TheOhio River (Seneca:Ohi:yo') is a 981-mile-long (1,579 km)river in theUnited States. It is located at the boundary of theMidwestern andSouthern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction fromPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to itsmouth on theMississippi River atCairo, Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largesttributary by volume of the Mississippi River.[8] It is also the sixth oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the border of sixstates, and itsdrainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, theTennessee River, the basin includes several states of thesoutheastern United States. It is the source ofdrinking water for five million people.[9]
The river became a primary transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U.S. The lower Ohio River just belowLouisville was obstructed by rapids known as theFalls of the Ohio where the elevation falls 26 feet (7.9 m) in 2 miles (3.2 km) restricting larger commercial navigation, although in the 18th and early 19th century its three deepest channels could be traversed by a wide variety of craft then in use. In 1830, theLouisville and Portland Canal (now theMcAlpine Locks and Dam) bypassed the rapids, allowing even larger commercial and modern navigation from theForks of the Ohio at Pittsburgh to thePort of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico. Since the "canalization" of the river in 1929, the Ohio has not been a natural free-flowing river; today, it is divided into 21 discrete pools or reservoirs by 20 locks and dams for navigation and power generation.[10]
The name "Ohio" comes from theSeneca wordOhi:yo', meaning "good river".[11] In hisNotes on the State of Virginia published in 1781–82,Thomas Jefferson stated: "The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth. Its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted."[12]
After theFrench and Indian War, Britain'strans-AppalachianIndian Reserve was divided by the river into colonial lands to the south and Native American lands to the north. In the late 18th century, the river became the southern boundary of theNorthwest Territory. The river was in the early 19th century considered the western extension of theMason–Dixon line that dividedPennsylvania fromMaryland, and thus part of the border betweenfree andslave territory, and between theNorthern andSouthern United States orUpland South. Where the river was narrow, it was crossed by thousands of slaves escaping to the North for freedom; many were helped by free blacks and whites of theUnderground Railroad resistance movement.
The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of thehumid continental andhumid subtropical climate areas. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. During winter, it regularly freezes over in Pittsburgh but rarely farther south towardsCincinnati and Louisville. Further down the river in places likeOwensboro andPaducah, closer to its confluence with the Mississippi, the Ohio is ice-free year-round.
Today, the Ohio River isone of the most polluted rivers in the United States.The Ohio has faced significant industrial pollution historically along with farm runoff.
The name "Ohio" derives from theSeneca wordOhi:yo' (roughly pronounced oh-HEE-yoh, with the vowel in "hee"held longer), a proper name derived fromohiːyoːh ("good river").[11][13] "Great river" and "large creek" have also been given as translations.[14][15]
An earlierMiami-Illinois language name was also applied to the Ohio River,Mosopeleacipi ("river of theMosopelea" tribe). Shortened in theShawnee language topelewa thiipi,spelewathiipi orpeleewa thiipiiki, the name evolved through variant forms such as "Polesipi", "Peleson", "Pele Sipi" and "Pere Sipi", and eventually stabilized to the variant spellings "Pelisipi", "Pelisippi" and "Pellissippi". Originally applied just to the Ohio River, the "Pelisipi" name later was variously applied back and forth between the Ohio River and theClinch River inVirginia andTennessee.[18][19] In his original draft of theLand Ordinance of 1784,Thomas Jefferson proposed a new state called "Pelisipia", to the south of the Ohio River, which would have included parts of present-day EasternKentucky, Virginia andWest Virginia.[18]
SteamboatMorning Star, a Louisville and Evansville mail packet, in 1858
The river had great significance in the history of theNative Americans, as numerous prehistoric and historic civilizations formed along its valley.[20] For thousands of years, Native Americans used the river as a major transportation and trading route.[21]
Several accounts exist of the discovery and traversal of the Ohio River by Europeans in the latter half of the 17th century: Virginian colonistAbraham Wood's trans-Appalachian expeditions between 1654 and 1664;[22] FrenchmanRobert de La Salle's putative Ohio expedition of 1669;[23] and two expeditions of Virginians sponsored by Colonel Wood: theBatts and Fallam expedition of 1671,[24] and the Needham and Arthur expedition of 1673–74.[25][26][27][28]
