The Meherrin River is a 92-mile (148 km) long river in the U.S. states of Virginia and North Carolina. It begins in central Virginia, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Emporia, and flows roughly east-southeast into North Carolina, where it joins the larger Chowan River.
A twenty-foot-high dam on the river creates a reservoir in Emporia. For most of its length, the Meherrin is not large enough for commercial traffic. It widens somewhat between Murfreesboro, North Carolina and the Chowan. Prior to the American Civil War, this section of the river was a significant trading route for Northeastern North Carolina.
The river was named after the Meherrin Indians, whose territory was along it.
Famous quotes containing the word river:
“My favorite figure of the American author is that of a man who breeds a favorite dog, which he throws into the Mississippi River for the pleasure of making a splash. The river does not splash, but it drowns the dog.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)