The Black River

Nestled amidst South Carolina’s coastal plain, the Black River is home to some of the richest wildlife in the country.

The Black River

An Ecological Sanctuary for Nature and People

The narrows of the Black River and its surrounding environments can feel like a haven lost in time. Coursing through several South Carolina counties, the river merges with the Great Pee Dee River in Georgetown County. From towering pine forests to rich swamplands teeming with songs, sounds and surprises, the Black River encompasses a vast array of natural wonders that have captivated mankind for centuries.

Nature At The Black River

A Wild Haven

The Black River provides the perfect introduction to the natural landscape of South Carolina’s coastal plain. The geology, habitats, flora, and fauna that characterize this region have shaped its economy, history, and culture for millennia. This portion of the Southeast is among the most biologically diverse regions in North America. Among its storied occupants are an assortment of flowering plants, resident and migratory birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

As its name implies, the region’s river system is one of South Carolina’s many “blackwater” rivers, its languid, tea-colored waters carve an ever-changing course through the coastal plain. When the river is low, pure white sandbars line its banks. After heavy rains, the river spreads horizontally across the landscape, nourishing thousands of acres of cypress swamps. Contrary to conventional wisdom about “swamps,” the flooded forests have very few biting insects or natural dangers; instead, it is a paradise of songs, sounds, and surprises.

Just beyond the normal reach of high water, swamplands are replaced by pine forests. These “fire dependent” upland forests host more species of plants in their understories than virtually anywhere else in the eastern United States. Like the cypress and tupelo swamps along the river, they are teeming with life throughout the year, especially during the spring.

The Black River

Featured Flora and Fauna

Prothonotary Warbler

This stunning songbird, colloquially known as the “swamp canary,” is the signature bird, producing the signature sound, of southern cypress swamps. The name “prothonotary” is derived from the bright yellow robes worn by papal clerks in the Roman Catholic Church.

Swallow-Tailed Kite

Beginning in March, the swallow-tailed kite makes its home in large tracts of forested wetlands and can be spotted circling, soaring, and hunting. The elegant bird is classified as endangered.

Bald Cypress

The Bald Cypress tree is an iconic tree of Southern swamps. In its native habitat, it displays a peculiar habit of raising conical “knees” from its roots.

Spotted Turtle

This small turtle is given its name due to its black shell sprinkled with orange-yellow dots. This semi-aquatic species inhabits a variety of wetlands, including small ponds, streams, swamps, and flooded forests.

Brown Watersnake

Brown watersnakes (Nerodia taxispilota) are commonly mistaken for cottonmouths but can be distinguished by their offset blotches, bulky heads, and round pupils. Brown watersnakes are far more arboreal than other native watersnakes. Like all snakes, watersnakes play an important role in the ecosystem.

Southern Barred Owl

Southern Barred Owl. Strix varia. The barred owl is ever-present in southern cypress swamps. Its distinctive call is often described as “who cooks for you?” and resonates through the forest day and night. Barred owls are less shy than other owl species and can often be approached by careful kayakers or walkers.

Red-Bellied Watersnake

Red-bellied watersnakes (Nerodia erthogaster) feed largely on amphibians, which are relatively abundant at the Cypress Preserve. Because amphibians prefer isolated pools and wetlands to swamps and rivers, these snakes are more often seen on land than other watersnakes are.

Spider Lilly

Known for their striking blooms and delicate petals, the spider lily blooms from mid-summer through the fall.

Red Spotted Purple Butterfly

Common in forests and wooded areas, this striking butterfly is black with blue scaling and orange or red marks on its wings.

Leatherflower

The bell-shaped leatherflower gets its name for its thick, succulent petals and typically grows from a lush, ornate vine.

Longleaf Pine

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) once covered 90 million acres of the southeastern coastal plain – from Virginia to Florida, and stretching west to Texas. This fire adapted tree is associated with an understory of herbaceous plants boasting more species than any other ecosystem in North America.

Marbled Salamander

Stout-bodied with black-and-white coloring, this nocturnal salamander spends most of its life underground, migrating to wetlands to breed.

