9/15/20: Savannah National Wildlife Refuge & North to Columbia, SC

After strolling around the impressive and stunning Savannah squares last September, Steven and I drove just two miles over the Georgia state line into South Carolina to the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. It was part of the Savannah Coastal Refuge Complex that extended from Hilton Head, S.C.  to Darien, Georgia.

A sign outside the closed Visitors' Center warned people not to feed the refuge's alligators as it was against both state and federal laws because, once fed, they become more aggressive and expect handouts. They then must be removed even though they are an integral part of the refuge's natural environment.

There were several drives through the refuge but the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive that would take us along both sides of the Savannah River through Georgia and South Carolina sounded like our cup of tea that day. The 29,175-acre refuge was established in 1927 for wildlife viewing and birdwatching.

By 1850, as many as 13 rice plantations were located along the Savannah River on land now within the refuge boundaries. 

We read that this water control structure was called a rice trunk and was similar to those used to control water flow to and from plantation rice fields in the 1700s. Here on the refuge, though, the handmade, wooden rice field trunks were used to set water levels in reservoirs. A trunk is a long wooden box with a heavy flap gate at both ends. Though only the gates and their support structures were visible, the gates facing the canal and the field were normally kept closed. When needed to flood the nearby reservoirs, the trunk's tidal gate is raised which forces the opposite field-side gate open.

When the water reaches the preferred depth in the reservoir, the water pressure pushed the field-side door shuts. The fields drain when the field-side gate is raised allowing water to drain out to the tidal creek during low tide. Both gates are kept closed to hold water in the fields. 

This small island of trees used to be a slave community on Recess Plantation which bordered Laurel Hill Plantation. Called a hammock, it was a small area of high ground in a sea of wetland rice fields. The round brick structure in the woods ahead was a cistern that stored drinking water and perishable foods. The seven-foot cistern was needed because well water was often unfit to drink. Rainwater was collected from the roofs of slave quarters and funneled into the brick-lined reservoir. 

It was neat walking through Recess Hammock although we didn't come across any Chinese Parasol Trees with pale green trunks that had been planted on Low Country plantations for shade. Perhaps if our hearing had been more acute, we might have heard the warblers, thrushes, and wrens that nest and feed in the hammock's hardwoods.

A little further on was this photo blind that was made by friends of the refuge and an Eagle Scout. Unfortunately, the only animals we saw in the photo blind were mosquitos!

Another view of the spectacular hammock:

Back on the scenic drive:

I was thrilled that Steven had been able to spot the alligator from his side of the car even while he was driving!

The freshwater diversion canal had been constructed in 1978 by the US Army Corps of Engineers to allow water from the Savannah River to diverge upstream where the salinity levels were lower. 

As we headed north toward Columbia, we almost laughed when we spotted the biggest stop sign we'd ever come across before! We couldn't help thinking that other drivers must have roared through the intersection and that had necessitated the humungous stop sign.

Fields of cotton were growing on both sides of the rural highway.

We stopped for a bit in tiny Branchville where we learned that America's commercial railroad began operations on Christmas Day in 1830 when the Best Friend of Charlotte speeded along as some passengers described "on the wings of the wind at a speed of 20mph, annihilating both time and space, leaving the world behind."

Branchville's first settlement in 1735 was about a mile southeast of the present town. Almost 100 years later, the town grew from 170 acres of land purchased from the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company. The Depot was built in 1877 with a waiting room and sheds added in 1910. The Dining Room was the first one for passengers where trains would stop for breakfast and dinner. The depot had the distinction of having three former presidents dine there.

Arriving in Columbia, South Carolina, we headed immediately to the Columbia Riverfront Park and Historic Columbia Canal.

I loved the sentiments on a sign on the Palmetto Trail along the canal that encouraged people to:

Read a book, 

Sip on a smoothie, 

Relax in a hammock, 

Teach your cat to fetch,

Catch up with a friend,

Make a masterpiece, 

Dream."

This monument was erected in 2008 to honor the Irish Canal Workers who built the Columbia Canal in 1820. They were brought here as well as Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York, and other states as indentured servants to build the canal and to serve as the diggers and carvers for the construction project. Coming from Ireland's much cooler climate to the Southern heat and diseases common to the area, some died and were buried in the canal embankment. Those who survived and worked to free themselves of servitude went on to form a large Irish community called Little Dublin in Columbia. The canal founded by the Irish workers was the first public infrastructure in South Carolina and was used to transport goods from 'upstate' to the port city of Charleston.

Situated between the Broad River and the Columbia Canal was Riverfront Park which opened in 1983 and contained the historic waterworks buildings. There were about three miles of paved trails on the levee between the canal and Broad River. The park was home to a population of endangered Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies only found in three southeastern states. Labeled a Federal Species of Concern, they bloom only in the spring.

Nearby rapids signified the fall line, the area beyond which upstream navigation by large boats was impossible. Because of this barrier to upstream boat traffic, many small settlements developed on the fall line. Columbia and other great cities developed from those settlements. In order to use the waterways from the upcountry to the coast without portage at the fall line, a canal system was built between 1820 and 1824 to bypass the dangerous rapids near Columbia.

The canal was completed in 1824, making trade between upcountry farms and the port of Charleston much easier. Cotton, corn, wheat, and livestock traveled downriver and finished goods returned. Railroads made canals obsolete when maintenance became too difficult. 

Just as at the wildlife refuge earlier, a sign warned us to be very wary of the alligators here in the canal.

The Broad River: 

Large rounded boulders exposed in the riverbed were made of granite and were the remaining 'basement' of the Appalachian Mountains. On that late September afternoon, it was hard to imagine a more picturesque river with the water flowing over the rocks.

The railroad and highway bridges:

Steven and I wondered if this may have been a beaver dam but didn't know if beavers actually existed in this part of the US!

We wondered if this long 'bump' in the canal was another alligator sunning itself or just our overactive imagination!

Steven and I had wrestled with stopping at Congaree National Park en route to Columbia that afternoon but our decision to head directly to walk along the Riverfront Park and canal had been a great decision and way to stretch our legs after being in the car for several hours. 

Next post: Congaree National Park and Dreher Island State Park.

Posted early on April 27th, 2021, after arriving home in Denver from a very relaxing long weekend getaway in the southern Florida city of Fort Lauderdale with our elder daughter. So glad I got lots of sun and warm weather in Florida as both will be missing here until the end of the week.