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'Big Timber Creek' is a stream in southwestern New Jersey, USA. It comprises about of stream and drains . A tributary of the Delaware River, it enters the Delaware between the boroughs of Brooklawn and Westville, just south of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The main stream and South Branch form about half of the border between Camden and Gloucester counties.
Pre-Columbian Big Timber Creek was home to numerous villages of the Lenni Lenape. In Colonial times, the creek was a commercial waterway, and it powered a multitude of mills up through the 1950s. In the second half of 20th century it suffered the ill effects of the rapid post–World War II development that plagued many of America's waterways. As of 2007, it had recovered somewhat thanks to pollution controls and improvements in sewage treatment.

Contents

The name

Description

Course

South Branch

North Branch

Main stream

The land

Geology

General characteristics

History

Pre-Columbian

Colonial

Nineteenth century

Twentieth century

Ecology

Wildlife

Pollution

In the second millennium

References

See also

External links

The name

A Dutch explorer, David P. DeVries, refers to a ''Timmer Kill'', "Timber Creek" in Dutch, in his memoirs of his journey of 1630–1633, after the construction of Fort Nassau at its mouth.^[1] This name became anglicized when the Quakers arrived. In 1697, the West Jersey Proprietors, in creating the town of Gloucester, decreed that the name be the "Gloucester River", and although that name did appear in documents for several years, it faded away. A much smaller creek lying to the north, Little Timber Creek, finds the Delaware at the same place as its larger namesake. To differentiate between the two, the latter came to be known as "Great Timber Creek", which soon became "Big Timber Creek." Even so, at the end of the 20th century it was still usually referred to in speech as simply "Timber Creek."

Description

Course

(Note: All course mileage figures are approximate river miles, not as the crow flies.)
Big Timber Creek flows roughly to the northwest. Two streams, the North Branch and the South Branch, join above its mouth to form the main stream. The South Branch is considered the source stream. Both branches are dammed at several points to form impoundments—no natural lakes occur along either branch.

South Branch

Two streams join to form the South Branch of Big Timber Creek, the Big Lebanon Branch and the Little Lebanon Branch.
Big Lebanon is considered the source stream, as it is the longer. Indeed, it appears on some maps as "Big Timber Creek". It rises near Cross Keys in Gloucester County (under a housing development) at an elevation of about and flows nothwesterly , fed by several streams from the east along the way, to its confluence with the Little Lebanon Branch just above Nash's Lake in Turnersville. About a mile (1.6 km) north of its source, at the head of Jones Lake, Big Lebanon receives Long Hollow Branch. Jones Lake is formed by a dam about a quarter mile (0.4 km) on and lies at an elevation of about . Just beyond the dam, Chestnut Branch comes in, and Big Lebanon veers northwest to run along the south side of the Atlantic City Expressway. A half mile (0.8 km) beyond Chestnut Branch it receives Slab Bridge Branch, and after another half mile, Jeremys Field Branch about above its confluence with Little Lebanon.
Little Lebanon lies within Gloucester County. It begins at Baum Pond (in 2007, dry) at an elevation of about near the intersection of Stagecoach Road and the Black Horse Pike. It flows roughly north for to meet the Big Lebanon and with it form the South Branch of Big Timber Creek. Little Lebanon has no significant tributaries.
The South Branch proper begins just above Nash's Lake in Washington Township and runs northward for to the point where it joins the North Branch. It forms several impoundments and receives a number of smaller streams over its course. Just below its head, the South Branch passes under the Atlantic City Expressway to be dammed about a third of a mile down to form Nash's Lake at an elevation of . After weaving once under the highway for about two-thirds of a mile (1 km), it receives Stone Bridge Branch and Toms Branch from the east in quick succession and, passing under the highway (now Route 42) to the west, it flows north for a mile to Grenloch Lake in Turnersville. Grenloch Lake lies at an elevation of and extends for a half mile (0.8 km) above its dam. The lake receives Holly Run from the northeast before passing under the Black Horse Pike, whereupon Bells Lake Branch enters from the south. Below Grenloch Lake's dam, the South Branch wanders northwest for a mile (1.6 km) to Blackwood Lake in Blackwood, having picked up Gardner's Run from the southwest about halfway along. At an elevation of , Blackwood Lake snakes almost a mile along the foot of an escarpment to its west. Farrows Run enters from the east about at the midpoint. About a quarter mile below the dam, two streams join the South Branch, Bull Run from the west and Minqus Run from the east. About a mile farther on, the stream grows sluggish and tidal. Another mile, and Pines Run enters from the east just after the South Branch passes under Route 42 south-to-north. Its final mile lies among wetlands and mudflats.

