Blacklick Creek is a tributary stream of Big Walnut Creek

Big Walnut Creek

Big Walnut Creek starts near Mount Gilead, Ohio in Morrow County. It flows south to eastern Delaware County and parallels Alum Creek. It passes to the east of Sunbury and into Hoover Reservoir. The reservoir crosses into Franklin County and flows through Gahanna and Whitehall...

 in Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, flowing through Licking

Licking County, Ohio

Licking County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 166,492. Its county seat is Newark and is named for the salt licks that were in the area....

, Fairfield

Fairfield County, Ohio

Fairfield County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2010, the population was 146,156. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster....

 and Franklin

Franklin County, Ohio

Franklin County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. In 2010 the population was 1,163,414, making it the second largest county in Ohio and the 34th largest county in population in the United States. Franklin County is also the largest in the eight-county Columbus, Ohio...

 counties. The creek's name was originally given by Native Americans, who had noticed the animals that frequented the creek to lick its black-colored salt stones. It has also been known as Black Lick Creek, Black Lick Fork, Blacks Lick Creek, and Big Lick Creek.

The 27 mile long rock and slate bed creek has its headwaters near Mink Street in Jersey Township

Jersey Township, Licking County, Ohio

Jersey Township is one of the twenty-five townships of Licking County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,841 people in the township.-Geography:Located on the western edge of the county, it borders the following townships and city:...

, in northwestern Licking County. It enters Franklin County in northeast Plain Township

Plain Township, Franklin County, Ohio

Plain Township is one of the seventeen townships of Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 5,926 people in the township, 2,215 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

 and then flows near the Licking-Franklin County border. The stream enters Fairfield County in southwest Reynoldsburg

Reynoldsburg, Ohio

Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area...

, and then re-enters Franklin County near Brice

Brice, Ohio

Brice is a village in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the southeast side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The population was 70 at the 2000 census...

. The stream meets Big Walnut Creek in Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, near Hamilton Road.

Blacklick Creek topped a levee on September 14, 1979, due to heavy rains from Hurricane Frederic

Hurricane Frederic

Hurricane Frederic was the sixth tropical cyclone, third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. Frederic was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. Gulf Coast at that particular time...

. The creek flooded the Municipal Building in Reynoldsburg

Reynoldsburg, Ohio

Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area...

, and three hundred homes in Blacklick Estates

Blacklick Estates, Ohio

Blacklick Estates is a census-designated place in Franklin County, Ohio, United States: partly in Madison Township and partly in Truro Township...

.