"L" is for Lynches River

"L" is for Lynches River. Originating at the confluence of two nameless streams in North Carolina, the Lynches River crosses the state line in the Piedmont and flows nearly its entire 175-mile length through South Carolina. From a relatively straight path in the pine forests it becomes a slower, braided waterway as it meanders through wetlands fed by a number of tributaries. At the end of its course it is joined by the waters of the Great Sparrow Swamp and then empties into the Pee Dee River. Along the way the Lynches marks the boundaries of seven counties: Chesterfield, Lancaster, Kershaw, Florence, Lee, Sumter, and Darlington. In the early nineteenth century counties along the Lynches River began producing impressive amounts of cotton and steamboats carried the bales downriver until the coming of the railroads.