| Shellpot Creek | |
| Name Other: | Tributary to Delaware River |
| Image Alt: | Picture of Shellpot Creek at Tarleton Park |
| Map Size: | 180 |
| Map Alt: | map showing the location of the Shellpot Creek mouth |
| Pushpin Map: | Delaware#USA |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 180 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Shellpot Creek mouth |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Delaware |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | New Castle |
| Subdivision Type4: | City |
| Subdivision Name4: | Bellefonte, Delaware |
| Length: | 8.7 miles[1] |
| Source1: | divide between Shellpot Creek and Brandywine Creek |
| Source1 Location: | Between Grubb and Shipley Road in Brandywine Hundred. |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 39.8219°N -75.5319°W[2] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 340feet[3] |
| Mouth: | Delaware River |
| Mouth Location: | Bellefonte, Delaware |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 39.7347°N -75.5044°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
| Progression: | Delaware River → Delaware Bay → Atlantic Ocean[4] |
| River System: | Delaware River |
| Basin Size: | [5] |
| Tributaries Left: | unnamed tributaries |
| Tributaries Right: | Turkey Run Matson Run |
Shellpot Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in northeast New Castle County, Delaware.[6] The stream rises between Grubb Road and Shipley Road, south of Naaman's Road at 39.8219°N -75.5319°W in Brandywine Hundred and flows southeast for about six miles before discharging into the Delaware River at 39.7347°N -75.5044°W near Edgemoor.[7] Prior to 1938, the stream drained into the Brandywine Creek, but was subsequently redirected to the Delaware River.[8]
The watershed has a drainage area of nearly 15 square miles, and is the most suburbanized drainage area in the state-designated "Piedmont Basin"[7] (which consists of the watersheds of the Christina River, Brandywine Creek, Red Clay Creek, White Clay Creek, Naamans Creek, and Shellpot Creek).[9] New Castle County, the Calpine Edge Moor Power Plant, the former Chemours Edge Moor plant, Amtrak, and the City of Wilmington all discharge storm-water into Shellpot Creek.[10] During Tropical Storm Allison (1989), the creek flooded to record levels, with the flow rising from 1,300 gallons per minute to 3.6 millions of gallons per minute (or more than 8,000 cubic feet per second).[8] [11]
The name is likely derived from the Swedish Sköllpadde Fallet (meaning "Turtle Falls"),[12] and has been historically known as "Schillpades", "Skilpot", and "Shilpot".