Great Alamance Creek

Great Alamance Creek, also called Big Alamance Creek, is a 37-mile long^[4] creek that is a tributary of the Haw River. The creek's headwaters are in Guilford County, but it flows primarily through Alamance County, North Carolina. It is a major source of water for the cities of Burlington and Greensboro through the Lake Mackintosh Reservoir. It was called "Alamance" after an old local Native American word used to describe the blue-colored mud in the bottom of the creek.^[5]

Great Alamance Creek Tributary to Haw River
Convergence of Great Alamance Creek and the Haw River in Swepsonville, North Carolina
Location of Great Alamance Creek mouth Show map of North Carolina Great Alamance Creek (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Alamance Guilford
Physical characteristics
Source	divide between Great Alamance Creek and Deep River
• location	about 1 mile north of Pleasant Garden, North Carolina
• coordinates	35°58′40.49″N 079°44′57.10″W[1]
• elevation	780 ft (240 m)[1]
Mouth	Haw River
• location	Swepsonville, North Carolina[1]
• coordinates	36°01′2.50″N 079°21′57.07″W[1]
• elevation	458 ft (140 m)[1]
Length	37.12 mi (59.74 km)[2]
Basin size	262.23 square miles (679.2 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Haw River
• average	268.41 cu ft/s (7.601 m3/s) at mouth with Haw River[3]
Basin features
Progression	Haw River → Cape Fear River → Atlantic Ocean
River system	Haw River
Tributaries
• left	Little Alamance Creek (Pleasant Garden Creek) Back Creek Little Alamance Creek
• right	Climax Creek Stinking Quarter Creek

The creek was a part of the site of the Battle of Alamance, fought in 1771 between the colonial militia under the command of Governor William Tryon. When Alamance County was formed from Orange County in 1849, it was named for this battle and creek.

Great Alamance Creek has a tributary that is also called "Alamance Creek" - Little Alamance Creek, which is actually a little longer than Great Alamance Creek at over 12 miles,^[4] much of it in Burlington. However, it has less water flow than Great Alamance Creek. Little Alamance Creek flows through City Park^[6] in Burlington.

Variant names

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

• Alamance Creek
• Aramanchy River (In the 1751 Fry-Jefferson map, the "m" is obscured at the fold.^[7])
• Aramancy River
• Big Alamance Creek

See also

• List of rivers of North Carolina

References

1. "Geographic Names Information System". edits.nationalmap.gov. US Geological Survey. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
2. "ArcGIS Web Application". epa.maps.arcgis.com. US EPA. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
3. "Big Alamance Creek Report". Waters Geoviewer. US EPA. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
4. Measurement Tool on Alamance County GIS found on the Alamance County Website
5. "The Colonial Period – Alamance County, North Carolina". Alamance County, NC Website. Alamance County, North Carolina. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
6. "Burlington, NC - Official Website - City Park". burlingtonnc.gov.
7. Fry, Joshua; Jefferson, Peter. "A map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole province of Maryland with part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina, 1751". LOC. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 1 October 2021.