The Alapaha River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed April 18, 2011 river in southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a tributary of the Suwannee River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
History The Hernando de Soto expedition narrative records mention a "Yupaha" village they encountered after they left Apalachee, "the sound of which is suggestive of the Alapaha, a tributary of the Suwanee."George Ransford Fairbanks, History of Florida from its discovery by Ponce de Leon, in 1512 to the close of the Florida War in 1842. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1871, p. 60. Another reference to a village of "Atapaha" "so closely resembles Alapaha that it is reasonable to suppose they are the same, and that the town was on the river of that name."Fairbanks, p. 76. John Reed Swanton's landmark Indian Tribes of North America places the Indian village of Alapaha near where the Alapaha River met the Suwanee, and also noted that an Indian village of "Arapaja" was 70 leagues from St. Augustine, Florida, probably on the Alapaha River.John Reed Swanton, Indian Tribes of North America, p. 147. The Spanish mission of Santa María de Los Angeles de Arapaha was located along the lower reaches of the river from before 1630 until 1656.
In the 1840s a German travel writer, Friedrich Gerstäcker wrote a dime novel called Alapaha, or the Renegades of the Border, giving the name to a noble Cherokee "squaw." A translation of this novel was published in the 1870s as #67 in a series of American narratives published by Beadle.Alapaha, the squaw or, The renegades of the border [WorldCat.org]
During the American Civil War, the swamps along the Alapaha River in Berrien, Irwin, and Echols counties became a refuge for a number of gangs of Confederate deserters.
Course The Alapaha River rises in southeastern Dooly County, Georgia, and flows generally southeastwardly through or along the boundaries of Crisp, Wilcox, Turner, Ben Hill, Irwin, Tift, Berrien, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes and Echols Counties in Georgia, and Hamilton County in Florida, where it flows into the Suwannee River 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Jasper. Along its course it passes the Georgia towns of Pitts, Rebecca, Alapaha, Willacoochee, Lakeland, and Statenville.
Near Willacoochee, Georgia, the Alapaha collects the Willacoochee River. In Florida, it collects the Alapahoochee River and the short Little Alapaha River, which rises in Echols County, Georgia, and flows southwestward.
Intermittent river
The Alapaha River is an intermittent river for part of its course. During periods of low volume, the river disappears underground and becomes a subterranean river. At approximately downstream from Jennings, Florida the Dead River enters the Alapaha River. It is a usually dry river bed with a number of sinkholes, including the Dead River Sink. During periods of low water flow, the Alapaha River downstream from the confluence of the Dead River and the Alapaha River flows upstream into the Dead River.
A few more miles downstream is a second sinkhole variously known as the Alapaha River Sink, Suck Hole, or the Devil's Den on the western bank of the river. At the latter point during the periods of low water flow, the Alapaha River disappears underground leaving a dry bank for much of the remainder of its course. The Alapaha River later reappears at the Alapaha River Rise, which is about a half mile upstream from the confluence of the Alapaha River and the Suwannee River (). During a period of low rainfall over of the riverbed can be dry as the river goes underground.
Variant names The United States Board of Geographic Names settled on the "Alapaha River" as the stream's name in 1891. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known as:
Alabaha River Alapa Haw River Alapa Hawchu River Alla-pa-ha River Allallehaw River Allapacoochee River Allapaha River Allapauhau River Allaphaw River Allappaha River Allopohaw River Alloppehaw River Alopaha River Elapaha River Lappahaw River Lop Haw River Lopaha River Lopahatchy River Loppahaw River Low Haw River Popaha River
Crossings
Crossing Carries Image Location ID number CoordinatesGeorgiaGriffin RoadBuzzard BridgeWillford Crossing RoadCounty Line RoadSeville RoadSeville RoadSeville-Pleasantview RoadOld Cordele RoadFlowers RoadWatson RoadDowley RoadRail bridgeCSX Transportation Line formerly known as Savannah, Americus and Montgomery RailwayPitts, Georgia to Seville, GeorgiaHighway later replaced by Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway (Abandoned 1920s) Jay Calhoun RoadRebecca, GeorgiaRail bridgeCSX Transportation Line formerly known as Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic RailwayHawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway (Abandoned since before the 1920s)Walker FordFlat FordCrystal Lake RoadTifton and Northeastern Railroad (Line abandoned in the 1960s, defunct)Lennon Bridge5 Bridge RoadMcMillan BridgeSgt. James E. Jones Memorial BridgeRail bridgeCSX TransportationLine formally known as the Brunswick and Albany RailroadPVT. George W. Lee Memorial BridgeNorfolk Southern RailwayLine formerly known as Ocilla, Pinebloom and Valdosta RailroadMud Creek BridgeWaycross and Western Railroad (Closed 1925, defunct)Knight's BridgeCaptain Henry Will Jones BridgeLakeland, Georgia to Homerville, GeorgiaCarters Ferry/Bridge(Defunct)Lakeland, Georgia to Magnolia, Georgia.Hotchkiss BridgeOld State Road/Old River/Hotchiss Road (Built 1895, defunct)Naylor, Georgia to Stockton, GeorgiaRail bridgeCSX Transportation Line formerly known as the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad (1856–79)Lee Bridge(Defunct)Howells Ferry/BridgeHowell Road (Old route, defunct)Mayday, GeorgiaHowell RoadMayday, GeorgiaRail bridgeNorfolk Southern RailwayLine formerly known as the Atlantic, Valdosta and Western RailwayMayday, GeorgiaFormally the location of Troublesome FordStatenville, GeorgiaFloridaJennings, Florida to Jasper, FloridaRail bridgeNorfolk Southern Railway Line formerly known as Georgia Southern and Florida RailwayNW 14th Terrace (Defunct)Jennings, Florida to Jasper, Florida(Defunct)Alapaha River Rise
References
External links
Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry DeLorme (2003). Georgia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. .
Underground: The Alapaha River as an Intermittent River