Photo courtesy of Michael Hogan

Watershed Facts - 25 total stream miles - drains 63 sq. mi. of land - has 9 tributaries - a source for 6 major lakes - flows through 28 communities

Overview
From its headwaters in Washington and Winslow townships, Big Timber Creek flows west, draining a land area of 63 square miles and flowing through 28 communities.

The main stream and most of the South Branch form the county line between Gloucester and Camden counties. The main stream of the creek is less than 4 miles long but the total creek has nine significant tributaries and six major lakes. The North Branch is ten miles long and drains the urban area of Camden County. The South Branch, 11 miles long, meets the Delaware River between the towns of Westville and Brooklawn. Other tributaries include Almonesson Creek, Beaver Brook, Holly Run, Little Lebanon Branch, Otter Brook, Stone Bridge Branch, Toms Branch, and Little Timber Creek.

Major Lakes within the Big Timber Creek watershed include Almonesson Lake, Jones Lake, Grenlock Lake, Hirsch Pond, Clementon Lake and Blackwood Lake.

The lower part of the creek is tidal and contains a large estuary which provides important habitat for wildlife. It is also that part of the watershed which is most urbanized. Wooded and farm areas surround the headwaters but are rapidly becoming suburbanized.

Many types of wildlife inhabit the Big Timber Creek and its estuary. Egrets, great blue herons, cormorants, osprey, terns and loons are frequently sighted in tidal areas and along its banks. Many species of fish live in its waters, including migratory fish such as the Atlantic shad and herring which spawn here. Other species include largemouth and striped bass, yellow and white perch, channel catfish, chain pickerel, tiger muskie, American eel, sunfish and carp. The carp were introduced as bait fish in the mid 19th century and have become undesirable because their large size and hardiness causes degradation of the habitat for native fish species.

Painted, box and snapping turtles are also found in Big Timber Creek, along with crayfish and freshwater clams. During droughts when the salt water line comes up the Delaware River, blue claw crabs can be found in the creek.

Wildflowers are also still abundant in many parts of the watershed, particularly wetland species. Stands of the endangered swamp pink can be found at a few sites but are seriously threatened by recent construction activities.

The lower part of Almonesson Creek is a tidal estuary which contains a large area of wild rice that provides food and habitat for many wildlife species. Part of the Almonesson actually flows between large parking lots of the Deptford Mall and adjoining complexes and then joins Big Timber where routes 55 and 42 intersect. Its tidal estuary serves as a buffer to the Big Timber Creek because it filters pollution from the runoff of the parking lots that drain into it (an example of "non-point source pollution").

History
The early settlement of the Big Timber Creek dates to the time of the Lenni Lenape Indians. The Armewamexes branch of the Lenni Lenape lived in many settlements along the creek and were peaceful traders. Projectile points, chips from tool making and pottery shards can be found along the creek and its trubutaries. The present town of Westville was a good-sized Indian village at the mouth of the creek.

The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle at the mouth of Big Timber Creek in the early 1600's, building Fort Nassau in 1623 where the creek enters the Delaware between what is now Westville and Gloucester City. They were followed by the arrival of the Quakers and Irish in the 1670's. Early colonists transported their crops to Philadelphia in flat bottom boats using the tides, bringing back horse manure and ashes for their fields. The Chew-Powell house in Gloucester Township was built in 1688 and is one of the oldest houses on the creek. Another historic house on the North Branch is the Gabriel Davis Tavern in Glendora, built in 1756.

Big Timber Creek was named for the large amounts of timber that grew along its banks. Much of this was harvested and floated to the Philadelphia shipyard. The Brewer Shipyard, located near the Chews Landing Road and the Black Horse Pike, built boats on the creek from the early 1800's to the 1880's, making everything from small flat bottom boats to two and three-masted schooners. In the mid-1800's there were five sawmills and five gristmills on the creek.

Threats to the Creek
In 1987 the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ranked Big Timber Creek as one of the most polluted water bodies in New Jersey. The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority regional sewage plant in Camden city, which was built to comply with the Federal Clean Air and Water Act, has solved much of the problems that existed then. In consequence, there has been a rebirth of Big Timber Creek.

Much of the Big Timber's wildlife has returned, since the elimination of the large number of discharges directly to the creek. Water quality is improved in many areas, such as the South Branch where there is a healthy warm water fishery. But the creek is threatened by a variety of "non-point" pollution sources. Stressful conditions occur during warm weather in the urbanized and tidal areas. High fecal coliform levels preclude swimming in the South Branch, for example.

Urban and suburban runoff is a primary threat to Big Timber Creek. Runoff elevates nutrients and bacteria in the stream at many points. Road and building construction, urban surfaces, road maintenance, septic systems, cropland runoff, and landfills continue to generate pollutants.

Gems Landfill, a national Superfund hazardous waste site, is thought to be contaminating Holly Run and Brian Lake with a variety of organic substances. Clean-up activities are currently underway at this site. Fazzis Landfill is also suspected of contaminating Big Timber Creek with organic chemicals.

In July, 1995, an oil spill that occurred on the Delaware River near Big Timber Creek left a coating of oil along the high tide mark in Brooklawn.