The St. Marys Rivers flows northwest from Ohio into Fort Wayne, while the St. Joseph River flows south from Michigan to form the Maumee River which flows northeast through Toledo, Ohio into Lake Erie. The Wabash River has two tributaries the Eel River in northwest Allen County in Eel River Township and the Little River in southwest Allen County that flow into the Wabash River.
2015/08/11: On the rivers in downtown Fort Wayne Indiana by AroundFortWayne posted July 5, 2016 on YouTube
On the St. Joseph, St. Marys and Maumee Rivers in downtown Fort Wayne Indiana and as far as one can navigate.
Special thanks to Josh Harper for providing the AroundFortWayne time lapse camera, Captain Dan Wire for the pontoon ride and Alec Johnson - smartalecproductions.com - for the soundtrack
Many people think rivers flow from north to south, but Fort Wayne’s rivers are great examples of rivers that don’t flow in the direction you think they might.
Fort Wayne sits on what is known as the St. Lawrence continental divide that separates the Great Lakes Basin from the Gulf of Mexico watershed.
Although the land around Fort Wayne is flat, the city is on a small ridge that resulted from receding glaciers that covered the area in the Ice Age.
The St. Joseph River begins in Hillsdale County, Michigan. It flows southeast into Ohio where it turns and flows southwest to Fort Wayne.
The St. Marys River begins near Celina, Ohio. It flows northwest into Fort Wayne where it meets the St. Joseph River near Headwaters Park.
The two rivers combine to form the Maumee River. It flows in a northeasterly direction and ends at Toledo where it dumps into Lake Erie.
What happened to the apostrophe in the St. Marys River? According ot the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, it is correct to write St. Marys River and incorrect to write St. Mary’s River. This is because the river is named St. Marys and isn’t a river that belongs to St. Mary.
Fort Wayne: riverfront heritage and historic building reuse posted August 4, 2018 on Archives of Hoosier History Live podcast on Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7 FM. The introduction begins with The state's second-largest city is located at the confluence of three waterways: the St. Joseph, St. Mary's and Maumee rivers. Against the backdrop of a vibrant revival of the downtown riverfront in Fort Wayne, we will explore the impact of the rivers on the city as well as current initiatives to reuse historic riverfront buildings. A significant aspect of the city's river history involves the Wabash & Erie Canal that began operating in 1835 and came right through Fort Wayne. ... Nelson will be joined by two studio guests who will serve as our guides through Fort Wayne's riverfront history and the new ways it's being showcased: Allen County historian Tom Castaldi, who writes a history column for Fort Wayne Monthly magazine and hosts "On the Heritage Trail" segments about local history for WBOI-FM Radio. And Fort Wayne historian Randy Harter, the owner of Fort Wayne Food Tours, which offers downtown walking tours exploring the city's history, architecture and food heritage. Randy also is the author of several books, including Legendary Locals of Fort Wayne (Arcadia Publishing, 2015) - fellow guest Tom Castaldi is among those profiled in it - and Fort Wayne Through Time, which will be published this fall.
Little River Wetlands Project in the watershed of the Little River, a major tributary of the Wabash River on the west side of city, bald eagles frequent area, since 1990 1,000 restored acres of marsh and prairie of former 25,000 acre Great Marsh.Little River Valley has videos and lots of information at the Little River Wetland Project..
River Greenway Trail - 20 miles of trails along the banks of the St. Mary's, St. Joseph and the Maumee Rivers
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System and the National Water Dashboard got a new interactive interface! This online tool is always our first stop for checking the river stage while planning to go out and do river research, or to obtain historical stage data. Take a look and for more information, join the public lecture on September 23 to hear from the USGS how to navigate through it!
USGS National Water Dashboard for Indiana shows real-time water data collected at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) observation stations in context with weather-related data from other public sources.
USGS Streamer - Explore Americaa's larger streats as you trace upstream to their source or downstream to where they empty. Learn more about your stream traces and the places they pass through in brief or detailed reports. See weather radar and near real-time streamflow conditions.
MamaJo - see Water Filtration section. It’s part of an 18-year, $240 million effort to reduce the number of combined sewer overflows into Fort Wayne’s three rivers – the St. Joseph, St. Marys and the Maumee – from an average of 76 overflows per year to four. The St. Joseph is the first watershed that will reach compliance with the consent decree, Wirtz [Matthew Wirtz, City Utilities deputy director] said. Overflows occur when high water volumes, such as what might occur during heavy rainfall, back up the city’s combined sewer system, causing it to alleviate the pressure by discharging into the rivers. The St. Joseph River typically overflows 12 to 15 times a year, causing sewers to dump 9 million gallons of wastewater into the river. Through some earlier sewer separation projects, City Utilities has been able to decrease that amount to about 5 million gallons per year. "All those overflows (on the St. Joseph River) will be reduced to one or less in a typical year," Wirtz said. He said this portion of the project will be completed four years ahead of schedule and is expected to come in significantly under budget. Once the project is complete, it’s expected to discharge only about half a million gallons into the river in a typical year – a 97 percent decrease from the current overflow levels. Copied from Watershed year for St. Joe River Will achieve compliance with 2008 decree next year by Dave Gong published December 25, 2014 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
Watersheds - Art Meets Science, These Beautiful Maps Capture the Rivers That Pulse Through Our World Cartographer Robert Szucs creates colorful maps of the watersheds that creep across states, countries, continents and the globe by Anna White March 25, 2019 in Smithsonian Magazine and shared October 4, 2022 on their Facebook page.
Catch Fort Wayne on the cover of Indianapolis Monthly's August publication! With three scenic rivers flowing through...
With three scenic rivers flowing through our city, Fort Wayne offers water trail adventures for all, with dining, arts and culture, and history experiences just steps away. >> See the full article: Indiana’s River Towns: Streaming This Summer
What happened to the apostrophe in the St. Marys River? 
: Cover photo by Stephen J. Bailey