Herring Highway Marker

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Georgetown in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Herring Highway

By Richard E. Miller, February 12, 2011

1. Herring Highway Marker

Inscription.
Each spring a miraculous journey begins in the Atlantic Ocean. Blueback herring, Alewife, and other migratory fish swim to Rock Creek by way of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. Members of the herring family come to Rock Creek to spawn. Since at least 1500 BC until the beginning of European settlement in the 1600s, American Indians reaped the bounty of herring during the spawning season. Over time, this age-old fish migration was hindered by dams, fords, and sewer lines, which blocked movement upstream along the length of Rock Creek. From 2004 to 2006, those obstacles were altered or removed to restore the “Herring Highway”.

Rock Creek meanders 33 miles from its source in Montgomery County, Maryland through suburban and densely populated urban areas until it reaches here, the Potomac River. From this point the water continues to flow southeast 112 miles to the Chesapeake Bay and another 80 miles to the Atlantic Ocean.

Illustrations:
Rock Creek [background]
Indian grill, John White, 1585 [drawing]

Logos:
Chesapeake Bay Gateway Network
Alice Ferguson Foundation
Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project

Erected by Rock Creek Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Location.

Herring Highway Marker - Rock Creek in background Photo, Click for full size

By Richard E. Miller, February 12, 2011

2. Herring Highway Marker - Rock Creek in background

38° 54.051′ N, 77° 3.516′ W. Marker is in Georgetown, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker is on 31st Street, NW west of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. Click for map. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20007, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. A Canal to the West - Tide Lock (about 600 feet away, in a direct line); Georgetown Historic District (approx. 0.2 miles away); Creating a National Park (approx. 0.2 miles away); At All Hours (approx. ¼ mile away); Old Stone House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (approx. 0.3 miles away); Theodore Roosevelt (approx. 0.4 miles away); The American Meridian (approx. 0.4 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Georgetown.

Additional keywords. Ecology

Herring Highway Marker - view from marker toward Georgetown Waterfront Park Photo, Click for full size

By Richard E. Miller, February 12, 2011

3. Herring Highway Marker - view from marker toward Georgetown Waterfront Park

Credits. This page originally submitted on February 20, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 342 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 20, 2011, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.