Carroll Creek flows right beside you. This is an 8.3-mile-long (13.4 km) tributary of the Monocacy River in Frederick County, Maryland. Its headwaters rise on the eastern slopes of Catoctin Mountain, southeast of Gambrill State Park, and the stream runs roughly east through the city of Frederick to the Monocacy, which in turn drains to the Potomac River.
The Shawnee Indians named the Monocacy River Monnockkesey, “river with many bends,” and they called Carroll Creek Walkwaki Methtegui, “down in the gully creek. The creek itself was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a Founding Father who owned large amounts of land in Frederick County. After two devastating floods in the mid-70s the City of Frederick responded with an ambitious flood control project to protect the historic downtown.
The innovative design installed an underground system of concrete conduits to convey storm-water safely through downtown, and the project’s ground-level elements made possible the new Linear Park you can see here. Beside the water, the channel and the engineering beneath your feet lead to the park, the creek's course, and the city framing this waterway.