In early autumn 1692, loyal English-speakingDutchman Arnout Viele and a party of eleven companions fromEsopus[29]—Europeans,Shawnee, and a few loyal Delaware guides—were sent by the governor of New York to trade with the Shawnee and bring them into the English sphere of influence.[30][31] Viele understood several Native American languages, which made him valuable as an interpreter. He is credited with being the first European to travel and explorewestern Pennsylvania and the upper Ohio Valley. Viele made contact with Native American nations as far west as theWabash River, in present-day Indiana.[31]
He and his company leftAlbany, traveling southbound and crossing portions of present-day New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. They apparently followed thewest branch of the Susquehanna River into the mountains, traversing theTioga River and reaching a tributary of theAllegheny River before floating down to the Shawnee towns along the Ohio River.[31] Viele and his expedition spent most of 1693 exploring the Ohio River and its tributaries in northern Kentucky with their Shawnee hosts.[31] Gerit Luykasse, two of Viele's Dutch traders, and two Shawnee reappeared in Albany in February 1694 "to fetch powder for Arnout [Viele] and his Company";[31] their party had been gone for fifteen months, but Viele was away for about two years.[24] He and his companions returned from the Pennsylvania wilderness in August 1694, accompanied by diplomats from "seven Nations of Indians" who sought trade with the English (or peace with the powerful Iroquois nations of New York and Pennsylvania), and hundreds of Shawnee who intended to relocate in theMinisink country on the upperDelaware River.[30][31]
In 1729,Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, a French architect and surveyor whose survey was the firstmapping of the Ohio River,[32] led an expedition of French troops from Fort Niagara down theAllegheny and Ohio Rivers as far as the mouth of theGreat Miami River near Big Bone Lick and possibly the Falls of the Ohio (present-dayLouisville).[29][33][34] Chaussegros de Léry mapped the Great Lakes in 1725, and engineered the Niagara fortifications in 1726.[35][36]
I am indebted for the topographical details of the course of this River to M. de Lery, Engineer, who surveyed it with the compass at the time that he descended it with a detachment of French troops in 1729.
A map of the Ohio River valley, drawn by Bellin from observations by de Lery, is inPierre François Xavier de Charlevoix'sHistory of New France.[38][39] The 1744 Bellin map, "Map of Louisiana" (French:Carte de La Louisiane), has an inscription at a point south of the Ohio River and north of the Falls: "Place where one found the ivory of Elephant in 1729" (French:endroit ou on à trouvé des os d'Elephant en 1729).[40][41] De Lery's men found teeth weighing ten pounds (4.5 kg) with a diameter of five to seven inches (130 to 180 mm), tusks 11 feet (3.4 m) long and 6–7 inches (150–180 mm) in diameter, and thigh bones 5 feet (1.5 m) long.[42] The bones were collected and shipped to Paris, where they were identified asmastodon remains; they are on display at theFrench National Natural History Museum.[32][35]
Charles III Le Moyne, secondBaron de Longueuil (later the governor ofMontreal and interim governor ofNew France), commandedFort Niagara from 1726 to 1733.[32] He led an expedition of 442 men, including Native Americans, from Montreal to war against theChickasaw who occupied territory on the lower part of the Mississippi River in the area claimed asLa Louisiane.[43] According toGaston Pierre de Lévis, Duke de Mirepoix, the expedition used the Ohio River as a corridor to the Mississippi.
Among the officers who accompanied this party were Major de Lignery; Lieutenants, de Vassan, Aubert de Gaspe, Du Vivier, de Verrier, Le Gardeur de St. Pierre, Chevalier de Villiers, de Portneuf, de Sabrevious; Father Vernet, chaplain; Cadets,Joncaire de Closonne, Le Gai de Joncaire, Drouet de Richarville the younger, Chaussegros de Lery the younger, de Gannes, Chev. Benoist, de Morville, de Selles, and seventeen others. The rank and file consisted of three sergeants, six corporals, six lance corporals, twenty-four soldiers, forty-fivehabitants, one hundred and eighty-sixIroquois from the Sault, forty-one from theLake of Two Mountains, thirty-twoAlgonquin andNipissing, fiftyAbenaqui from St. Francois and Bécancour, Quebec; Father La Bretonnier, Jesuit; Queret, missionary.[44]
One of the first reported eyewitness accounts ofShannoah, a Shawnee town, was by le Moyne III in July 1739. On their journey down the Ohio River toward the Mississippi, they met with local chiefs in a village on theScioto River.
