The Jug

Island in West Virginia, United States

39°28′05″N 80°52′31″W / 39.46806°N 80.87528°W / 39.46806; -80.87528Area2,848 acres (11.53 km²)^[2]Elevation900 ft (270 m)WebsiteWVDNR District 6 Wildlife Management Areas

The Jug — formerly known as the Jug Handle — is a jug-shaped island formed by a horseshoe bend on Middle Island Creek near Middlebourne in Tyler County, West Virginia, USA. It is maintained by the state of West Virginia as The Jug Wildlife Management Area (2,848 acres, including the Jug and much land south of it).

History

Middle Island Creek's most extreme meander forms a peninsula known as "the Jug," located upstream of Middlebourne. The creek rounds a 3.3 mile (5.3 km) bend^[3] only to return to within 100 feet (30 m) of itself. Sometime prior to 1800, an early white settler named George Gregg had a raceway (mill race) carved across the narrow point of the peninsula and harnessed the resulting hydropower of the stream's 13-foot (4 m) fall for a gristmill and sawmill at the site. These mills were destroyed by a flood in 1852; four more mills were subsequently built and respectively washed away by flooding in the later 19th century. Flooding had the effect of widening the raceway across the peninsula such that it became the main channel of the stream, inhibiting the flow of water through the longer loop and transforming the peninsula into an island. In 1947 the West Virginia Conservation Commission constructed a low water bridge which substantially dammed the cut-through and restored a steady flow to the bend of the creek.^[4] The low water bridge is known to be frequently impassable due to flooding. The land encircled by the creek's loop is operated as a Wildlife Management Area by the state of West Virginia.^[5]

The remains of the 18th-19th century cut across the peninsula of the Jug, as viewed in 2006. The creek is partially prevented from flowing here by the dam effect of the low water bridge visible at left (see photograph below); the creek is slightly visible at right, having emerged from a 3.3 mile (5.3 km) meander.
A 1947 low water bridge maintains the partial flow of Middle Island Creek (left) around the Jug. The creek emerges from the bend just to the right of the frame of the photograph.

References

^ "The Jug Wildlife Management Area". Protected Planet. IUCN. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
^ WVDNR District 6 Wildlife Management Areas, Accessed March 29, 2008
^ Morrison, Scott (March 1997), "Middle Island Creek"; In: Wonderful West Virginia; West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, 61 (1): 14–15.
^ Ratliff, Gerald S., "Jug of Middle Island Creek" (2006); In: The West Virginia Encyclopedia; Ken Sullivan, editor, Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council; ISBN 0-9778498-0-5.
^ West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. "West Virginia Wildlife Management Areas". Archived from the original on 2006-12-13. Retrieved 2007-01-26.

External links

WVDNR District 6 Wildlife Management Areas
WVDNR map of The Jug Wildlife Management Area

Protected areas of West Virginia

Federal

National Parks	New River Gorge
National Historical Parks	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Harpers Ferry
National Forests	George Washington and Jefferson Monongahela
National Recreation Areas	Gauley River (NPS) Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks (USFS)
National Wildlife Refuges	Canaan Valley Ohio River Islands
National Trails System	Appalachian National Scenic Trail
National Preserves	New River Gorge
Wilderness Areas	Big Draft Wilderness Cranberry Wilderness Dolly Sods Wilderness Laurel Fork North Wilderness Laurel Fork South Wilderness Mountain Lake Wilderness Otter Creek Wilderness Roaring Plains Wilderness Spice Run Wilderness
National Rivers	Bluestone NSR

State

State parks	Audra Babcock Beartown Beech Fork Berkeley Springs Blackwater Falls Blennerhassett Island Bluestone Cacapon Resort Camp Creek Canaan Valley Resort Carnifex Ferry Battlefield Cass Scenic Railroad Cathedral Cedar Creek Chief Logan Droop Mountain Battlefield Fairfax Stone Greenbrier River Trail Hawks Nest Holly River Little Beaver Lost River Moncove Lake North Bend Rail Trail North Bend Pinnacle Rock Pipestem Resort Prickett's Fort Stonewall Jackson Lake Tomlinson Run Tu-Endie-Wei Twin Falls Resort Tygart Lake Valley Falls Watoga Watters Smith Memorial
Former state parks	Booker T. Washington Grandview Grave Creek Mound James Rumsey Monument Mingo Oak Mont Chateau Morgan Morgan Monument
State forests	Cabwaylingo Calvin Price Camp Creek Coopers Rock Greenbrier Kanawha Kumbrabow Seneca
Wildlife management areas	Allegheny Amherst-Plymouth Anawalt Lake Bear Rocks Lake Becky Creek Beech Fork Lake Berwind Lake Beury Mountain Big Ditch Big Ugly Bluestone Burches Run Burnsville Lake Castleman Run Lake Cecil H. Underwood Center Branch Cheat Canyon Chief Cornstalk Conaway Run Lake Cross Creek Dents Run Dunkard Fork East Lynn Lake Edwards Run Elk Creek Elk River Fairfox Pond-Rehe Fort Mill Ridge Fox Forest Frozen Camp Green Bottom Handley Hilbert Hillcrest Horse Creek Hughes River Huttonsville State Farm The Jug Lantz Farm and Nature Preserve Laurel Lake Lewis Wetzel Little Indian Creek McClintic Meadow River Mill Creek Moncove Lake Morris Creek Nathaniel Mountain Panther Pedlar Pleasant Creek Plum Orchard Lake Pruntytown State Farm R.D. Bailey Lake Ritchie Mines Sand Hill Shannondale Springs Short Mountain Slatyfork Sleepy Creek Smoke Camp Snake Hill South Branch Stonecoal Lake Stonewall Jackson Lake Stumptown Summersville Lake Tate Lohr Teter Creek Lake Thorn Creek Tug Fork Turkey Run Upper Deckers Creek Upper Mud River Valley Bend Wetlands Wallback Widmeyer Woodrum Lake
Other WVDNR sites	West Virginia State Wildlife Center

Local

Municipal parks	Cameron City Pool Camp Mad Anthony Wayne Fries Park James Rumsey Monument Magic Island Marland Heights Park Memorial Park Oglebay Park Ritter Park Staunton Park Wheeling Park

Non-
governmental

Nature Conservancy preserves	Bear Rocks Brush Creek Cranesville Swamp Greenland Gap Hungry Beech Ice Mountain Mount Porte Crayon Murphy Panther Knob Pike Knob Slaty Mountain Upper Shavers Fork Yankauer