North Branch

The North Branch of Big Timber Creek rises near Albion at an elevation of about , about from Pine Hill (the hill, not the town, which is nearer), the highest point in southern New Jersey at about . The North Branch flows northwestward through several impoundments to Chews Landing and thence to its confluence with the South Branch.
From its origin, the North Branch skirts the northern edge of the world-renowned Pine Valley Golf Club and enters Lekau Lake a mile down.^[2] A teardrop-shaped impoundment about third of a mile (0.5 km) long, Lekau Lake lies at an elevation of in a hollow of the hills. Leaving the lake, the North Branch twines its way a mile northwest, down to , and enters Clementon Lake in Clementon, long a recreational mecca for the region. A quarter mile (0.4 km) below the lake Trout Run enters from the east, and a half mile farther on, Gravelly Run. The North Branch then runs more to the west for a mile to Laurel Lake, a sinuous half-mile-long (0.8 km) impoundment which lies at an elevation of about . The North Branch continues its westerly course for three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) below Laurel Lake, turning northward where Mason Run enters from the south. It turns to the westward again after another three-quarters of a mile, immediately after which it receives Signey Run from the north. The North Branch then tends northwestward, widening and slowing a mile along, and, turning west upon receiving Otter Branch from the north a half mile farther down, enters an impoundment at Chew's Landing. This impoundment is a consequence of the constriction at the point about a third of a mile (0.5 km) down where the North Branch passes under the Black Horse Pike. The North Branch is now tidal and runs westward through wetlands another mile to its confluence with the South Branch.

Main stream

The main stream of Big Timber Creek begins in Glendora, just upstream from Clement's Bridge, at the confluence of the North and South branches. It meanders northwest for to empty into the Delaware River between Westville and Brooklawn. Over much of its length it is hemmed in by roads, old dumps, and fill. It opens out into wetlands here and there. The main stream is tidal throughout.
The first mile (1.6 km) of the main stream is essentially a ditch between a housing development and a trash dump. Three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) downstream from its head, the main stream receives from the north the waters of Hirsch Lake in Runnemede, a smallish impoundment fed by an unnamed stream. A quarter mile (0.4 km) on, the left bank recedes into wetlands, and Almonesson Creek enters on the left another quarter mile down. A further half mile (0.8 km) sees Beaver Brook enter on the right, and the stream narrows again as it passes under Route 42 and the New Jersey Turnpike. It remains confined for the next mile and a half (2.4 km), receiving Ladd's Branch on the left at one mile and flowing another half mile to pass under Route 295, shortly after which it opens out into three-quarters of a mile of wetlands. The stream forms three channels here, the main one hugging the left bank by Westville. The last three-quarters of a mile are confined.

The land

Geology

General characteristics

History

Pre-Columbian

Colonial

Nineteenth century

Twentieth century

Ecology

Wildlife

Pollution

In the second millennium

References

1. Cleary, William E. History of Fort Nassau, February 18, 2007. Accessed September 5, 2007.
2. Lekau Lake lies within a Boy Scout reservation, and it was renamed from "Irelands Lake" after the Lenape word for "sand" or "gravel," apparently translated "sandpiper" by the Order of the Arrow.

See also

★ List of New Jersey rivers

External links