John Howard, a pioneer from Virginia, led a party of five—John Peter Salling (a Pennsylvania German),[45] Josiah Howard (John's son), Charles Sinclair, and John Poteet (Vizt)—from the Virginia mountains to the Mississippi River.[46] The elder Howard had a promised reward of 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of land for a successful expedition from the Virginia Royal Governor's Council to reinforce British claims in the west. Howard offered equal shares of the 10,000 acres to the four other members of his expedition. The party of five left John Peter Salling's house in August County on March 16, 1742, and traveled west toCedar Creek (near the Natural Bridge), crossingGreenbrier River and landing at theNew River. At New River, the Virginia explorers built a largebull boat frame and covered it with five buffalo skins. The first Englishmen to explore the region then followed the New River for 250 miles (400 km), until it became too dangerous to navigate. At a large waterfall, they traveled overland to theCoal River. Following theKanawha River, they entered the Ohio River 444 miles (715 km) above the falls. The Virginia pioneers traced the northern boundary of Kentucky for five hundred miles (800 km), reaching theMississippi River on June 7.[47][48][49][50][51] They descended just below the mouth of theArkansas River, where they were ambushed by a large company of Native Americans, Blacks and Frenchmen on July 2, 1742; one or two of Howard's men were killed.[52] The rest were brought toNew Orleans and imprisoned as spies.[45] After two years in prison, Salling escaped on October 25, 1744, and returned on a southern route to his home inAugusta County, Virginia, in May 1745. John Howard was extradited to France to stand trial. His ship was intercepted by the English and, as a free man, he reported his adventures after landing in London; however, his account has been lost.[47][51] Salling's detailed account of Virginia's adjacent lands was used in Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson's 1751 map.[47][51]
In 1749, theOhio Company was established inVirginia Colony to settle and trade in the Ohio River region. Exploration of the territory and trade with the Indians in the region near theForks brought white colonists from bothPennsylvania and Virginia across the mountains, and both colonies claimed the territory. The movement across the Allegheny Mountains of Anglo-American settlers and the claims of the area near modern-day Pittsburgh led to conflict with the French, who had forts in theOhio River Valley. This conflict was called theFrench and Indian War, and would merge into the global Anglo-French struggle, theSeven Years' War. In 1763, following its defeat in the war, France ceded its area east of the Mississippi River toBritain and its area west of the Mississippi River toSpain in the1763 Treaty of Paris.
The 1768Treaty of Fort Stanwix with several tribes opened Kentucky to colonial settlement and established the Ohio River as a southern boundary for American Indian territory.[53] In 1774 theQuebec Act restored the land east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River toQuebec, in effect making the Ohio the southern boundary ofCanada. This appeasedFrench Canadians in Quebec but angered the colonists of theThirteen Colonies.Lord Dunmore's War south of the Ohio river also contributed to cession of land north to Quebec to prevent colonial expansion onto Native American territory. During theRevolutionary War. in 1776 the British military engineerJohn Montrésor created a map of the river showing the strategic location ofFort Pitt, including specific navigational information about the Ohio River's rapids and tributaries in that area.[54] However, the1783 Treaty of Paris gave the entire Ohio Valley to theUnited States, and numerous white settlers entered the region.
Built between 1847 and 1849, theWheeling Suspension Bridge was the first bridge across the river and a crucial part of the National Road.
The economic connection of theOhio Country to theEast was significantly increased in 1818 when theNational Road being built westward fromCumberland, Maryland, reachedWheeling, Virginia, (nowWest Virginia), providing an easier overland connection from thePotomac River to the Ohio River.[55] TheWheeling Suspension Bridge was built over the river at Wheeling from 1847 to 1849, making the trip west easier. For a brief time, until 1851, it was the world's largest suspension bridge. The bridge survived theAmerican Civil War, after having been improved in 1859. It was renovated again in 1872, and remains in use as the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the U.S.
Louisville was founded in 1778 as a military encampment onCorn Island (now submerged) by General George Rogers Clark at the only major natural navigational barrier on the river, theFalls of the Ohio. The Falls were a series of rapids where the river dropped 26 feet (7.9 m) in a stretch of about 2 miles (3.2 km). In this area, the river flowed over hard, fossil-rich beds oflimestone. The outpost was moved that same year to the south shore whereFort-on-Shore was constructed. It proved insufficient within three years, and the mightyFort Nelson was constructed upriver. The town of Louisville was chartered in 1780, in honor of King Louis XVI of France. The firstlocks on the river – theLouisville and Portland Canal – were built between 1825 and 1830 to circumnavigate the falls. Fears that Louisville's transshipment industry would collapse proved ill-founded: but the increasing size of steamships and barges on the river meant that the outdated locks could serve only the smallest vessels until well after theCivil War when improvements were made. TheU.S. Army Corps of Engineers improvements were expanded again in the 1960s, forming the present-dayMcAlpine Locks and Dam.
