The Historic Dan River

The Historic Dan River. Life on the Dan River. , The Dan River flows over 200 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia to John H Kerr Reservoir. The river crosses the border of Virginia and North Carolina 8 times before joining the Roanoke River at Lake Kerr. It continues its journey flowing southeast to Albemarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean on the North Carolina coast., The Dan River starts its journey 3,200 feet above sea level in the Meadows of Dan in Patrick County, VA. It flows across the Blue Ridge Plateau, joining with other small streams and enters a steep, crooked gorge made of billion-year-old rocks, 1,000 feet over the river, called the Pinnacles of the Dan., The Dan River Basin includes all or most of eight counties: Patrick, Henry, Pittsylvania, and Halifax in Virginia, and Stokes, Rockingham, Caswell, and Person in North Carolina. Smaller portions of eight more counties lie in the Dan River Basin: Floyd, Franklin, and Mecklenburg in Virginia, and Surry, Forsyth, Guilford, Orange, and Granville in North Carolina., The name of the river was first recorded by William Byrd II in 1728, during an expedition to survey the Virginia border, though Byrd did not explain the reason for the name., The 3300-square-mile Dan River Basin comprises approximately one third of the Roanoke River Basin. Major tributaries of the Dan River are the Mayo, Smith, Sandy, Banister, and Hyco rivers., In years past, the Dan River joined the Roanoke River at Clarksville. Occoneechee Island, at the confluence, housed the largest Indian settlements and trading posts in Virginia. The waters of Buggs Island Lake, formed by the construction of Kerr Dam, now cover the historic site. Technically the Dan River ceases to exist when it enters Buggs Island Lake, east of South Boston. The water of the lake, however, eventually flow into the Roanoke River and enter the Atlantic Ocean Albermarle Sound., The Albermarle Sound is where the freshwaters of the Dan reach the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. Saltmarshes, tidal creeks, bays and estuaries are extremely important ecosystems sensitive to pollution. Its important to remember that we all live downstream.