Mullica River

Mullica River
Mullica River
Etymology	Named after Eric Pålsson Mullica
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Camden County
• coordinates	39°47′24″N74°54′46″W / 39.7901°N 74.9129°W
Mouth	Great Bay (New Jersey)
• location	Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
• coordinates	39°33′03″N74°22′34″W / 39.5507°N 74.3761°W
Length	50.6 miles (81.4 km)

Last updated February 04, 2025 • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Mullica River is a 50.6-mile-long (81.4 km)^[1] river in southern New Jersey in the United States. The Mullica was once known as the Little Egg Harbor River.

Course

The Mullica rises in central Camden County, near Berlin, on the southeastern fringes of the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. It flows generally east-southeast across the state, crossing the Wharton State Forest and forming most of the boundary between Atlantic and Burlington County. Near The Forks, where it receives the Batsto River, the Mullica broadens into a navigable river approximately 20 miles (32 km) long, stretching east-southeast and emptying into Great Bay approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City. It becomes brackish below the bridge at Green Bank. Approximately 3 miles (5 km) upstream from its mouth on Great Bay, it receives the estuary of the Wading River from the north. Approximately 2 miles (3 km) upstream from its mouth, it receives the Bass River from the north. The watershed drained by the river and its tributaries measures approximately 568 square miles, and is composed primarily of pine forests and scrub habitat.

The estuary is crossed by the Garden State Parkway and US 9 near its mouth. The lower reaches of the river form an extensive wetlands area, which is protected on its southern bank as the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife

The Mullica River is noted as a spawning ground for striped bass. Blueback herring make a spring spawning run up the river and its tributaries. Freshwater portions are also home to healthy populations of white catfish, pickerel, white perch, crappie, white sucker, and largemouth bass. Brackish and saltwater portions of the river are inhabited by weakfish, winter flounder, bluefish, American eel, and summer flounder. Blue claw crabs are prevalent in the lower reaches of the river and in tributaries flowing through the surrounding salt marshes. These tidal creeks also support populations of the northern diamondback terrapin, which is listed by the federal government as a species of special concern.

The river also provides a habitat for a broad assortment of nesting and migratory birds. Species of note include the common tern, black skimmer, laughing gull, piping plover, least tern, great black-backed gull, osprey, great egret, black-crowned night heron, clapper rail, Virginia rail, merlin, and marsh wren, among others. Canada geese, American black ducks, mallards, tundra swans, northern pintails, and other migratory birds are often observed in the river estuary.

Name

The river is named after Eric Pålsson Mullica, early Swedish settler (with Finnish ancestry) born in 1636 who founded a homestead on the river after moving there from the vicinity of Philadelphia.^[2] The settlement was located about 15 miles (24 km) upstream from the mouth near present-day Lower Bank. For many years it was known as the Little Egg Harbor River ('Little' to disambiguate it from the Great Egg Harbor River to its south); before European colonization, the Lenape called it the Amintonck.^[3]^: xi

Related Research Articles

Mullica Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 5,816, a decrease of 331 (−5.4%) from the 2010 census count of 6,147, which in turn reflected an increase of 235 (+4.0%) from the 5,912 counted in the 2000 census. Geographically, the township, and all of Atlantic County, is part of the South Jersey region of the state and of the Atlantic City-Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley.

Washington Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 693, an increase of 6 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 687, which in turn reflected an increase of 66 (+10.6%) from the 621 counted in the 2000 census. The township, and all of Burlington County, is a part of the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and the Delaware Valley.

The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the northern and central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near Staten Island on the Atlantic Ocean.

Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 42 miles (68 km) long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island Beach State Park, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island, popular segments of the Jersey Shore. The bay is fed by several small rivers, including the Toms River, the Forked River, the Metedeconk River, Cedar Creek, Oyster Creek, Mill Creek, Westecunk Creek, and Tuckerton Creek, all of which empty into the bay through small estuaries along its inner shore. The communities of Toms River, Silverton, and Forked River sit along the river estuaries on the bay.

