The Friends of South Ellerbe Creek

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Creeker gathers litter on bridge crossing South Ellerbe Creek.

Friends of South Ellerbe Creek Lead the Way!
(Neuse River Notes, NRF newsletter, Spring 2000)

The Neuse River Foundation regularly involves itself in educating the public about river protection and the threats to the Neuse. Although we work endlessly to strengthen environmental policies and enforcement, we know that protecting the river only happens when local people get involved. When communities take responsibility for protecting their watershed, they should be recognized. Here we highlights the efforts of a group in the Upper Neuse, the Friends of South Ellerbe Creek. This multi-community group tells the story of Durham's history that should be preserved.

One of their primary goals is to work for the creation of an urban green space along the banks of South Ellerbe in Old West Durham. To this end, they have organized a letter writing campaign to show the City Council how much the people of Durham want a proposed park in order to protect the creek, Durham's history, and to encourage its appreciation as something other than a conveyance for sewage and trash.

The group has also adopted S.Ellerbe Creek through the state's StreamWatch program, started a storm drain marking program with local elementary schools, and organized several clean-ups. Please read the following excerpts from their website:

• The headwaters of S. Ellerbe rise next to what was once the settlement of Pinhook, which served as a traveler's rest on the dirt road between Hillsborough and Raleigh. From its headwaters, South Ellerbe Creek flows for three miles through some of Durham's oldest and most densely developed neighborhoods: Old West Durham, Walltown, Northgate Park, Trinity Park. Another branch of South Ellerbe flows north out of downtown Durham, through Durham Central Park and Trinity Park -- before joining her sister near Club Blvd Elementary.
  
  
• South Ellerbe meets Ellerbe Creek in a wooded area -- just to the north and west of the I-85/ Roxboro Road interchange. The first mile of the creek is surrounded by various auto and muffler shops, large surface parking lots, a plumbing shop, funeral home, photo studio, small apartment complex, Southern Railroad, Business Hwy 70, a Duke warehouse, an old gas station, and a number of quiet back yards. Its path will take it past three schools: E.K. Powe Elementary, Brogden Middle and Club Blvd Elementary.
  
  
• And, the course of South Ellerbe Creek follows the history of Durham itself. Blue collar in its origins, South Ellerbe flows through some of the Bull City's most historic neighborhoods: Old West Durham was built for workers in the textile mills and Walltown for workers in the tobacco industry. From its confluence with Ellerbe Creek, the waters flow to Falls Lake. From there, the Neuse River begins its journey to the Atlantic Ocean. The path of South Ellerbe Creek is quite a story from its headwaters near Hillsborough Road, passing through history, absorbing some of the city's ills and flowing through forests and farms to the coast.

Look for S. Ellerbe Creek next time you visit Durham. For more information, visit FOSEC's website at http://www.owdna.org/fosec.htm

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