Allegheny River | |
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The Allegheny River, looking upstream at Freeport, Pennsylvania
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Country | United States |
Basin features | |
Main source |
Allegany Township, Potter County, near Coudersport, Pennsylvania at the corner of Ben Green and Cobb Hill Rd ~2,490 ft (760 m) 41°52′22″N 77°52′30″W / 41.872844°N 77.874998°W |
River mouth |
Ohio River at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 40°26′36″N 80°00′54″W / 40.443402°N 80.015053°WCoordinates: 40°26′36″N 80°00′54″W / 40.443402°N 80.015053°W |
Basin size | 11,580 sq mi (30,000 km2) |
Tributaries | |
Physical characteristics | |
Length | 325 mi (523 km) |
Discharge |
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The Allegheny River /ælᵻˈɡeɪni/ is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Allegheny River is, by volume, the main headstream of the Ohio River.
The river is approximately 325 miles (523 km) long, running through the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. It drains a rural dissected plateau of 11,580 square miles (30,000 km2) in the northern Allegheny Plateau, providing the northeastern most drainage in the watershed of the Mississippi River. Its tributaries reach to within 8 miles (13 km) of Lake Erie in southwestern New York.
The Allegheny Valley has been one of the most productive areas of fossil fuel extraction in U.S. history, with its extensive deposits of coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
The name Allegheny probably comes from Lenape welhik hane or oolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'. There is a Lenape legend of a tribe called "Allegewi" who used to live along the river.