THE HYDROGRAPHY OF CECIL COUNTY 



BY 



H. A. PRESSEY 



Cecil is the northeast county of Maryland, bordering on the states 

 of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Chesapeake Bay, with its numerous 

 arms projecting into the county, forms the southwestern boundary, 

 while the Susquehanna flowing from Pennsylvania separates Cecil 

 and Harford counties, forming the boundary line between them for a 

 distance of 25 miles. On the south, forming the county line, is the 

 Sassafras river, which may be considered more of an estuary or arm 

 of Chesapeake Bay, than a river. The topography of the county is 

 flat, there being few points with an elevation of 400 feet above the 

 sea. The rivers are short, usually not over 20 miles in length, and 

 are correspondingly small in discharge. Sassafras river at the south- 

 ern border is tidal for the greater part of its length. It is broad, but 

 has but small discharge owing to the limited size of its drainage area. 



Elk Eiver, another arm of Chesapeake Bay, is fed by Little Elk 

 and Big Elk creeks, both of which rise in Pennsylvania, and drain 

 the northwestern portion of Cecil county. Great Northeast Creek 

 also rising in Pennsylvania, drains the northcentral portion of the 

 county and empties into Northeast River. These streams are all of 

 much the same character, draining a rolling farming country. 



Larger than any of these is Octoraro Creek. This creek rises in 

 Lancaster county, in southeast Pennsylvania, and flows in a south- 

 westerly direction between Lancaster and Chester counties into Mary- 

 land, where it empties into the Susquehanna about 5 miles below the 

 State line and 2 miles above Port Deposit. The drainage area is 

 more rugged than for streams farther south in Cecil county. A study 

 of the flow of this stream has been made by the U. S. Geological Sur- 



