The Broad River is a principal

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Congaree River, about 150 miles (240 km) long, in western

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and northern

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Via the Congaree, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. DeLorme (1998). ''South Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme.

Course

The Broad River originates in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsy ...

of eastern

Buncombe County, North Carolina Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville ...

and flows generally south-southeastwardly, through or along the boundaries of Rutherford,

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missou ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Counties in North Carolina; DeLorme (2001). ''North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, Chester, Fairfield,

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Newb ...

and Richland Counties in South Carolina. In North Carolina, the river is

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

med to form Lake Lure; in South Carolina it passes through the

Sumter National Forest The Sumter National Forest is one of two forests in South Carolina that are managed together by the United States Forest Service, the other being the Francis Marion National Forest. The Sumter National Forest consists of which are divided into 3 ...

and the communities of Cherokee Falls and

Lockhart Lockhart may refer to: *Lockhart (surname) Places Australia *Lockhart, New South Wales *Lockhart River, Queensland *Lockhart River, Western Australia United States *Lockhart, Alabama *Lockhart, Florida *Lockhart, Minnesota *Lockhart, Sout ...

before joining the

Saluda River The Saluda River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 200 mi (320 km) long, in northern and western South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree River, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which fl ...

to form the Congaree River in the city of Columbia. Principal tributaries of the Broad River include the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

, Second Broad and First Broad Rivers in North Carolina ; and the Bowens, Pacolet, Sandy, Tyger, Enoree and Little Rivers in South Carolina.

Dams

This is an incomplete list of dams starting at Lake Lure and moving downstream North Carolina *Lake Lure *Cliffside Steam Station ( Duke Energy) on the Border of Rutherford and

Counties. South Carolina *Gaston Shoals Dam ( Gaffney) * Cherokee Falls *Ninety Nine Islands Dam adjacent to the abandoned Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant *Dam and canal at

*Neal Shoals Dam *Parr Shoals Dam forming Parr Reservoir *

Columbia Canal The Columbia Canal is the surviving canal of a series of canals built by the South Carolina, State of South Carolina in 1824 using the labor of indentured Irishmen to provide direct water routes between the upstate settlements and the towns on the ...

and Dam in Columbia

Crossings

The Broad River is crossed several times by many highways (Note: this list at times may be incomplete) North Carolina * Rutherford County ** ** **Grays Road **Union Road ** **Poors Ford Road **Big Island Road **Jack McKinney Road ** ** * Cleveland County ** South Carolina * Gaffney/ Cherokee County ** ** ** ** * Chester and

Counties ** in

** in Carlisle * Fairfield and

Counties ** ** in Peak * Columbia ** ** **

Variant names

According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, the Broad River has also been known as *Eswa Huppeday *Eswawpuddenah *Line River *Main Broad River *Eswan Happedaw It was also known in colonial times as the English Broad River to distinguish it from the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

which also originates in western North Carolina, but flows northwest. The present name is descriptive of the river's width.

References

{{coord, 34.007356, -81.059137, type:river_region:US-SC, display=title Rivers of North Carolina Rivers of South Carolina Geography of Columbia, South Carolina

Course

Dams

Crossings

Variant names

See also

References