Spa Creek was once known as Carroll's Creek, in reference to Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who lived along the creek. The creek was also known as Todd's Creek and Acton's Creek, named after Thomas Todd and Richard Acton, respectively, who were amongst the first settlers in Annapolis. In 1904, the United States Board on Geographic Names made the name Spa Creek official for usage in federal publications. The current name purportedly originates “from the fact that an old pork barrel was placed in a spring on Primrose farm, and the deluded public, tasting the essence of the meat, concluded that the spring had medicinal qualities in it, and called the fountain Spa Spring. Hence, the name of the creek.” ('Maryland - The Pioneer of Religious Liberty: The Only Catholic Colony of the Thirteen and the First to Establish Civil and Religious Freedom' By Elihu Samuel Riley, 1917)
You read that right. Annapolis' premier creek is named in honor of BACON.
Up a Creek
Lawns are the largest crop in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Maryland has about 1.1 million acres of turf grass - most of it in single family residences. That represents 18 percent of the state’s total land area and more than any single agricultural crop. Lawn fertilizer accounts for 44 percent of all fertilizer sold in Maryland.
An estimated 6.1 million 'grass farmers' in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed dedicate the equivalent of 61,000 full time jobs in free labor on the weekends tending to a crop that does not provide them with food, resources, or income. Despite the widespread popularity of lawns, most grass farmers are probably doing it wrong. For example, turf grass industry surveys indicate that less than 10% of homeowners report consulting technical info on lawn management, beyond the advice they get at the point of sale at the local lawn and garden center.
Nutrients from lawn fertilizers that enter waterways via runoff or leaching contribute to the significant reduction of water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, thereby detrimentally affecting the overall health of the Bay ecosystem, the ability of watermen to sustain their livelihoods, and the ability of thousands of people to enjoy the Bay and its resources. Algal blooms fueled by excess nutrients cloud the water and prevent sunlight from reaching submerged aquatic vegetation, causing these underwater grasses and the organisms dependent on them to die. Algae populations increase to a point where there are no longer sufficient nutrients to support them, causing the algae to die and fall to the bottom. Bacteria that decompose the algal biomass consume the limited oxygen supply in the bottom waters of stratified water columns. These bacteria can substantially reduce benthic dissolved oxygen levels and thus create dead zones where nothing can live. Reduced water quality as a result of excess nutrients results in the loss of critical habitat and the creation of anoxic zones - a double hit for Bay species such as blue crabs and fish.
Sources:
http://news.maryland.gov/mda/press-release/2015/04/02/mda-reminds-marylanders-to-protect-local-waterways-and-the-chesapeake-bay-by-following-the-lawn-fertilizer-law/
http://chesapeakestormwater.net/2009/06/the-grass-crop-of-the-chesapeake-bay-watershed/
http://midshoreriverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ecology-of-Lawn-Maintenance1.pdf
Congrats to Fossil Fae on FTF