"W" is for Waccamaw River

“W” is for Waccamaw River. The Waccamaw River, named for the Waccamaw Indian nation, begins in North Carolina. The river runs parallel to the coast through Horry and Georgetown Counties—never straying more than fifteen miles from the Atlantic Ocean. In Horry County the river runs through the county seat of Conway. The Waccamaw is navigable from Georgetown to Conway, but the upper reaches become shallow and swampy. From its mouth at Winyah Bay to the end of its tidal influence, the river once boasted the most successful rice plantations in South Carolina, which used the twice-daily tides to perfect rice culture in the late eighteenth century. Rice remained king of the river until early in the twentieth century. Today the Waccamaw River is used for recreation as part of the Intracoastal Waterway.