Catasauqua Creek
| Catasauqua Creek | |
|---|---|
Catasauqua Creek watercourse in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Northampton, Pennsylvania ~2,052 feet (625 m) south of Pheasant Drive, county road 248, (in the dell between Hilltop Rd and Sickle Rd., ~3,530 feet (1,080 m) north of their junction. |
| • coordinates | 40°44′16″N 75°26′01″W / 40.7377778°N 75.4336111°W |
| • elevation | 610 feet (186 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | In Catasauqua opposite West Catasauqua and Allentown just south of the Race/W.Race Street Bridge on the Lehigh River below the Lehigh Gap and north of Bethlehem, PA. |
• coordinates | 40°38′49″N 75°28′08″W / 40.647011°N 75.468957°W |
• elevation | 272 ft (83 m) |
| Length | 14.9 mi (24.0 km) |
Catasauqua Creek is an ENE–SSW oriented creek draining 6.6 miles (10.6 km) (straight line distance) from springs of the Blue Mountain barrier ridge several miles below the Lehigh Gap in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians located upriver and opposite from Allentown in Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
The mouth of the creek outlets directly opposite West Catasauqua just below Race Street bridge across the Lehigh River, the latest of the several successor structures built to replace the original wooden bridge built in 1839-1840 to carry heavy wagons of iron ore to the new furnaces being built within the new village aborning as the Lehigh Crane Iron Company created the infrastructure to father the iron and steel industry of the Lehigh Valley.
The head of the Creek begins in the Dannersville neighborhood of Bath at 40°44′16″N latitude 75°25′58″W longitude (or 40.737849,-75.432824), forming a steep sided ravine almost immediately as it gathers waters over its first mile. As it passes Sauerkraut Hill, it gathers two major tributary creeks and leaves a steeper terrain for a gentler run over the last four miles.