Patapsco River

Patapsco River Potapskut  (Algonquian languages) The River of History
Patapsco Valley State Park at Catonsville
Patapsco River Watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Region	Baltimore metropolitan area, Patapsco Valley
Cities	Baltimore, Elkridge, Ellicott City
Physical characteristics
Source
- location	Marriottsville
- coordinates	39°20′59″N 76°52′56″W / 39.3498272°N 76.8821987°W / 39.3498272; -76.8821987
- elevation	260 ft (79 m)
Mouth	Chesapeake Bay
- location	Baltimore
- coordinates	39°10′25″N 76°26′36″W / 39.1737202°N 76.4432935°W / 39.1737202; -76.4432935
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Basin size	632 sq mi (1,640 km2)
Basin features
Tributaries
- left	North Branch
- right	South Branch

The Patapsco River is a river in the state of Maryland in the United States. It is 39 miles (63 kilometres) long.^[1] The name "Patapsco" comes from the language of the Algonquian tribe of Native Americans. The Alginquian word pota-psk-ut means "backwater" or "tide covered with froth."^[2]

The river runs through central Maryland and empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The mouth of the river, where it enters the Chesapeake Bay, serves as the city of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The river has two tributaries. The North Branch runs north. The South Branch runs east and is the northern border of Howard County, Maryland.

1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2017-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
2. ↑ "Ghosts of industrial heyday still haunt Baltimore's harbor, creeks". Chesapeake Bay Journal. Archived from the original on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2012-09-08.