Monocacy River

Monocacy River
Monocacy River near Frederick, Maryland in 2007
The Monocacy River watershed
Native name	Monnockkesey (Shawnee)
Location
Country	United States
State	Maryland
County	Frederick Carroll
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Harney, Carroll County, Maryland, United States
• coordinates	39°43′11″N 77°13′03″W / 39.71972°N 77.21750°W / 39.71972; -77.21750
• elevation	400 ft (120 m)
Mouth	Potomac River
• location	Dickerson, Maryland, United States
• coordinates	39°13′22″N 77°27′15″W / 39.22278°N 77.45417°W / 39.22278; -77.45417
• elevation	200 ft (61 m)
Length	58 mi (93 km)
Basin size	970 sq mi (2,500 km2)
Discharge
• location	Frederick
• average	1,550 cu ft/s (44 m3/s)
• minimum	573 cu ft/s (16.2 m3/s)
• maximum	3,060 cu ft/s (87 m3/s)
Discharge
• location	Bridgeport, Frederick County, Maryland
• average	400 cu ft/s (11 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Piney Creek, Double Pipe Creek, Israel Creek, Linganore Creek, Furnace Branch
• right	Toms Creek, Tuscarora Creek, Carroll Creek, Ballenger Creek

The Monocacy River (/məˈnɒkəsi/) is a free-flowing left tributary to the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is 58.5 miles (94.1 km) long,^[1] with a drainage area of about 970 square miles (2,500 km²).^[2] It is the largest Maryland tributary to the Potomac.

The name "Monocacy" comes from the Shawnee name for the river Monnockkesey, which translates to "river with many bends." (However, another local tradition asserts that "Monocacy" means "well-fenced garden" in an Indian language.)

The Monocacy National Battlefield lies alongside part of the river, marking an 1864 engagement during the American Civil War, the Battle of Monocacy Junction. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal crosses over the river at the Monocacy Aqueduct, the largest of the 11 aqueducts on the canal.

• 
  Confluence of Monocacy and Potomac Rivers by the Monocacy Aqueduct