Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This article is tenth in a series of Sunday features on rivers of North Carolina. This twisting river, which begins in Moore County and empties into the Little Pee Dee in South Carolina, has a reputation for whirlpools which earned it the early name “Drowning Creek.” The river's source near Jackson Springs in Moore County is still called Drowning Creek.

The article discusses early use of the river for fishing; water power to run mills; and floating merchandise on barges up the river from Wilmington, N.C. and Georgetown, S.C.

The article discusses (briefly) the history and origins of the Lumbee Indians; the towns of Riverton and Lumberton; Baptist use of the river for “dipping” baptisms; quotations from writings about the river by Gerald Johnson and John Charles McNeill; the Boy Scouts led by C.D. Brothers and their canoe trips on the river; and reminiscences of the river's flood periods.

Photographs include: A.W. McLean, Jr.'s home; a view of the river from the “old bridge” looking toward the “Lumberton Legion hut”; and the river at flood stage at the intersection of highways 301 and 74 (showing an Esso Station).