During the nineteenth century, emigrants from Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky traveled by the river and settled along its northern bank. Known asbutternuts, they formed the dominant culture in the southern portions of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois with a society that was primarilySouthern in culture. Largely devoted to agricultural pursuits, they shipped much of their produce along the river to ports such as Cincinnati.[56]
Cave-in-rock, view on the Ohio (circa 1832,Cave-In-Rock, Illinois): aquatint byKarl Bodmer from the bookMaximilian, Prince of Wied's Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834
Because the Ohio River flowed westward, it became a convenient means of westward movement by pioneers traveling from western Pennsylvania. After reaching the mouth of the Ohio, settlers would travel north on the Mississippi River toSt. Louis, Missouri. There, some continued on up theMissouri River, some up the Mississippi, and some farther west over land routes. In the early 19th century,river pirates such asSamuel Mason, operating out ofCave-In-Rock, Illinois, waylaid travelers on their way down the river. They killed travelers, stealing their goods and scuttling their boats. The folktales aboutMike Fink recall thekeelboats used for commerce in the early days of American settlement. The Ohio River boatmen inspired performerDan Emmett, who in 1843 wrote the song "The Boatman's Dance".
Trading boats and ships traveled south on the Mississippi toNew Orleans, and sometimes beyond to theGulf of Mexico and other ports in the Americas and Europe. This provided a much-needed export route for goods from the west since the trek east over theAppalachian Mountains was long and arduous. The need for access to the port of New Orleans by settlers in the Ohio Valley is one of the factors that led to the United States'Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Because the river is the southern border of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, it was part of the border betweenfree states and slave states in the years before theAmerican Civil War. One antebellumslave trader reported that they kept slaves chained two-by-two while navigating the Ohio, only when they reached the Mississippi could the slaves be unchained for a time, because "there was slavery on both sides of the boat".[57] The expression "sold down the river" originated as a lament of Upper South slaves, especially from Kentucky, who were shipped via the Ohio and Mississippi to cotton and sugar plantations in theDeep South. Changes in crops cultivated in the Upper South resulted in slaves available to be sold to the South, where the expansion of cotton plantations was doing very well. Invention of thecotton gin made cultivation of short-staple cotton profitable throughout the Black Belt of this region.[58][59]
Before and during the Civil War, the Ohio River was called the "River Jordan" by slaves crossing it to escape to freedom in the North via theUnderground Railroad.[60] More escaping slaves, estimated in the thousands, made their perilous journey north to freedom across the Ohio River than anywhere else across the north-south frontier.Harriet Beecher Stowe'sUncle Tom's Cabin, the bestselling novel that fueled abolitionist work, was the best known of the anti-slavery novels that portrayed such escapes across the Ohio. The times have been expressed by 20th-century novelists as well, such as theNobel Prize-winningToni Morrison, whose novelBeloved was adapted as a film of the same name. She also composed the libretto for the operaMargaret Garner (2005), based on the life and trial of an enslaved woman who escaped with her family across the river.
The colonial charter for Virginia defined its territory as extending to the north shore of the Ohio, so that the riverbed was "owned" by Virginia. Where the river serves as a boundary between states today, Congress designated the entire river to belong to the states on the east and south, i.e., West Virginia and Kentucky at the time of admission to the Union, that were divided from Virginia. ThusWheeling Island, the largest inhabited island in the Ohio River, belongs to West Virginia, although it is closer to the Ohio shore than to the West Virginia shore. Kentucky sued the state of Indiana in the early 1980s because of their construction of the never-completedMarble Hill Nuclear Power Plant in Indiana, which would have discharged its waste water into the river. This would have adversely affected Kentucky's water supplies.
TheU.S. Supreme Court held that Kentucky's jurisdiction (and, implicitly, that of West Virginia) extended only to the low-water mark of 1793 (important because the river has been extensively dammed for navigation so that the present river bank is north of the old low-water mark). Similarly, in the 1990s, Kentucky challenged Illinois's right to collect taxes ona riverboat casino docked inMetropolis, citing its own control of the entire river.A private casino riverboat that docked inEvansville, Indiana, on the Ohio River opened about the same time. Although such boats cruised on the Ohio River in an oval pattern up and down, the state of Kentucky soon protested. Other states had to limit their cruises to going forward, then reversing and going backward on the Indiana shore only. Both Illinois and Indiana have long since changed their laws to allow riverboat casinos to be permanently docked, with Illinois changing in 1999 and Indiana in 2002.
The combined Allegheny-Ohio river is 1,310 miles (2,110 km) long and carries the largest volume of water of any tributary of the Mississippi. The Indians and early European explorers and settlers of the region often considered the Allegheny to be part of the Ohio. Theforks (the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at what is now Pittsburgh) were considered a strategic military location by colonial French and British, and later independent American military authorities.
