[4] The mouth of Popes Creek is plugged by a flood-tide delta making it an efficient trap for sediment and enriched run-off from three primary sources: farmed watersheds consisting of broad terraces and open upland slopes, erosion of the bluffs and beaches of the Potomac, and the creek bluff erosion itself.

Aboriginal shell middens were found during archeological excavations, post structure and land preparation for the Visitors’ Center at the site of George Washington’s birthplace.

In Captain John Smith’s explorations the fish were so thick their heads stuck out of water, prompting his men to attempt to catch them in a frying pan.

[8] In June, July, and August 2007, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reported a large fish kill resulting from an algal bloom, primarily the Karlodinium type, that stretched from Colonial Beach (the closest town) to Mattox Creek to Muses Beach (Popes Creek) to Stratford Hall Plantation on the Potomac River.

Other species seen in the kill were gizzard shad, mummichog, white and channel catfish, young American eel, hogchoker, largemouth bass and blue crabs.