Mantua Creek Watershed

Mantua Creek drains an area of 50.9 square miles in Gloucester County. The main branch rises (starts) in Glassboro and flows 18.6 miles to the Delaware River just north of Paulsboro Borough. Two major tributaries are the Chestnut Branch and Edwards Run. The Chestnut Branch is seven miles long and flows from Glassboro through Pitman to Mantua where it joins the main branch at the border of Mantua Township and Wenonah Borough. It drains an area of approximately 9.5 square miles. Edwards Run, which is 6.9 miles long, flows from Mantua Township through East Greenwich to join the Mantua Creek at Mount Royal. Its drainage area is 10.6 square miles. The Mantua Creek is tidal on its main channel up to a point in Wenonah. Edwards Run is tidal up to the NJ Turnpike in East Greenwich, and Chestnut Branch is tidal for a very short distance to Mantua Boulevard in Mantua Township.

There are several additional tributaries to the main branch. Major ones are Duffield Run, Porch Branch, Bethel Run, Bees Branch, Monongahela Brook, and Breakneck Run. Other tributaries to the Chestnut Branch and Edwards Run include Tylers Run, Richwood Branch and Myers Run. There are several large and small lakes in the watershed. Major ones are Kandle Lake, Kressey (Wadsworth) Lake, Alcyon Lake, Lake Oberst and Bethel Lake. Nearer to the mouth of the Mantua are wide tidal marshes. At the mouth itself some of these areas were filled in past years with “spoils” from dredging the Delaware River.

The name Mantua comes from “Manta,” meaning “frog,” the name for the Native American group that lived in the area at the time of European arrival. The Mantaes were a sub-tribe of the Lenape Indians and had a large village near Mount Royal, in East Greenwich Township. Another village was located at Hurffville in Washington Township.

The Mantua Creek watershed encompasses all or parts of 13 municipalities in Gloucester County. These include Mantua, Washington, Deptford, East Greenwich, and West Deptford Townships, and Glassboro, Pitman, Wenonah and Paulsboro Boroughs. Smaller portions of Harrison Township and Woodbury Heights Borough, and tiny areas of Greenwich and Monroe Townships are also within the watershed.

Return to the main Maps or Gloucester County Watersheds page.