Geography of North Carolina - River Systems

River Systems

There are three distinct systems of rivers in the state: those that find their way to the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi, those that flow through South Carolina to the sea and those that reach the sea along the North Carolina coast. The divide between the first and the second is the Blue Ridge chain of mountains; that between the second and third systems is found in an elevation extending from the Blue Ridge, near the Virginia line, just between the sources of the Yadkin River and the Roanoke River, in a south-easterly direction some two hundred miles, almost to the seacoast below Wilmington. In the divide between the first and second systems, which is also the great watershed between the Atlantic slope and the Mississippi Valley, a singular anomaly is presented, for it is formed not by the lofty Smoky range, but by the Blue Ridge—not, therefore, at the crest of the great slope which the surface of the state presents, but on a line lower down. On the western flank of this lower range the French Broad and the other rivers of the first section, including the headwaters of the Great Kanawha, have their rise. In their course through the Smoky Mountains to the Mississippi they pass along chasms or "gaps" from three thousand to four thousand feet in depth. These chasms or "gaps" are more than a thousand feet lower than those of the corresponding parts of the Blue Ridge.

The rivers of the second system rise on the eastern flank of the Blue Ridge. These rivers—the Catawba and the Yadkin, with their tributaries stretching from the Broad River, near the mountains in the west, to the Lumber near the seacoast—water some thirty counties in the state, a fan-shaped territory, embracing much the greater portion of the Piedmont section of the state, thence passing into South Carolina before reaching the seacoast.

The rivers of the third system are the Chowan, the Roanoke, the Tar, the Neuse and the Cape Fear, which were important travel routes prior to the development of the railroads, being navigable some for fifty and others to near one hundred miles for boats of light draught. Of these the last three have their rise near the northern boundary of the state, in a comparatively small area, near the eastern source of the Yadkin. The Chowan has its rise in Virginia, below Appomattox Court House. The principal sources of the Roanoke, also, are in Virginia, in the Blue Ridge, though some of its head streams are in North Carolina, and very near those of the Yadkin. Only one of these rivers, the Cape Fear, flows directly into the ocean in this state; the others, after reaching the low country, move on with diminished current and empty into large bodies of water known as sounds. The Yadkin is extensively dammed for hydroelectric power and flood control. Below the last dam, just before flowing into South Carolina it is renamed the Pee Dee River.

The rivers of these three systems, with their tributaries afford a generous water supply. Flat lands border the streams, mostly forested with hardwoods and cypress. In their course from the high plateaus to the low country all the rivers of the state have a descent of many hundred feet, made by frequent falls and rapids. These falls and rapids afford all unlimited motive power for machinery of every description; and here many cotton mills and other factories were established from colonial times, and gave rise to many of the cities and towns.

The sounds, and the rivers which empty into them, constitute a network of waterway for steam and sailing vessels of eleven hundred miles. They are separated from the ocean by a line of sand banks, varying in breadth from one hundred yards to two miles (3 km), and in height from a few feet above the tide level to twenty-five or thirty feet, on which horses of a small breed, called "Bank Ponies," are reared in great numbers, and in a half wild state. These banks extend along the entire shore a distance of three hundred miles. Through them there are a number of inlets from the sea to the sounds, but they are usually too shallow except for vessels of light burden. Along its northern coast the seagoing commerce of the state has, in consequence, been restricted; Beaufort Harbor and the Cape Fear River, however, furnish excellent ports.

The sounds, and the rivers in their lower courses, abound with fish and waterfowl. They riversides are favorite sites for hunters of canvas-back ducks and other waterfowl. Fishermen visit for herring, shad and rock-fishing, especially along Albemarle Sound.

See also:

• List of North Carolina rivers