The river follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of the remainder of its length. The course forms the northern borders of West Virginia andKentucky; and the southern borders ofOhio,Indiana andIllinois, until it joins theMississippi River at the city ofCairo, Illinois. Where the Ohio joins the Mississippi is the lowest elevation in the state of Illinois, at 315 feet (96 m).
The Mississippi River flows to the Gulf of Mexico on theAtlantic Ocean. Among rivers wholly or mostly in the United States, the Ohio is the second largest by discharge volume and the tenth longest and has the eighth largest drainage basin. It serves to separate theMidwesternGreat Lakes states from the Upper South states, which were historicallyborder states in the Civil War.
The Ohio River is a left (east) and the largesttributary by volume of theMississippi River in theUnited States. At theconfluence, the Ohio is considerably bigger than the Mississippi, measured by long-term mean discharge. The Ohio River at Cairo is 281,500 cu ft/s (7,960 m3/s);[1] and the Mississippi River atThebes, Illinois, which is upstream of the confluence, is 208,200 cu ft/s (5,897 m3/s).[62] The Ohio River flow is greater than that of the Mississippi River, so hydrologically the Ohio River is the main stream of the river system.
The Ohio River is a naturally shallow river that was artificially deepened by a series ofdams. The natural depth of the river varied from about 3 to 20 feet (1 to 6 m). The dams raise the water level and have turned the river largely into a series ofreservoirs, eliminating shallow stretches and allowing for commercial navigation. From its origin to Cincinnati, the average depth is approximately 15 feet (5 m). The largest immediate drop in water level is below the McAlpine Locks and Dam at theFalls of the Ohio atLouisville, Kentucky, where flood stage is reached when the water reaches 23 feet (7 m) on the lower gauge. However, the river's deepest point is 168 feet (51 m) on the western side of Louisville, Kentucky. From Louisville, the river loses depth very gradually until its confluence with the Mississippi atCairo, Illinois, where it has an approximate depth of 19 feet (6 m).
Water levels for the Ohio River from Smithland Lock and Dam upstream to Pittsburgh are predicted daily by theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ohio River Forecast Center.[63] The water depth predictions are relative to each local flood plain based upon predicted rainfall in the Ohio River basin in five reports as follows:
The Ohio's drainage basin covers 203,940 mi2 (528,200 km2), encompassing the easternmost regions of theMississippi Basin. The Ohio drains parts of 14 states in four regions.
Northeast
New York: a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny.
Pennsylvania: a corridor from the southwestern corner to the north-central border.
Kentucky: all but a small part in theextreme west drained directly by the Mississippi.
Tennessee: all but a small part in the extreme west drained directly by the Mississippi, and a very small area in the southeastern corner which is drained by theConasauga River.
The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of thehumid continental andhumid subtropical climate areas. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. In winter, it regularly freezes over atPittsburgh but rarely farther south towardCincinnati andLouisville. AtPaducah, Kentucky, in the south, at the Ohio's confluence with the Tennessee River, it is ice-free year-round.
In the 21st century, with the 2016 update of climate zones,[66] the humid subtropical zone has stretched across the river, into the southern portions ofOhio,Indiana, andIllinois.
From a geological standpoint, the Ohio River is young. Before the river was created, large parts ofNorth America were covered by water forming a saltwater lake about 200 miles across and 400 miles in length. Thebedrock of the Ohio Valley was mostly set during this time.[21] The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. By the movement ofglaciers during the earliestice ages, the contemporary riverdrainages of theKanawha,Sandy,Kentucky,Green,Cumberland andTennessee rivers northward created the Ohio system and the course of earlytributaries of the Ohio River, including theMonongahela and theAllegheny rivers, were set.[21] TheTeays River was the largest of these rivers. The modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed.
The section of the river that runs southwest from Pittsburgh toCairo, Illinois, is around tens of thousands of years old.
The upper Ohio River formed when one of the glacial lakes overflowed into a south-flowing tributary of theTeays River. Prior to that event, the north-flowing Steubenville River (no longer in existence) ended betweenNew Martinsville andPaden City, West Virginia. The south-flowing Marietta River (no longer in existence) ended between the present-day cities. The overflowing lake carved through the separating hill and connected the rivers. The floodwaters enlarged the smallMarietta valley to a size more typical of a large river. The new large river subsequently drained glacial lakes and melting glaciers at the end of the ice ages. The valley grew during and following the ice age. Many small rivers were altered or abandoned after the upper Ohio River formed. Valleys of some abandoned rivers can still be seen on satellite and aerial images of the hills of Ohio and West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio, andHuntington, West Virginia.