Stewartia

Stewartia malacodendron, commonly called silky camellia, typically grows in partial shade on well-drained soils. The genus was named in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus to honour John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Due to a translation error, the name was mistakenly presented as ‘Stewart’.

King Snake

Eastern kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula) are relatively common on the coastal plain. Because they are resistant to the venom of venomous snakes like copperheads and cottonmouths, they prey on these species and are considered valuable partners in ecosystems where humans are present.

Orchard Oriole

Orchard orioles (Icterus spurius), like their Northern (formerly Baltimore) oriole cousins, are members of the blackbird family (Icteridae). Their beautiful song and boisterous behaviour makes them especially enjoyable to observe in the open pinelands of the Cypress Preserve.

Parula Warbler

Parula warblers (Parula americana) are among the first avian migrants to arrive in the South Carolina Lowcountry from the tropics in early spring. Their buzzy ascending song, ending with an energetic burst, resonates in the cypress swamps along the Black River from late March through August.

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping sparrows (Spizella passarina) are present in the Lowcountry year-round. Their loud trilling song, combined with a beautiful auburn cap, make them one of the easiest sparrows to identify in the pine grasslands and along the trails.

Dragonfly

This widow skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa) is one of many species of dragonflies that patrol the Cypress Preserve. Dragonflies consume huge quantities of mosquitos. For that reason, in addition to their exotic beauty, they are treasured residents of the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Sweetbay Magnolia

Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) was the first North American magnolia to be shipped to England during the early days of the colonial plant trade. Like its better- known cousin, Magnolia grandiflora, Sweetbay has one of the most beautiful flowers in the region, blooming in the early spring.

Gulf Fritilary

The gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae incarnata) is one of the most ubiquitous butterflies in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The butterfly lays its eggs exclusively on passionflower vines (Passiflora). It is often confused with monarch butterflies, but the lack of black bold lines on the wings, and the presence of bright silvery spots on the underwings, make the fritillary easy to identify.

The Black River

Natural Resource Surveys

Plants and Trees

The Cypress Preserve commissioned Dr. Richard Porcher, a well-known South Carolina botanical scholar, educator, and conservationist, and his colleague Celie Dailey to conduct a comprehensive survey of botanical life on its two properties bordering the Black River. Here is a complete plant species checklist.

Birds

The BRCP also has an extensive checklist of native birds. Explore the BRCP’s eBird hotspot here

Aquatic and Terrestrial Vertebrates

Explore the natural history, ecology, habitats, GPS locations, and geographic distributions of all aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates documented within the Cypress Preserve.

HISTORY & CULTURE AT THE BLACK RIVER

A Storied Legacy

The earliest reports of Native American settlement in this region come from the area between the Black River and the lower course of the Pee Dee River. This area was claimed by the Winyaw, one of eight tribes in the region in the early 1500s. However, by 1715, the Winyaw occupied only a single village with a population of 106 individuals. References to the Winyaw disappear shortly afterward.

Europeans first claimed title to land along the Black River three and one quarter centuries ago. The property we now call the Black River Cypress Preserve was conveyed in 1698 through a grant from the Lord Proprietors, the group of British noblemen whom the king of England charged with ownership and management of the colony of Carolina.

Since then, the Cypress Preserve’s 1,000 acre-property has passed through 29 owners. From the early days of European discovery and colonial settlement through the economics of forest products and agriculture on the backs of an enslaved labor force, to today’s focus on environmental sustainability.

The region was a significant area of conflict during the Revolutionary War. It was here that General Francis Marion, the legendary “Swamp Fox,” led American patriots in dozens of skirmishes and small battles that contributed to America’s victory over the British at Yorktown.

Over the three centuries since Europeans arrived, the land around the Black River was exploited for timber, naval stores, indigo, cotton and tobacco. It was not until the 21st century that the area’s natural assets—flood control, water conservation and purification, biodiversity, and public recreation—became economic factors.

The Black River

Historical & Cultural Milestones

Native American Settlements

15th and 16th centuries BCE: Native Americans of the Winyaw tribe occupy the area between Black and Great Pee Dee Rivers.

