trout Waters (Natural Reproduction) – February 2016 (PDF), p. 57, archived from the original on March 31, 2016, retrieved March 5, 2016CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. Watershed designations in Northampton County (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-20, retrieved March 5, 2017
  15. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (February 13, 2017), Class A Wild Trout Waters (PDF), p. 18, retrieved March 15, 2017
  16. Route 33 Extension, Route 22 Interchange to Route 78 Interchange, 1993, retrieved March 6, 2017
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