The middle Ohio River formed in a manner similar to that of the upper Ohio River. A north-flowing river was temporarily dammed by natural forces southwest of present-dayLouisville, creating a large lake until the dam burst. A new route was carved to the Mississippi. Eventually, the upper and middle sections combined to form what is essentially the modern Ohio River.
The Ohio River is home to diverse ecosystems and a host of different species. Between 1817 and 1983, there were 154 species of fish found in the river. Only 14 of those species were introduced by humans.[67] Since 1900, there has been an exponential decrease in species of fish that were previously plentiful, like shovelnose sturgeon, paddlefish, muskellunge, and blue sucker.[67] The river also contains over 50 different species of mussels and supports a wide array of birds.[68] Invasive species that have been introduced through anthropogenic means are also present in the river and are in part responsible for this species depletion. For example, zebra mussels and Asian carp both compete with local species for food, causing the decline in some species. Surrounding the Ohio are mixed mesophytic and western mesophytic forests, which are temperate, diverse, and mostly deciduous.[68] Common trees in the Ohio River Basin include oak, hickory, river birch, basswood, poplar, and the yellow buckeye.[68] Many forests along the Ohio in states like Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky have now been cut down.[68] Some of the plants and animals that live in and around the Ohio River are considered endangered species due to pollution.
A concerning pollutant common in the Ohio River is mercury which accumulates in wildlife, especially fish. Mercury is directly funneled into the river from industrial facilities, like coal-fired power plants and chemical manufacturers.[69] More significant than direct discharge is the release of mercury into the atmosphere from smokestacks, which settles on land and deposits into the water.[69] A six-year study conducted along twelve river locations by Erich B. Emery, a biologist and water quality specialist, and John P. Spaeth, an aquatic scientist, tested mercury bioaccumulation in muscle tissue of hybrid striped bass. Mercury was detected in all samples collected, and tissue concentrations of said mercury ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 mg/kg. Five of the twelve samples (41.6%) had higher concentrations than that considered safe for human consumption by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which suggests consuming only fish with concentrations less than 0.3 mg/kg.[70] The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) identifies seven species of fish, including sauger, black bass, freshwater drum, white bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, and flathead catfish, that should not be eaten more than once a month due to high mercury content.[69]
A newer concern in waterways is the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are also known as "forever chemicals". PFAS are anthropogenic chemicals that are used in manufacturing products and industrial processes. In 2021, 20 different sites along the Ohio River had multiple PFAS compounds at levels that would be concerning to use as drinking water. While the impacts of PFAS on wildlife are still being tested, negative impacts have been seen on the nervous system, reproduction, development, liver, metabolism, and immunity in both human and nonhuman animal health.[71] Reproduction and development are key to the survival of species, which is now being harmed by the amount of PFAS in the Ohio River, especially considering the number of endangered species in and around the river.[72]
The Ohio River has been polluted for decades, and as a whole is ranked asthe most polluted river in the United States, based on 2009 and 2010 data. The more industrial and regional West Virginia/Pennsylvania tributary, theMonongahela River, ranked 17th forwater pollution, behind 16 other American rivers.[73] The Ohio again ranked as the most polluted in 2013, and has been the most polluted river since at least 2001, according to ORSANCO. The Commission found that 92% of toxic discharges werenitrates, including farm runoff and waste water from industrial processes such as steel production. The Commission also noted mercury pollution as an ongoing concern, citing a 500% increase in mercury discharges between 2007 and 2013.[74]
The Ohio was originally used as an industrial river, with coal mining, steel mills, and transportation common along its banks in the 20th century. When the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, those industries were minimally regulated. These historical polluting industries, such as Chemours Chemical, Louisville Gas and Electric, and North American Stainless continue to impact the river, even once their factories leave the banks through legacy pollution.[75] As protections and regulations increased for specific industries along the river, chemical companies began to pollute the river.
