Monongahela River

The Monongahela River (also known locally as the Mon) is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in North-Central West Virginia and south western Pennsylvania in the United States. At Pittsburgh, it meets the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River.

What do you know about the Monongahela River? Explore the Quick US Geography Rivers and Streams Quiz.  "Check Your Answers" at the end of the page.

1. The West Fork River and Tygart Valley River form the Monongahela River in Fairmont, West Virginia. What is the elevation?

• 763 feet
• 863 feet
• 963 feet

2. How long is the Monongahela River?

• 28 miles
• 128 miles
• 228 miles

3. One of the major Monongahela tributaries is the Cheat River. Where does it flow into the Monongahela River?

• Morgantown, West Virginia
• Point Marion, Pennsylvania
• Masontown, Pennsylvania

4. What major tributary flows into the Monongahela at McKeesport, Pennsylvania?

• Marvin River
• Youghiogheny River
• Washington River

5. In 1817, the Pennsylvania legislature authorized the Monongahela Navigation Company to build 16 dams with bypass locks to create a river transportation system between Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Originally planned to run as far south as the Cheat River, the system was extended to Fairmont, and bituminous coal from West Virginia was the chief product transported downstream.

• True or False?

6. In 2006, the navigation system, operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, had dam-locks along the waterway. How many dam-longs on the river?

• Five
• Nine
• 15

7. Briefly linked to the Monongahela Navigation was the Youghiogheny Navigation, a slack water system of 18.5 miles between McKeesport and West Newton. It had two dam-locks overcoming a change in elevation of about 27 feet. Opening in 1850, it was destroyed by a flood. When was it destroyed by the flood?

• 1859
• 1865
• 1905

8. The Monongahela was the site of a famous airplane crash that has become the subject of numerous urban legends and conspiracy theories. Early in the morning of January 31, 1956, a B-25 bomber en route from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Olmstead Air Force Base in Pennsylvania crashed into the river near the Glenwood Bridge in Homestead, Pennsylvania. All six crewmen survived the crash but two later succumbed to exposure and drowned. Despite the relative shallowness of the water, the aircraft was never recovered.

• True or False?

9. The Monongahela is uncommon as one of the few major navigable rivers in the world that flows north.

• True or False?

10. The mouth of the Monongahela River is at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where it flows into the Ohio River. What is the elevation at the Three Rivers?

• 609 feet
• 709 feet
• 809 feet

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