Shenango River

Image:Shenango River.jpg The Shenango River is a principal tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 100 mi (160 km) long,<ref name=Columbia> Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry for Shenango River</ref> in western Pennsylvania in the United States. It also briefly flows through small portions of northeastern Ohio.<ref name=DeLorme>DeLorme (2003). Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-280-3</ref> Via the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

The Shenango rises in west-central Crawford County <ref name=Columbia/> and initially flows northwestwardly into the Pymatuning Reservoir, which was formed in 1932 by the construction of a dam on the river.<ref>Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry for Pymatuning Reservoir</ref> The lake turns to the south, widening into Ashtabula County, Ohio, and passing through Pymatuning State Park.<ref name=DeLorme/> Below the dam and after returning fully to Pennsylvania, the Shenango flows south-southeastwardly into Mercer County, passing Jamestown and Greenville before turning westwardly into Shenango River Lake,<ref name=DeLorme/> formed in 1965 by a United States Army Corps of Engineers dam <ref> United States Army Corps of Engineers website for Shenango River Lake </ref>. Below that dam, the Shenango flows southwestwardly through the communities of Sharpsville and Sharon (near which it briefly enters Trumbull County, Ohio); then south-southeastwardly past Farrell, Wheatland and West Middlesex into Lawrence County, where it passes New Castle and Oakland.<ref name=DeLorme/> It joins the Mahoning River to form the Beaver River, 3 mi (4.8 km) southwest of New Castle.<ref name=Columbia/>

Tributaries of the Shenango include the short Little Shenango River,<ref> Geographic Names Information System entry for Little Shenango River</ref> which flows for its entire length in Mercer County and joins the Shenango from the east at Greenville; Pymatuning Creek, which flows into Shenango River Lake; and Neshannock Creek, which joins the river at New Castle.<ref name=DeLorme/>