For example, Washington Works, a chemical plant owned by Chemours in West Virginia along the Ohio, has been taken to court over releasing high levels of PFAS, or "forever chemicals", into the river.[76] West Virginia Rivers Coalition filed a lawsuit as a citizen's suit under the Clean Water Act against Chemours for violations of their discharge permit and lack of response when the EPA told them to take corrective action.[76] This discharge is occurring inParkersburg, West Virginia, a small town in Appalachia which has dealt with historical river pollution. For several decades beginning in the 1950s, the Ohio River was polluted with hundreds of thousands of pounds ofPFOA, a fluoride-based chemical used in makingteflon, among other things, by theDuPont chemical company from an outflow pipe at its Parkersburg facility.[77]
In 2020, heavy industry dumped more toxic pollution into the Ohio River watershed than any other watershed that year.[75] Nearly 41 million pounds of toxic pollution were released into the river by industrial discharges from coal powerplants, steel and aluminum manufacturers, and petrochemical plants, among other businesses.[75] These 41 million pounds accounted for over a fifth of the total industrial pollution released into waterways in the United States in 2020.[75] Most of the chemicals released into all waterways were nitrates which cause lowered dissolved oxygen levels, resulting in toxic algal blooms.[75] In 2019, the Ohio River had algal blooms appear along 265 miles of the river.[75] Heavy metals like arsenic, nickel, and chromium are also dumped in the Ohio river from power plants. Mercury accumulates in the environment and in wildlife, making some fish unsafe for consumption and disturbing food chains.[78]
The Ohio was listed amongAmerica's Most Endangered Rivers of 2023 following ahigh-profile train derailment, and after years as one of the most polluted watersheds in the United States.[79] On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment triggered a massive fire, eventually leading to a controlled burn to prevent further damages.[80] Some residents are still concerned about the air and water quality a year after the derailment.[80]
The Ohio River is extensively industrialized and populated. Regular barge traffic carries cargoes of oil,steel and other industrial goods produced in the region. Major cities located along the northern and southern banks of the river includePittsburgh, Pennsylvania;Cincinnati, Ohio;Louisville, Kentucky; andEvansville, Indiana.[21]
While the Ohio River does have major cities and industrial areas, the drainage basin is largely made up of rural, Appalachian landscape that is home to some of the poorest communities in the country.[81] A study done by H. Luke Shaefer at theUniversity of Michigan's Poverty Solutions initiative reports on the intersection between income (using poverty and deep poverty rates), health (using life expectancy and low birth weight), and social mobility to determine the "Index of Deep Disadvantage" in counties and cities across the United States. The report found that the Ohio River valley has some of the most disadvantaged communities in the nation.[82] In particular, nine Ohio Valley counties located in Appalachia are within the top 100 most deeply disadvantaged communities.[82] The life expectancy in one of these counties,McDowell County, West Virginia, is 69 years old, which is almost 10 years younger than the national average.[82]
For example,Parkersburg, West Virginia is located along the Ohio River, and has experienced significant pollution. As of 2025, the average household income in Parkersburg is $62,550 with a poverty rate of 23.01%. The Parkersburg poverty rate is both higher than the West Virginia rate and the United States rate.[83] Parkersburg has experienced historical and contemporary pollution from both Dupont Chemical and Chemours Chemical dumping dangerous byproducts into the Ohio River.[76]
Additionally,East Palestine, Ohio is located within the Ohio River basin about 15 miles (24 km) north of the river, and was the site of theEast Palestine, Ohio, train derailment in 2023. As of 2025, the average household income is $66,179 with a poverty rate of 9.52%.[84] The train derailment in East Palestine resulted in pollution of the Ohio River because the community is located directly on the waterway.[80]
Environmental justice, as defined by theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency, is "fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socio-economic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies."[88]
Communities along the Ohio River are economically disadvantaged and bear a great burden of environmental degradation. Polluting industries move into the Valley to use the river as a dumping ground.[89] People within surrounding communities then are reliant on polluting industries for jobs and income, not allowing for people to opt out of the pollution of their communities without facing consequences of unemployment. Workers and citizens in these communities also tend to face the negative impacts of pollution through human health issues. Cancer, including rare forms, and other health problems are prevalent in these areas.[90]
Accumulation of mercury in aquatic wildlife raises concerns over if people should be consuming certain fish for fear of adverse health impacts.[78] Mercury has been proven to be especially harmful to young, developing brains. Young people cannot consent to the industrial work that is happening in their towns, and cannot even benefit from potential employment at these places. Even without informed consent, young people are disproportionately impacted by increased mercury levels in fish.[78]
Inefficient agency management and enforcement, especially across states, has proven that agencies know what is happening in the Ohio but have not taken the proper steps to enforce pollution policies. The EPA has recognized that Chemours chemical company has been polluting past what their discharge permit allows, but citizens still have had to take action to attempt to get the river cleaned up.[76]
Along the banks of the Ohio are some of the largest cities in their respective states:[note 1]Pittsburgh, the third-largest city on the river and second-largest in Pennsylvania;Cincinnati, the second-largest city on the river and third-largest in Ohio;Louisville, the largest city on the river and in Kentucky as well;Evansville, the third-largest city in Indiana;Owensboro, the fourth-largest city in Kentucky; and three of the five largest cities in West Virginia—Huntington (second),Parkersburg (fourth), andWheeling (fifth). Only Illinois, among the border states, has no significant cities on the river. There are hundreds of other cities, towns, villages and unincorporated populated places on the river, most of them very small.
