Black Fork (Cheat River tributary)

The Black Fork is a principal tributary of the Cheat River in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is a short stream, about four miles (6 km) in length,^[2] formed by the confluence of two other streams not far above its mouth.^[4] It was traditionally considered one of the five Forks of Cheat.

Black Fork
The Black Fork at Hendricks, West Virginia looking upstream. The confluence of the Blackwater River (left) and the Dry Fork (right) is visible.
Map of the Monongahela River basin, with Black Fork highlighted.
Location
Country	United States
State	West Virginia
County	Tucker
Physical characteristics
Source	Dry Fork
• location	Col between Harper and Yokum knobs, Randolph County
• coordinates	38°44′01″N 79°38′52″W
• elevation	3,740 ft (1,140 m)
2nd source	Blackwater River
• location	Canaan Valley, Tucker County
• coordinates	39°03′32″N 79°29′04″W
• elevation	3,540 ft (1,080 m)
Source confluence
• location	Hendricks
• coordinates	39°04′20″N 79°37′45″W[1]
• elevation	1,700 ft (520 m)
Mouth	Cheat River
• location	Parsons
• coordinates	39°06′39″N 79°40′44″W
• elevation	1,621 ft (494 m)
Length	4 mi (6.4 km)[2]
Basin size	500 sq mi (1,300 km2)[3]

Geography

Via the Cheat, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 500 square miles (1,295 km²).^[3] The Black Fork flows for its entire length in Tucker County. It is formed at the town of Hendricks by the confluence of the Dry Fork and the Blackwater River, and flows generally northwestwardly through Hambleton to Parsons, where it joins the Shavers Fork to form the Cheat River.^[4]

Name

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names settled on "Black Fork" as the stream's name in 1930. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as "Blackwater Fork" and as the Blackwater River.^[1]

• 
  The Black Fork at Hendricks, as viewed downstream
• 
  The Black Fork at Parsons

See also

• List of West Virginia rivers
• Blackwater Canyon

References

• Julian, Norman. 2006. "Cheat River." The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Black Fork
2. The American Rivers Outstanding Rivers List, Second Edition, May 1991. Compiled and edited by Matthew H. Huntington and John D. Echeverria. Washington, DC: American Rivers, Inc.
3. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. Watershed Atlas Project Archived 2005-04-04 at the Wayback Machine: Cheat River watershed Archived October 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Sum of watershed areas of Dry Fork, Blackwater River, Glady Fork, Laurel Fork, Gandy Creek, and Red Creek. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.
4. DeLorme (1997). West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-246-3.