Pocomoke River

Pocomoke River
Map of the rivers of the Eastern Shore of Maryland with the Pocomoke and its watershed highlighted.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateDelaware, Maryland, & Virginia
RegionDelmarva Peninsula
Physical characteristics
SourceGreat Cypress Swamp
MouthPocomoke Sound
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)
Length66 mi (106 km),
northeast-to-southwest
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftDividing Creek, Nassawango Creek,
Givens Branch, Aydelotte Branch
 • rightPitts Creek, Pilchard Creek,
Mattaponi Creek, Corkers Creek

The Pocomoke River stretches approximately 66 miles (106 km)[1] from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At its mouth, the river is essentially an arm of Chesapeake Bay, whereas the upper river flows through a series of relatively inaccessible wetlands called the Great Cypress Swamp, largely populated by Loblolly Pine, Red Maple and Bald Cypress. The river is the easternmost river that flows into Chesapeake Bay. "Pocomoke" locally /ˈpkmk/, though traditionally interpreted as "dark (or black) water" by local residents, is now agreed by scholars of the Algonquian languages to be derived from the words for "broken (or pierced) ground."[2]

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
  2. ^ Nestor, Sandy (2004). Indian Placenames in America. McFarland. p. 80. ISBN 9780786493395. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.