Spanish Arrival

Early 16th century: Spanish explorers arrive on the South Carolina coast near the mouths of the Santee River and in Winyah Bay.

Land Grant to John Bayley

1698: Land grant of Black River Cypress Preserve from Lord Proprietors to John Bayley Esq. of Ballinaclough, County Tipperary, Ireland

Townships Established

1730: Governor Robert Johnson proposes to establish ten townships on the frontier to protect and settle the region.

Cotton Boom

1793: With the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, cotton becomes the region’s dominant cash crop.

Economic Evolution

Following the Civil War, forest products once again dominate the state economy. The Northeastern Railway is completed, from Charleston through Kingstree, providing access to “a multitude of turpentine workers and sicstillers who begin to develop the lumber and naval stores industries.”

Paper Mill Breaks Ground

1937: International Paper builds a paper mill on the Sampit River, just across US Highway 17 from Georgetown.

Preserve Property Changes Hands

Mid-1970s: International Paper buys the property from the state of South Carolina.

Resource Management Service Sale

TK Year: IP sells approximately 5.1 million acres of forestlands, including the Black River Cypress Preserve, to Resource Management Service, LLC, a global Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO).

Butler Conservation Fund Grant

2015: Gilbert Butler’s charitable foundation, the Butler Conservation Fund, provides a grant to create the Black River Cypress Preserve, LLC.

A New Era of Conservation

2021: Governor Henry McMaster holds a press conference at the Black River Cypress Preserve, applauds the proposed new state park upriver from the Preserve, and announces a major new land conservation initiative, and praising the Black River initiative as a model of conservation and sustainable development.

The Black River

Historical and Cultural Resources

Suzanne Linder’s history of the Black River Cypress Preserve.

Native American History by Stanley South

The Black River

Protection & Restoration

Just twenty years ago, not a single acre of the Black River watershed was protected. Then, in 1986, forest products giant Mead Westvaco donated 1,200 acres of old growth swamp to The Nature Conservancy, stimulating interest in further conservation of the river. In 2001, A 75-mile segment was designated a State Scenic River, further encouraging local advocates to create a conservation vision for the future.

The first conservation easements on the Black River were donated in 2010 and 2012 by Henry Faison, the owner of Mt. Pleasant Plantation. Over the next decade, conservation organizations have protected more than 25,000 acres along the river. Along the Black River, protection efforts have focused explicitly on securing and expanding access to the river for the local African- American community. One manifestation is the creation of the Rocky Point Park, a traditional but formerly unprotected gathering place and river access point.

The Black River

Conservation Milestones

1986

The Nature Conservancy receives a donation of over 1,200 acres of old-growth forested wetlands from Mead Westvaco. TNC’s Black River Preserve created a corner-stone for conservation along “The Narrows.”

June 2001

A 75-mile segment of the Black River is designated a State Scenic River and a task force develops a conservation and recreation vision.

2007

The South Carolina Conservation Bank (SCCB) funds the first of six conservation easement projects from Sumter to Georgetown, eventually protecting 3,400 acres.

2010 and 2012

Henry Faison holds several landowner gatherings to introduce the concept of easements. Mt Pleasant Plantation becomes a showcase for land conservation along the river.

2013

Butler Conservation enters the conservation with a $1.5 million commitment to leveraging additional conservation with at least 1 mile of frontage along the Black River.

2015

The Open Space Institute purchases Rocky Point, a traditional outdoor gathering place and boat landing for the local Black community.

2018

The Black River State Park is envisioned by a coalition of conservation groups and local citizens.

The Black River

Conservation Resources

Black River Cypress Preserve: The Restoration and Interpretation of Nature

Sea rise, floods to dramatically change SC coast

OSI Protects Sixth Property to Safeguard South Carolina’s Black River

Conservation on the Black River: Bringing New Life to Rocky Point

The Black River

Conservation Partners

Over the past decade, Park Builders International, the operating division of Butler Conservation, Inc., has supported large-scale land conservation efforts in South Carolina through conservation partner organizations. To date, the foundation has helped protect 15 properties along the Black River, encompassing more than 8,000 acres of river frontage.