Namozine Creek

Name and history

Origins

Early spellings of the name on property records include "Nummisseen" and "Nammisseen"; numerous variants (or misspellings) more similar to the present-day version, such as "Namozain", "Namozeen", and "Namozene", arose slightly later. "Nummisseen" appears to be of Native American origin, and may have been the name of a tribe who once lived in the area. "Namozine" is one of the oldest surviving place-names in the area, having been used in one form or another for the creek at least as far back as the 1710s.

Eponyms

By the early 1800s, the name Namozine was also applied to a section of road through the area, a designation that was revived and put to official use in the 911 road-name system implemented in the 1990s. Modern-day Namozine Road follows a winding series of segments of various numbered secondary routes, chiefly SR 615 and SR 708. Over 35 miles long altogether, Namozine Road runs roughly west to east, from US 360 at Jennings Ordinary in northern Nottoway County, north of Crewe; through the communities of Denaro, Mannboro, and Namozine in southern Amelia County; across Namozine Creek; and finally to US 460 at Sutherland in northeastern Dinwiddie County.

The stream lent its name to "Namozine Flour" in the early 1800s, produced by Hobbs Mill on Namozine Creek and sold in local stores. Hobbs Mill Pond, located off SR 640 (modern-day Hobbs Mill Road) where the road crosses the border between Dinwiddie and Nottoway counties, also supplied water for steam locomotives on the Norfolk & Western Railway line just to the south. The mill continued to operate until the 1960s. In the 1990s, a state historical survey recommended further study of the mill as a significant building "in danger of being lost".

Namozine is also the longstanding name of a community in Amelia County and of a Presbyterian sanctuary in the same village, the site of one of the final engagements of the Civil War. On April 3, 1865, Union forces under General Custer advanced along the Namozine road and crossed Namozine Creek at an undefended spot. Confederate soldiers entrenched at the main stream ford in earthworks that they thought to be a safe defense from the enemy were surprised by the flanking maneuver and fled in haste. The Rebels regrouped, and additional contingents of the two sides clashed in the Battle of Namozine Church that same day, 3 miles west of the stream crossing. Though this fight was inconclusive, the Confederates were already badly depleted, and the surrender at Appomattox occurred on April 9.

Several miles farther east, Namozine is the name of a modern-day volunteer fire department near Petersburg.

Water quality

As of 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had noted elevated levels of acidity and dissolved oxygen, sufficient to pose a risk to aquatic life, at monitoring stations within the Namozine Creek subwatershed, and the stream was listed as an impaired waterbody, in need of a restoration plan under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Water quality for recreation was noted as "Good".

Tributaries

The following are the documented named tributaries of Namozine Creek, with order beginning at the mouth:

References

• Interactive map of Namozine Creek watershed, USGS.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map], accessed April 1, 2011.
2. [https://watersgeo.epa.gov/watershedreport/?comid=8609007 "Watershed Report"], derived from USGS National Hydrography Dataset, COMID 8609007. U.S. EPA, February 15, 2017. Accessed July 16, 2023.
3. [https://www.topozone.com/virginia/amelia-va/stream/namozine-creek/ Namozine Creek], USGS [[topographic map]] quadrant for [[Wellville, Virginia]]. ''[[TopoZone]]'', Locality, LLC. Accessed November 26, 2021.
4. [https://water.usgs.gov/wsc/a_api/wbd/subwatershed02/020802070804.html Analytics, "Science in Your Watershed: Locate Your Stream Site by 12-digit HUC - 020802070804 Namozine Creek"], USGS, June 9, 2023. Accessed July 16, 2023.
5. [[Walter Allen Watson. Henry R. McIlwaine]]. Accessed 30 November 2021.
6. Pawlett, Miller, & Clark. [https://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/02-r14.pdf#page=88 "Amelia County Road Orders 1735-1753"], [[Virginia Department of Transportation]]. Charlottesville, VA: Virginia Transportation Research Council, April 2002, page 74. VTRC 02-R14. Accessed December 11, 2021.
7. Raus McDill Hanson. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2jwlAAAAMAAJ ''Virginia Place Names: Derivations, Historical Uses''], page 31. Verona, VA: McClure Press, 1969. Accessed December 6, 2021.
8. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ci0TAAAAYAAJ ''Historical Notes on Amelia County''], pages 13, 193, 578, et al. Edited by Kathleen Halverson Hadfield. Amelia County Historical Committee, 1982. Accessed July 9, 2023.
9. 9781465365439. Accessed November 30, 2021.
10. Birch, Blanton, and Zirkle. [https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/NT-010_Historic_AH_Survey_Nottoway_1996_HILL_report.pdf#page=65 ''Historic Architectural Survey of Nottoway County''], page 56. [[Virginia Department of Historic Resources]], 1996. Accessed November 26, 2021.
11. [https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/NT-010_Historic_AH_Survey_Nottoway_1996_HILL_report.pdf#page=76 ''Historic Architectural Survey''], page 67.
12. [https://www.namozinefireems.org/ Namozine Volunteer Fire & EMS Co. 4], official website. Accessed 25 November 2021.
13. E.A. Paul. [https://www.nytimes.com/1865/04/07/archives/the-pursuit-of-lee-evidences-of-the-precipitate-flight-of-the-enemy.html "The Pursuit of Lee: Evidences of the Precipitate Flight of the Enemy"]. ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 7, 1865, page 1. Accessed July 20, 2023
14. [https://mywaterway.epa.gov/community/020802070804/overview "How's My Waterway?"], Waterbody Report, Subwatershed: Namozine Creek (020802070804); Virginia State Waterbody Assessment Unit ID# VAP-J13R_NMZ01A00. U.S. EPA, 2022. Accessed July 16, 2023.