The Waccamaw Neck is a long narrow peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Waccamaw River in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The town of Pawleys Island is located on the Waccamaw Neck, as well as the unincorporated mainland area, which includes the areas of Litchfield Beach and North Litchfield Beach. The entire area shares Zip Code 29585. The Waccamaw Neck is located south of Myrtle Beach on the Grand Strand, and just north of the historic seaport of Georgetown.
A peninsula is a landform surrounded by water on the majority of its border while being connected to a mainland from which it extends. The surrounding water is usually understood to be continuous, though not necessarily named as a single body of water. Peninsulas are not always named as such; one can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit. A point is generally considered a tapering piece of land projecting into a body of water that is less prominent than a cape. A river which courses through a very tight meander is also sometimes said to form a "peninsula" within the loop of water. In English, the plural versions of peninsula are peninsulas and, less commonly, peninsulae.
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 square kilometers. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the "Old World" from the "New World".
The Waccamaw River is a river, approximately 140 miles (225 km) long, in southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina in the United States. It drains an area of approximately 1110 square miles (2886 km²) in the coastal plain along the eastern border between the two states into the Atlantic Ocean. Along its upper course, it is a slow-moving, blackwater river surrounded by vast wetlands, passable only by shallow-draft watercraft such as canoe. Along its lower course, it is lined by sandy banks and old plantation houses, providing an important navigation channel with a unique geography, flowing roughly parallel to the coast.
The neck is a historic area that was a major hunting and fishing ground for the prehistoric Waccamaw tribe, followed by rice plantations along the river side, with summer homes for the planters and their families on the coastal side that extended from colonial times to the beginning of the 20th century.
Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production, after sugarcane and maize.
Plantations are an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum era. The mild subtropical climate, plentiful rainfall, and fertile soils of the southeastern United States allowed the flourishing of large plantations, where large numbers of workers, usually Africans held captive for slave labor, were required for agricultural production.
Today, the Waccamaw Neck is both a seaside resort community and suburb of the Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand Area.
Notable cultural locations are Brookgreen Gardens, Huntington Beach State Park, and the Belle Baruch Nature Preserve at Hobcaw Barony, a group of former plantation purchased between 1905 and 1910 as a hunting preserve by financier Bernard Baruch.
Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The 9,100-acre (37 km2) property includes several themed gardens with American figurative sculptures placed in them, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails through several ecosystems in nature reserves on the property. It was founded by Archer Milton Huntington, stepson of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and his wife Anna Hyatt Huntington to feature sculptures by Anna and her sister Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor along with other American sculptors. Brookgreen Gardens was opened in 1932, and is built on four former rice plantations, taking its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation.
Huntington Beach State Park is a small coastal preserve and state park near Murrells Inlet, in Georgetown County, South Carolina. It has a large sandy beach, few beach-goers, and numerous wild birds to watch over the seasons.
Hobcaw Barony is a 16,000 acres (6,475 ha) tract on a peninsula called Waccamaw Neck between the Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean in Georgetown County, South Carolina. Much of Hobcaw Barony is south of US Highway 17. The land was purchased by the investor, philanthropist, presidential advisor, and South Carolina native Bernard M. Baruch between 1905 and 1907 for a winter hunting retreat. Later, his eldest child, Belle W. Baruch, began purchasing the property from her father beginning in 1936. By 1956, Belle owned Hobcaw Barony entirely. Upon her death in 1964, the property was transferred to the Belle W. Baruch Foundation for a nature and research preserve. The property includes more than 37 historic buildings and structures representative of the eras of both 18th & 19th century rice cultivation and 20th century winter retreats. Hobcaw Barony was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 2, 1994.
The Waccamaw Neck Bikeway is part of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long system of trails that connects Maine to Florida.
The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) biking and walking route linking the major cities of the Atlantic coast of the United States, from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida. The spine route and branching complementary routes are for non-motorized human transportation for everything from local commutes to long-distance trips.