The Wading River is a tributary of the Mullica River, approximately 10.1 miles (16.3 km) long, in southern New Jersey in the United States. The river drains a rural forested area of the Pinelands, one of the most pristine areas along the coast of the northeastern United States.

The Bass River is a 4.7-mile-long (7.6 km) tributary of the Mullica River in southeastern New Jersey in the United States.

The Great Egg Harbor River is a 55.0-mile-long (88.5 km) river in South Jersey. It is one of the major rivers that traverse the largely pristine Pinelands, draining 308 square miles (800 km²) of wetlands into the Atlantic Ocean at Great Egg Harbor, from which it takes its name.

The Tuckahoe River is a 27.6-mile-long (44.4 km) blackwater river in southern New Jersey in the United States.

The Paw Paw River is located in the U.S. state of Michigan in the southwest portion of the lower peninsula. It is formed by the confluence of the north and south branches at 42°15′17″N85°55′36″W in Waverly Township in the northeast of Van Buren County. It flows approximately 61.8 miles (99.5 km) through Van Buren County and Berrien County until joining the St. Joseph River just above its mouth on Lake Michigan at Benton Harbor.

The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge located in southern and south-central New Jersey, along the Atlantic coast, north of Atlantic City, in Atlantic and Ocean counties. The refuge was created in 1984 out of two existing refuge parcels created to protect tidal wetland and shallow bay habitat for migratory water birds. The Barnegat Division is located in Ocean County on the inland side of Barnegat Bay. The Brigantine Division is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City along the south bank of the mouth of the Mullica River. The two divisions are separated by approximately 20 miles (32 km). The refuge is located along most active flight paths of the Atlantic Flyway, making it an important link in the network of national wildlife refuges administered nationwide by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Forsythe Refuge is a part of the Hudson River/New York Bight Ecosystem and The New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route. The refuge is named for Edwin B. Forsythe, conservationist Congressman from New Jersey. The refuge was named as a Ramsar Site of international importance in 1986.

Landing Creek is an 11.2-mile-long (18.0 km) tributary of the Mullica River in southern New Jersey in the United States. The creek originates near Egg Harbor City and joins the Mullica River just below Lower Bank near Hog Islands. It is joined along its route by Union Creek, Elliots Creek, Indian Cabin Creek, and Rubins Run, in that order.

The Batsto River is a 22.9-mile-long (36.9 km) tributary of the Mullica River in the southern New Jersey Pine Barrens in the United States. The river also drains 49.42 square miles of land.

Ballanger Creek is a 4.7-mile-long (7.6 km) tributary of the Mullica River in southern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from "Belangee," a family of French Huguenots who were early settlers in the area.

The Ochlockonee River is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for 206 miles (332 km) before terminating in Florida.

The Mullica Township Schools is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Mullica Township, in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Great Bay is located in southern New Jersey's Atlantic Coastal Plain in Ocean and Atlantic Counties, about ten miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City and is about 5.5 miles northwest of Brigantine, and 5.5 miles southwest of Beach Haven. The Mullica River flows into the bay, and together they form the Mullica River - Great Bay estuary habitat. The bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Little Egg Inlet. Great Bay is considered one of the least-disturbed marine wetlands habitats in the northeastern United States.

The Washington Township School District is a non-operating community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade from Washington Township, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Germania is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is in the east-central part of the county, in western Galloway Township. It is bordered to the south by the unincorporated community of Cologne, and Egg Harbor City is 3 miles (5 km) to the northwest. U.S. Route 30 touches the southern border of Germania, leading northwest through Egg Harbor City 15 miles (24 km) to Hammonton and southeast 13 miles (21 km) to Atlantic City.

References

↑ 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
↑ "Finnish Place Names - New Jersey". The Genealogical Society of Finland. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
↑ Beck, Henry Charlton (1945). Jersey Genesis: The story of the Mullica River (5th ed.). Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1015-5.

External links

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[NHD-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] "Finnish Place Names - New Jersey". The Genealogical Society of Finland. Retrieved 2009-08-20.

[beck-3] Beck, Henry Charlton (1945). Jersey Genesis: The story of the Mullica River (5th ed.). Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-1015-5.

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