The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the Black Warrior is the primary tributary. The river is named after the Mississippian paramount chief Tuskaloosa, whose name meant Black Warrior in Muskogean. The Black Warrior is impounded along nearly its entire course by a series of locks and dams to form a chain of reservoirs that not only provide a path for an inland waterway, but also yield hydroelectric power, drinking water, and industrial water.
The river flows through the Black Warrior Basin, a region historically important for the extraction of coal and methane. The cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport grew at the historical head of navigation at the Fall Line between the Appalachian Highlands (specifically, the Cumberland Plateau) and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Birmingham, though not directly on the river, became a manufacturing hub and one of the largest cities in the South through use of the Black Warrior River in a small part for the transportation of goods. Note that Birmingham actually grew up around a major junction of north-south and east-west railroads, just as Atlanta, Georgia, did.
Overall, watershed of the Black Warrior has an area of 6,275 square miles (16,250 km²).
Read more about Black Warrior River: Course, Crossings, History, Weather History, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words black, warrior and/or river:
“A black pall, you know, with a silver cross on it, or R.I.P.—requiescat in pace—you know. That seems to me the most beautiful expression—I like it much better than ‘He is a jolly good fellow,’ which is simply rowdy.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“By many a legendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which have passed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look upon white men with abhorrence.... I can sympathize with the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to his valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the intruding European.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“But not luck
brought us here. By design
clear air and cold wind polish
the river lights, by design
we are to live now in a new place.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)