Broad_River_(Carolinas)

Broad River (Carolinas)

For other rivers with the same name, see Broad River.

The Broad River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 150 miles (240 km) long, in western North Carolina and northern South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.

Course

The Broad River originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains of eastern Buncombe County, North Carolina and flows generally south-southeastwardly, through or along the boundaries of Rutherford, Polk and Cleveland Counties in North Carolina; and Cherokee, York, Union, Chester, Fairfield, Newberry and Richland Counties in South Carolina. In North Carolina , the river is dammed to form Lake Lure; in South Carolina it passes through the Sumter National Forest and the communities of Cherokee Falls and Lockhart before joining the Saluda River to form the Congaree River in the city of Columbia.

Principal tributaries of the Broad River include the Green, 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 Cleveland 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 Lockhart
Neal Shoals Dam
Parr Shoals Dam forming Parr Reservoir
Columbia Canal and Dam in Columbia

Crossings

The Broad River is crossed several times by many highways (Note: this list may at times be incomplete) North Carolina

U.S. 74
Big Island Bridge
McKinney Bridge
U.S. 221
U.S. 221A
Gaffney Road

South Carolina

Gaffney/Cherokee County

Shelby Highway (S.C. 18)
Interstate 85
Cherokee Avenue U.S. 29
Hickory Grove Road (S.C. 211)

Chester and Union Counties

Pinkney Road (S.C. 9/49) in Lockhart, South Carolina
(S.C. 72) in Carlisle, South Carolina

Fairfield and Newberry Counties

Newberry Road (S.C. 34)
Parr Road (S.C. 213) in Peak, South Carolina

Columbia

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Broad River has also been known as

Eswa Huppeday
Eswaspuddenah
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 which also originates in western North Carolina, but flows northwest into what was then part of the claimed territory of New France.