Cities and counties along the Ohio are also some of the most disadvantaged in the country. Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio are on the list for the top 100 most deeply disadvantaged communities in the Ohio River Valley. Some rural counties in the Valley are also on the list, including Kentucky counties McCreary, Bell, Clay, Wolfe, Breathitt, Harlan, Lee, and Owsley, and McDowell County in West Virginia. Most of these communities are located in Appalachia.[82]
Other cities of interest includeCairo, Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi River and the southernmost and westernmost city on the river; andBeaver, Pennsylvania, the site of colonialFort McIntosh and the northernmost city on the river. It is 548 miles as the crow flies between Cairo and Pittsburgh, but 981 miles by water. Direct water travel over the length of the river is obstructed by the Falls of the Ohio just below Louisville, Kentucky. TheOhio River Scenic Byway follows the Ohio River through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio ending atSteubenville, Ohio, on the river.
^Cities and towns of pop. at least 25,000 and among the 10 largest in the state, and whose municipal boundary comes within less than a mile of the river.Florence, Kentucky, a city of 33,500 and that state's eighth-largest, for example, is a near miss because its northernmost boundary only comes within 2.7 miles of the river.
^"Native Ohio".American Indian Studies.Ohio State University. Archived fromthe original on February 2, 2007. RetrievedFebruary 25, 2007.Ohio comes from the Seneca (Iroquoian) 'ohiiyo' 'good river'
^Mithun, Marianne (1999)."Borrowing".The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 311–3.ISBN978-0-521-29875-9.Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 29, 2018.Ohio ('large creek')
^Stewart, George R. (1967).Names on the Land. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 8.ISBN978-0-938530-02-2.
^Who gets credit for discovering theOhio River may depend on where one places the headwaters: in colonial times, the Allegheny extended to the mouth of the Kanawha; today, the headwaters of the Ohio are placed at the mouth of the Monongehela.
^Henderson, Archibald (1920)."The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone".The Conquest of the Old Southwest: The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers. New York: The Century Co. p. 116.
^Rickerson, Don, ed. (2013) [1939].The Expedition of Baron de Longueuil (digital ed.). Pennsylvania Historical Society, Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration. p. 7.
^Forbes, Harold Malcolm (October 29, 2010)."John Peter Salling".The West Virginia Encyclopedia (online ed.). West Virginia Humanities Council.Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. RetrievedMay 7, 2023.
^Harrison, Fairfax (April 1922). "The Virginians on the Ohio and the Mississippi in 1742".Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.30 (2). Virginia Historical Society:203–222.JSTOR4243878.
^"Geography".KET's Underground Railroad: Passage to Freedom, with Kentucky Humanities Association. Archived fromthe original on October 20, 2014. RetrievedDecember 19, 2018.
^Dunaway, Wilma A. (2000)."Put in Master's Pocket: Interstate Slave Trading and the Black Appalachian Diaspora"(DOC). In Inscoe, John C. (ed.).Appalachians and Race: The Mountain South from Slavery to Segregation. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 5–6.ISBN978-0813121734.Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. RetrievedDecember 19, 2018.Bluegrass dealers made a business of buying up Negroes at auction sales and shipping them down to New Orleans to be sold to owners of cotton and sugar cane plantations... . This practice gave rise to the expression 'sold down the river.
^LeRose, Chris (October 2001)."The Collapse of the Silver Bridge".West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly.15 (4).Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. RetrievedDecember 20, 2018.
^"Ohio RFC". US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Weather Service.Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. RetrievedMarch 10, 2017.
^"Lower Mississippi RFC". US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Weather Service.Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. RetrievedMarch 10, 2017.
^abc"Tributaries".orsanco.org.Archived from the original on March 18, 2019. RetrievedMarch 13, 2019.
^abPearson, W. D.; Krumholz, L. A. (January 31, 1984).Distribution and status of Ohio River fishes (Report). Louisville Univ., KY (USA). Water Resources Lab.Archived from the original on February 3, 2025. RetrievedDecember 4, 2025.
^Emery, Erich B; Spaeth, John P. (2010). "Mercury Concentrations in Water and Hybrid Striped Bass (Monrone Saxatilis x M. Chrysops) Muscle Tissue Samples Collected from the Ohio River, USA".Archives of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology.
^abcReash, Robin J.; Brown, Lauren; Merritt, Karen (2015). "Mercury and Other Trace Elements in Ohio River Fish Collected Near Coal-Fired Power Plants: Interspecific Patterns and Consideration of Consumption Risks".Integr Environ Assess Manag.11 (3).
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