Simpson Creek (WV)

Simpson Creek is a tributary of the West Fork River in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the West Fork, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 73 square miles on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau.

1. The stream is believed to have been named by an 18th century hunter and trapper named John Simpson, who called it "Simpson's Creek."

• True or False?

2. Simpson Creek rises approximately five miles northwest of Philippi in northwestern Barbour County and flows generally northwestwardly through southeastern Taylor County and northeastern Harrison County. What is NOT a community along Simpson Creek?

• Flemington
• Bridgeport
• Elkins

3. What is the elevation at the source of Simpson Creek?

• 1,522 feet
• 2,522 feet
• 3,522 feet

4. About four miles south-southwest of Shinnston, what river does Simpson Creek flow into?

• West Fork River
• Tygart Valley River
• West Fork of the Potomac River

5. What is the elevation at the mouth of Simpson Creek?

• 702 feet
• 802 feet
• 902 feet

6. According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, what makes up approximately 69% of Simpson Creek's watershed?

• forested, mostly deciduous
• pasture and agriculture
• urban

7. In the 1970s, a musician from Bridgeport, WV, recorded a hit song entitled "Simpson Creek" in which he sang the lyric "Simpson Creek won't ever run clean again, sulfur water runs red where the big fish used to swim." Who was the singer/musician?

• Mayf Nutter
• Clive Owens
• John Denver

8. Simpson Creek Covered Bridge is located in Bridgeport, West Virginia off Meadowbrook Road near the entrance to the Meadowbrook Mall. The measurements of the bridge are 14.25-foot-wide, 75-foot-long multiple-kingpost truss was built in 1881 by Asa Hugill. The current location of the bridge is not the original location. It was washed out by a flood in July 1889 and later relocated to its current location a half-mile upstream from its original spot. The Simpson Creek and Fletcher bridges, are the only two remaining covered bridges in Harrison County, are examples of this truss design.

• True or False?

9. According to the Geographic Names Information System, what is NOT a name Simpson Creek has also been known historically as?

• Simpsons Creek
• Simpsons Crick
• Red River Creek

Simpson Creek (WV) Answers

1. True. Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, West Virginia: The Place Name Press. pp. p.579.
2. Elkins
3. 1,522 feet
4. West Fork River
5. 902 feet
6. forested, mostly deciduous
7. Mayf Nutter
8. True
9. Red River Creek

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