The south bank of the
Potomac River forms the district's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries, the
Anacostia River and
Rock Creek.
Tiber Creek, a natural watercourse that once passed through the
National Mall, was fully enclosed underground during the 1870s. The creek also formed a portion of the now-filled
Washington City Canal, which allowed passage through the city to the Anacostia River from 1815 until the 1850s. The
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal starts in
Georgetown and was used during the 19th century to bypass the
Little Falls of the Potomac River, located at the northwest edge of the city at the
Atlantic Seaboard fall line.