Chemung River

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title: "Chemung River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-new-york-(state)", "rivers-of-pennsylvania", "tributaries-of-the-susquehanna-river", "rivers-of-bradford-county,-pennsylvania", "rivers-of-steuben-county,-new-york", "rivers-of-chemung-county,-new-york", "allegheny-plateau"] description: "River in the northeastern United States" topic_path: "general/rivers-of-new-york-state" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemung_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in the northeastern United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Chemung River
image	Chemung River Elmira.jpg
image_size	300
image_caption	The Chemung River at Elmira, New York
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	United States
subdivision_type2	State
subdivision_name2	New York, Pennsylvania
subdivision_type3	Counties
subdivision_name3	Steuben, NY, Chemung, NY, Bradford, PA
subdivision_type5	Cities
subdivision_name5	Corning, Elmira
length_mi	46
discharge1_location	Chemung, NY
discharge1_min	113 cuft/s
discharge1_avg	2623 cuft/s
discharge1_max	65400 cuft/s
source1	Tioga River
source1_location	Armenia Township
source1_coordinates
source2	Cohocton River
source2_location	Tabor Corners
source2_coordinates
source_confluence_location	Painted Post
source_confluence_coordinates
source_confluence_elevation	935 ft
mouth	Susquehanna River
mouth_location	Sayre, PA
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	722 ft
basin_size_mi2	2506
basin_size_ref
::

| name = Chemung River | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = Chemung River Elmira.jpg | image_size = 300 | image_caption = The Chemung River at Elmira, New York | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = New York, Pennsylvania | subdivision_type3 = Counties | subdivision_name3 = Steuben, NY, Chemung, NY, Bradford, PA | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Cities | subdivision_name5 = Corning, Elmira | length_mi = 46 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = Chemung, NY | discharge1_min = 113 cuft/s | discharge1_avg = 2623 cuft/s | discharge1_max = 65400 cuft/s | source1 = Tioga River | source1_location = Armenia Township | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = | source2 = Cohocton River | source2_location = Tabor Corners | source2_coordinates = | source2_elevation = | source_confluence = | source_confluence_location = Painted Post | source_confluence_coordinates = | source_confluence_elevation = 935 ft | mouth = Susquehanna River | mouth_location = Sayre, PA | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 722 ft | progression = | river_system = | basin_size_mi2 = 2506 | basin_size_ref = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra =

The Chemung River ( ) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 46.4 mi long, in south central New York and northern Pennsylvania in the United States. It drains a mountainous region of the northern Allegheny Plateau in the Southern Tier of New York. The valley of the river has long been an important manufacturing center in the region but has suffered a decline in the late 20th century.

Description

The Chemung River is formed near Painted Post in Steuben County, just west of Corning by the confluence of the Tioga River and Cohocton rivers. It flows generally east-southeast through Corning, Big Flats, Elmira, and Waverly. It crosses into northern Pennsylvania before joining the Susquehanna River approximately 2 mi south of Sayre.

The name of the river comes from a Lenape word meaning "at the horn" composed of the root chemu 'horn' and the suffix -ng meaning 'at/on'. Another possible etymology is "big horn", possibly dating from the discovery of large mammoth tusks in the river bed.

Most of the valley is cut into Devonian age shale, sandstone, and limestone. The hilltops are rounded by glaciation. The tributaries, particularly the Cohocton River, have captured some of the former Genesee River drainage, due to terminal moraines that filled some valley areas and diverted streams.

New York State Route 17 / Interstate 86 follows the valley of the river for much of its course.

History

The area near the river's source was referred to as Concanoga, or the land of three rivers, by the Seneca who lived in the area. In colonial times the river valley was a major trade route through the hill country of western New York, first for the Iroquois and other Native Americans, and later for the European settlers.

In 1779 during the Revolutionary War, American troops of the Sullivan Expedition defeated a combined force of Iroquois, Tories and British at the Battle of Newtown along the river southeast of Elmira. The victory opened the way for Sullivan to systematically destroy Iroquois villages and settlements throughout their homeland of central and western New York.

The construction of the Chemung Canal which was completed in 1833 between the Chemung and the southern end of Seneca Lake allowed the shipment of Pennsylvania anthracite coal, lumber and agricultural products to the Erie Canal system, leading to the growth of Elmira as a regional center of manufacturing. The canals were rendered obsolete by the coming of the railroads in the late 1840s and 1850s. The community of Corning is renowned as the site of Corning Incorporated, formerly the Corning Glassworks. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Lake_Street_Bridge,_Elmira_NY.jpg" caption="Chemung River looking west from the Lake St bridge, Elmira NY" alt="Chemung River Elmira NY"] ::

In the later 20th century the valley, along with the rest of the Rust Belt, suffered economic decline with industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs to other regions and countries, and changes in the economy. Although the river is no longer used for regular transportation, it has become a popular destination for recreational canoeing and fly fishing, in particular for smallmouth and largemouth bass, trout, rock bass, sunfish, bluegill, and carp.

Floods

The river has had periodic heavy flooding throughout its recorded history. In June 1972 the remnants of Hurricane Agnes stalled over the New York-Pennsylvania border, dropping up to 20 in of rain into the Chemung Valley, which was among the areas worst hit by the resultant flooding. The flooding left widespread areas of the communities of Corning, Big Flats, and Elmira under water and destroyed many bridges.

Elmira lost three of the four downtown road bridges that existed at the time (Madison, Main and Walnut streets) as well as the Erie Railroad bridge. The Lake Street bridge was the only bridge not damaged by the flood and was reopened to traffic. Since it was the only bridge, a "Red Ball Express" was created that allowed only one lane of traffic in each direction across the bridge. This created a traffic nightmare that was relieved when temporary repairs were done on the Madison Avenue bridge, which allowed it to be reopened to traffic. Lake Street bridge was made southbound only, and Madison Avenue bridge was made northbound only.

Upstream, Fitch's Bridge in West Elmira was washed out. Downstream, the Lowman Crossover and White Wagon bridges were washed out. The White Wagon bridge, near what is now the Wilawana exit of the Southern Tier Expressway, was never rebuilt, leaving Chemung County Route 56 split into two sections and resulting in the creation of the aforementioned Wilawana exit, to allow traffic to access the now cut-off portion of CR-56.

References

References

1. {{cite GNIS. 946479. Chemung River. September 10, 2016
2. [[Google Earth]] elevation for [[Geographic Names Information System. GNIS]] coordinates.
3. [https://pubs.usgs.gov/wdr/wdr-ny-03-3/ Water Resources Data New York Water Year 2003, Volume 3: Western New York], [[United States Geological Survey. USGS]]
4. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{webarchive. link. (2012-03-29 , accessed August 8, 2011)
5. "Search Results".
6. (1907). "Aboriginal Place Names of New York (New York State Museum Bulletin, Volume 108)". New York State Education Department.
7. Pfiffer, Jim. "The Chemung River Connects Us". Discover New York State.
8. "This Day in History: Battle of Chemung, or Newtown, New York". History.com.
9. Williams, Glenn F.. "The Battle of Newtown, 29 August 1779". Revolutionary War Archives.
10. Janowski, Diane. (2015-05-27). "History: Early accounts paint picture of Chemung Canal". Star Gazette Newspaper.
11. Seely, Hart. (2012-06-16). "Hurricane Agnes still stirs up a flood of memories". Syracuse.com.

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