Brandywine Creek - Definition and Overview

Brandywine Creek (also called the Brandywine River) is a tributary of the Christina River, approximately 20 mi (32 km) long, in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware in the United States.

It rises in western Chester County, Pennsylvania, in two branches that unite approximately 10 mi (16 km) south of Coatesville. The combined stream flows southeast through Chester County, past Embreeville and Chadds Ford, entering northern Delaware approximately 5 mi (8 km) north of Wilmington. It flows south into Wilmington, past Brandywine Creek State Park. It joins the Christina 1 mi (1.6 km) east of downtown Wilmington and approximately 2 mi (3 km) upstream from the mouth of the Christina on the Delaware River. The confluence of the creek with the Christina was the site of the founding of Fort Christina, the first settlement of the New Sweden colony, in 1638.

The creek lends its name to the 1777 Battle of Brandywine of the American Revolutionary War. The battle site in southeastern Pennsylvania is approximately 2 mi (3 km) east of the river near Chadds Ford.

See also

• List of Delaware rivers
• List of Pennsylvania rivers