Winyah Bay is a coastal estuary that is the confluence of the Waccamaw River, the Pee Dee River, the Black River and the Sampit River in Georgetown County in eastern South Carolina. The historic port city of Georgetown is located on the bay, and the bay generally serves as the terminating point for the Grand Strand.
The bay is evidence of a drowned coastline, created by a rise in sea level in recent geologic time. It was a prime site for fishing by Native Americans and an early area to develop in colonial times as a seaport and center of rice culture and timbering.
The entrance to the bay is flanked by North Island, South Island and Cat Island, comprising the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, willed to the State by Tom Yawkey, former owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Famous quotes containing the word bay:
“Baltimore lay very near the immense protein factory of Chesapeake Bay, and out of the bay it ate divinely. I well recall the time when prime hard crabs of the channel species, blue in color, at least eight inches in length along the shell, and with snow-white meat almost as firm as soap, were hawked in Hollins Street of Summer mornings at ten cents a dozen.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)