Cheverly's Streams

Cheverly's Streams

Cheverly north of route 50 has four unnamed tributaries that feed Lower Beaverdam Creek; for convenience we refer to them, west to east, as Tributaries 1 through 4. South of route 50, Cabin Branch runs northward through the “Old Fourth Ward” into Lower Beaverdam Creek. Quincy Run flows directly into the Anacostia River.

Access to these streams is currently limited. The Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan will recommend improved access to encourage enjoyment and protection of our water resources.

United States Geological Survey 1886

Tributary 1

Running from about halfway between Greenleaf Rd and Hawthorne southward to Lower Beaverdam Creek, this tributary formed the eastern boundary of a 1685 patent named White Lackington, later Whitlentine, and the western boundary of the North Kenilworth subdivision (1910). It drains the western portions of Greenleaf Road and Hawthorne, as well as Euclid Woods, hospital hill and parts of the Cheverly Industrial Park. Hospital parking lot storm drains feed the tributary.

During one of several hospital expansions in the 1950s 14 feet of earth were removed from the peak of hospital hill to fill in a valley, or saddle, west of Inwood, Jason, and Lockwood, changing the hydrology of the area. South of Craftsman Press Tributary 1 is piped through an industrial area. The Town of Cheverly owns a strip of land along this stream.

A portion of a subtributary running just south of the present swim club remains as a ditch running into Tributary 1.

Access: From the western end of Greenleaf Road; by foot from Euclid Woods.

Tributary 2

Tributary 2 formed a rough trident shape, with branches meeting at about Forest Road and Valley Way. A western branch ran down present-day Greenleaf Road toward Crest The central branch flowed in meanders down Crest and Greenleaf Road, fed in part by springs, of which two are today partially visible. An eastern branch ran between Belleview Avenue and Hawthorne Street. South of Forest the stream meandered southward generally down the route of the present Valley Way. A subtributary, described in 1946 as an open creek-bed, entered tributary 2 from what is now Euclid Avenue between Lake Avenue and Valley Way. At the present Hoyer school playfield water lily ponds were created by damming part of the stream.

The demand for housing lots brought pressure to pipe the tributary and by 1940 a plan for piping on Crest and Greenleaf was in place. The pipes run below the road’s median “islands.” In 1946 a comprehensive town plan recommended the piping: “A deep ditch with steep sides now runs the length of Greenleaf Road and Valley Way, constituting not only a danger to the children of that neighborhood, but also causing wash-outs under the curb and pavement.” In the same period the Cheverly Citizen editor pressed for covering “the ditch.” Likewise, according to the 1946 town plan, “it is necessary to place the open creek following the course of the [Euclid] street into a storm sewer.”

A Cheverly neighbor who remembers playing in the Crest creek as a child estimates that the piping was not completed until the early 1960s. The soil tells the tale: The route of Tributary 2 down Crest and Valley Way can be followed on maps showing that the soils bordering the former stream are those associated with flood plains. The stream is now visible only at an outfall south of 7-11. From there it is piped under route 50 and the railroad and Metro tracks to join Lower Beaverdam Creek.

Tributary 3

Photo Dave Kneipp

Tributary 3 began just south of the Gast Park triangle and ran generally along Parkway, present Cheverly Park Drive and Wayne Place. It ran above ground for its full length through 1946. In 1969 the above-ground portion began at Forest Road. It is now piped until it reaches Woodworth Park. Tributary 3 is also fed by the storm drains of a large part of Cheverly, all reaching a single outfall at Woodworth Park.

Tributary 3 from Forest Road south in 1969.

State Highway Administration plat prepared for construction of Route 50 interchange,

successfully opposed by Cheverly.

In 1973 a plan commissioned by the Town of Cheverly envisioned a lake where the beaver pond was until recently.

Access: From Woodworth Park tot lot, on a natural surface path built by Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek.

Tributary 4

Tributary 4, in Cheverly’s newest sections, runs through a former subdivision, Cheverly Gardens (1904). It is the only one of Cheverly’s northern streams that remains above ground for its full length. It is now fed largely by storm drainage from area streets. A Maryland Department of Natural Resources Stream Corridor Assessment faulted the large stormwater outfall structures, severe streambank erosion, and lack of sufficient tree buffer to prevent that erosion. Homeowners who plant rain gardens would help reduce the volume, velocity, and temperature of rainwater into the stream and slow streambank erosion.

Access: From Cheverly Hills Court.

Cabin Branch

Cabin Branch runs northward and westward through the Old Fourth Ward to join the main branch of Lower Beaverdam Creek. In the early 1940s Cabin Branch was attractive to hikers.

Access: From Boyd Park path, from 64th Avenue bridge.

Lower Beaverdam Creek

Only a short length of Lower Beaverdam Creek runs through Cheverly. In the nineteenth century the creek, then known as Beaver Dam Branch, powered at least one mill. The industry we now see along Lower Beaverdam Creek grew only after 1948, following an M-NCPPC plan opposed by Cheverly. Earlier, in 1933, Cheverly residents had successfully protested against a brewery on the creek, south of the present Metro parking lot.

Until 1947-1948, when trunk sewers were installed along the creeks, raw sewage was routinely discharged into Lower Beaverdam Creek and Cabin Branch. In 1946 Cheverly parents were warned to keep their children out of contaminated Lower Beaverdam Creek.

Access: At Columbia Park Road where Lower Beaverdam Creek runs through two large pipe culverts. Also by foot through woods west of Trent St. A trail along Lower Beaverdam Creek Trail has been recommended in county plans and the Cheverly Green Plan.

Quincy Run

Quincy Run is the only Cheverly stream not in the Lower Beaverdam Creek watershed. Nameless until quite recently, Quincy Run is fed by several subtributaries, including one running north through Cheverly Nature Park and fed largely by runoff from Lockwood Road. A branch now piped underground ran along Montrose Road. Quincy Run is piped under the Baltimore-Washington Parkway ramps, comes to the surface for a short space and is again piped under the parkway and westward until it leaves Cheverly.

Photo Dave Kneipp

Access: The Nature Park subtributary may be seen at Lockwood Road at the north end of Crest or by foot through the park.