Brandywine Creek (Christina River tributary)

Brandywine Creek
Hagley mill race on the Brandywine
Christina River Basin, including Brandywine Creek
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania, Delaware
Cities	Chadds Ford, PA, Wilmington, DE
Physical characteristics
Source	West Branch Brandywine Creek
• location	Honey Brook Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• coordinates	40°06′51″N 75°55′35″W / 40.11417°N 75.92639°W / 40.11417; -75.92639
• elevation	850 ft (260 m)
2nd source	East Branch Brandywine Creek
• location	Honey Brook Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• coordinates	40°07′09″N 75°53′15″W / 40.11917°N 75.88750°W / 40.11917; -75.88750
• elevation	686 ft (209 m)
Source confluence
• location	East Bradford and Pocopson Townships, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
• coordinates	39°55′21″N 75°38′58″W / 39.92250°N 75.64944°W / 39.92250; -75.64944
• elevation	184 ft (56 m)
Mouth	Christina River
• location	Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware, USA
• coordinates	39°43′55″N 75°31′53″W / 39.73194°N 75.53139°W / 39.73194; -75.53139
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	20 mi (32 km)
Basin size	300 sq mi (780 km2)
Discharge
• location	Wilmington
• average	408 cu ft/s (11.6 m3/s)
Basin features
Progression	Christina River → Delaware River → Delaware Bay → Atlantic Ocean
Tributaries
• left	Plum Run Radley Run Harvey Run Wilson Run Beaver Creek Ramsey Run Rocky Run Husbands Run Alapocas Run
• right	Pocopson Creek Bennetts Run Ring Run Craigs Mill Run

Brandywine Creek^[1][2] (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States. The Lower Brandywine (the main stem) is 20.4 miles (32.8 km) long^[3] and is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River with several tributary streams. The East Branch and West Branch of the creek originate within 2 miles (3 km) of each other on the slopes of Welsh Mountain in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of their confluence.

The mouth of the creek on the Christina River in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, is the site of the New Sweden colony, where colonists first landed on March 29, 1638. The Battle of Brandywine was fought around the creek near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1777, during the American Revolution. Water-powered gristmills in Brandywine Village, near the creek mouth, and the nearby DuPont gunpowder mill were important in developing American industry before the introduction of steam power.