The Conestoga River meanders for sixty miles through the fertile farmlands of Lancaster County. From early Native American inhabitants to the European settlers who made the Conestoga Valley their home, the river has provided sustenance and transportation for generations. Victorian era resorts and hotels were built along the river, providing new recreational activities as steam power drove innovative forms of transportation and waterpower. As the region developed and the population grew, the river paid a heavy price in increased pollution from sewage runoff and industry. Conservation efforts toward the end of the twentieth century through the present day have restored the river’s beauty and recreational reputation.
This is the first article in a series of five which are taken from my book, “The Conestoga River: A History”. In these articles we will take a journey through time on the historic waters of the Conestoga River.
Conestoga Watershed
The Conestoga River is a 61.6-mile-long tributary of the Susquehanna River. It originates in Berks County but most of its length is in Lancaster County. It enters the Susquehanna at Safe Harbor just below the Safe Harbor dam. Originally known as the Conestogoe or Conestogo, its name is derived from the Iroquoian word “Kanastoge” meaning “place of the immersed pole”.
The Conestoga has what geologists call “an inverted profile”. Most rivers start out in steep hillsides and gradually transform into flatter terrain as they approach their mouths. The Conestoga, on the other hand, starts out with a gentle, meandering slope and the land becomes steeper as it approaches its mouth.
A watershed is an area of land that drains into a river, river system, or other body of water (bay or ocean). The Conestoga and its tributaries drain approximately 217 square miles. The principal tributaries of the Conestoga are Cedar Creek, Muddy Creek, Cocalico Creek, the Lititz Run, the Mill Creek, and the Little Conestoga. The Conestoga and its sister stream the Pequea Creek form a double watershed system. The Conestoga and Pequea with their tributaries drain most of Lancaster County. They, in turn, are part of the Susquehanna River Watershed.
Where does the Conestoga begin?
The headwaters of the Conestoga are made up of two branches. The West branch begins in Berks County, in a pond on the edge of the Pennsylvania State Games Lands #52 north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, north-east of Morgantown. The East Branch begins in Chester County, just north of Elverson. The two branches join at a point along Mill Road just south of Morgantown.
Creek or River?
Before we go any further, we must ask the question, “Is the Conestoga a creek or is it a river?” People who grew up along its banks and fished or swam in its waters often prefer to call it the Conestoga Creek. Or simply, the “crick”. However, the signs along the major highways that cross the Conestoga label it the “Conestoga River”. So, which is it? A creek or a river?
In 1824, Captain Ephraim Beach surveyed the Conestoga from Lancaster to Safe Harbor for the purpose of making the Conestoga navigable. Beach produced a map indicating the plans for a system of locks and canals that would enable canal boats to make the trip from Lancaster to the Susquehanna. This map may be viewed at the Lancaster Historical Society. The legend on that map calls it the “Conestogo River”. Of course, Captain Beach was promoting the Conestoga as a commercial waterway, so the river designation seemed more appropriate for that purpose.
In 1912, Frank R. Diffenderfer, who was an associate editor of the Lancaster New Era newspaper and one of the founders of the Lancaster Historical Society, wrote an impassioned plea on behalf of the Conestoga River. Here is an excerpt from his “Plea for the Conestoga River” that was read before the Lancaster Historical Society:
“One of the most beautiful streams in the world flows quietly through the green meadows and along the sunny braes of Lancaster County for a distance of more than sixty miles, draining a territory 315 square miles in area, affording endless themes of beauty to the brush of the painter and the fancy of the poet.”
“It is the Conestoga ‘Creek’ to most of our people ‘and it is nothing more’; yet it is a river, just as truly as are some of the most noted streams of the world which have been called rivers for thousands of years.”
“Our Conestoga has borne its present misnomer long enough. Let no member of this Society ever again speak or write about it as a ‘creek.’ Call it what it really is, and what it deserves to be called – The CONESTOGA RIVER.”
Earl F. Rebman, founder of the Conestoga Valley Association, fought for 28 years to fulfill Diffenderfer’s plea. Finally, in April of 1974, Rebman’s dream was fulfilled when the United States Board of Geographic Names approved the name “Conestoga River” for federal use. The main branch of the Conestoga including the East and West branches at its source were included in the approval. The Little Conestoga, however, remains a creek. (Lancaster New Era, April 24, 1974)
This concludes the introduction to the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The next article will go back in time and discuss the condition of the river prior to the arrival of the European settlers.
If you want to read the full story of the Conestoga including full color photos you may want to purchase my book. You will find information here: Conestoga River: A History