Perhaps due to to its lyrical name, the Ichawaynochaway is one of the best known waterways of Southwest Georgia. (Locals often shorten the name to Nochaway). But it’s also one of the longest “creeks” in the state, cutting its way through nearly 84 miles of red Georgia clay. It rises near Weston, in Webster County and flows through Stewart, Randolph, Terrell, and Calhoun counties before joining the Flint River in Baker County. Perhaps dry runs in the summer months are the reason it isn’t called a river, but when viewed at high water in wet seasons it’s as much a river as any other in the region.
There’s debate as to the origin of the name, but it’s a Muskogee word. Some suggest it refers to either beaver or deer but the more popular theory asserts that it means “the place where deer sleep”. The latter seems likely, considering it runs adjacent to some of the best hunting lands in Georgia.
I grew up in Edison, and I’m 73. My grandfather had a farm in Dickey. We used to fish in that creek a lot when I was a boy. In all of my years, and multiple inquiries, I’ve never known that creek to be dry. Perhaps you are thinking of another creek in another area.
I grew up in Morgan and fished the Notchaway all my young life and never knew it to be dry 1950’s
Never dry in my lifetime, 75 years. I have fished it from Terrell County to its junction with the Flint River.
I have never seen Nochaway dry. I have seen it “low” but still flowing.
I could have missed it being dry (particularly with the advent of irrigation) but never dry.
My father and I would hike up the creek to his “sucker hole”.We sometimes had to make two trips to haul out our catch they were so numerous and heavy. We gave most away in the “quarter”.
runaway flowed fairly swiftly and was dark and clear in the 1950’s and into the 1970’s.
(An aside: Suckers are considered trash fish by many but my father had a technique for preparing and cooking so as to render their many small bones crystalline and edible. Very good!)
Thanks for your wonderful work, Brian.
Hello Charles cox, I needing some info on the ichawaynochaway creek
Hello, Charles- we had a “sucker hole” on Papa’s farm, on the creek, too. Had to walk down through the swamp, over a set of foot logs- saw many cotton mouth moccasins… caught a lot of sucker. My grandmother, Big Mama, also had a way of cross cutting the bones, and when they were deep fried, the bones mostly just crunched away. Hope you are well
“Nochaway” isn’t all that long for ‘creeks’ in Georgia. Brier Creek (aka Briar Creek, Bryer Creek, Bryar Creek, Crique Briyard, and Brier River) is 123 miles in length. It has a larger watershed than many rivers across Georgia. Near its mouth it truly is a blackwater river. I do like to call it Brier River, and I’m not the first to do so.
I’m not sure that it’s a creek due to being dry part of the year. The Alapaha River in SE GA disappears often (and has the most beautiful white sand where it ran). However, I think this one goes underground sometimes because south of where it disappears, it reappears. We tried to find where it disappered but found it was on private posted property. All this happens in Florida close to the GA line. Interesting tidbit. Rebecca Wind, Valdosta