Hell Hole Swamp

33°13′40″N 79°42′12″W / 33.22778°N 79.70333°W / 33.22778; -79.70333Area2,125 acres (9 km²)Governing bodyU.S. Forest Service

Hell Hole Swamp is a swamp in northeastern Berkeley County, South Carolina famous for its unique name. It is located entirely within the Francis Marion National Forest and contains 2,125 acres (9 km²), all of which is designated as a wilderness area.

Origin

The name dates back to at least 1757, appearing on a map of the South Carolina and Georgia coastline. In 1761, on March 3, James Colladon received a grant of 500 acres on Hell Hole Swamp. The origin of the name Hell Hole Swamp is unknown, although there are a couple of theories. One account says that the swamp got its name during the American Revolutionary War from Colonel Banastre Tarleton because the British had great difficulty finding the elusive General Francis Marion. Another explanation is that it was named for being a repository for bootleggers during the Prohibition. Both theories are proved false because they are predated by the 1773 James Cook Map of South Carolina which locates the Hell Hole Swamp.^[1]

Hell Hole Swamp Festival

The Hell Hole Swamp Festival takes place during the first weekend in May at Jamestown, on the northern edge of the swamp. It is a typical Southern festival complete with a cocoa spitting contest, arm wrestling, beauty contests and much more. One unique event of the festival is the Hell Hole Gator Trot 10k, colloquially called the Redneck Run. It began in 1976 and is one of the oldest road races in South Carolina.

Hell Hole Swamp Gang

A group of native sons of Berkeley County boasted of their membership in the illustrious Hell Hole Swamp Gang. They were 1st congressional district Representative L. Mendel Rivers, Governor of South Carolina Robert Evander McNair, state Senator Rembert Dennis, and Columbia mayor Lester Bates.^[2] Rivers was especially proud of the uniqueness of being born in this remote area and would tell reporters that he was "from Gumville. It's near Hell Hole Swamp. If you don't know where it is, look it up."^[3]

Notes

^ 1773 Map of South Carolina
^ Ravenel, p.126
^ Rivers, p. 15

References

Ravenel, Marion Rivers (1995). Rivers Delivers. Wyrick & Company. ISBN 0-941711-24-2.
Rivers, Margaret Middleton; Margaret M.R. Eastman; L. Mendel Rivers Jr (2007). Mendel & Me: Life With Congressman L. Mendel Rivers. The History Press. ISBN 9781596292888.

External links

USC Origin of Hell Hole Swamp
Hell Hole Gator Trot
Francis Marion Wilderness Areas
1773 James Cook Map of South Carolina

Protected areas of South Carolina

Federal

National Parks	Congaree
National Historic Sites and Historical Parks	Charles Pinckney NHS Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie NHP Ninety Six NHS Reconstruction Era NHP
National Military Parks and Battlefields	Cowpens NB Kings Mountain NMP
National Historic Trail	Overmountain Victory
National Forests	Francis Marion Sumter
National Wildlife Refuges	Cape Romain Carolina Sandhills Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin Pinckney Island Santee Savannah Tybee Waccamaw
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Ashepoo Combahee Edisto Basin North Inlet-Winyah Bay
Wilderness Areas	Cape Romain Congaree Ellicott Rock Hell Hole Swamp Little Wambaw Swamp Wambaw Creek Wambaw Swamp
Wild and Scenic River	Chattooga River

State

State Parks	Aiken Andrew Jackson Baker Creek Barnwell Caesars Head Calhoun Falls Cheraw Chester Colleton Croft Devils Fork Dreher Island Edisto Beach Givhans Ferry Goodale H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area Hamilton Branch Hickory Knob Hunting Island Huntington Beach Jones Gap Keowee-Toxaway Kings Mountain Lake Greenwood Lake Hartwell Lake Warren Lake Wateree Landsford Canal Lee Little Pee Dee Myrtle Beach Oconee Paris Mountain Poinsett Sadlers Creek Santee Sesquicentennial Table Rock Woods Bay
State Historic Sites	Charles Towne Landing Colonial Dorchester Hampton Plantation Musgrove Mill Oconee Station Redcliffe Plantation Rivers Bridge Rose Hill Plantation
State Forests	Harbison Manchester Poe Creek Sand Hills Wee Tee
Heritage Preserves	Aiken Gopher Tortoise Altamaha Towne Ashmore Bald Rock Bear Branch Belvue Springs Bennett's Bay Blackwell Botany Bay Plantation Brasstown Creek Bunched Arrowhead Buzzard Island Buzzard Roost Capers Island Cartwheel Bay Cathedral Bay Chestnut Ridge Childsbury Towne Clear Creek Congaree Bluffs Congaree Creek Crosby Oxypolis Daws Island Ditch Pond Dungannon Plantation Eastatoe Creek Eva Russell Chandler Fort Frederick Fort Lamar Forty Acre Rock Glassy Mountain Gopher Branch Great Pee Dee River Green's Shell Enclosure Henderson Janet Harrison High Pond Laurel Fork Lewis Ocean Bay Lighthouse Inlet Little Pee Dee Little Pee Dee State Park Bay Long Branch Bay Longleaf Pine Lynchburg Savanna Nipper Creek Old Island Pacolet River Peachtree Rock Peters Creek Poinsett Bridge Rock Hill Blackjacks Savage Bay Savannah River Bluffs Segars-McKinnon Shealy's Pond South Bluff St. Helena Sound Stevens Creek Stoney Creek Battery Stumphouse Mountain Tillman Sand Ridge Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve Waccamaw River Wadakoe Mountain Wateree Watson-Cooper Woods Bay
Wildlife Management Areas	Bear Island Belfast Bonneau Ferry Campbell's Crossroads Canal Causey Tract Cliff Pitts Clinton Reservoir Tract Crackerneck Donnelley Draper Edisto River Fant's Grove Gray Court Tract Hamilton Ridge Hatchery Herbert Kirsh Hickory Top James L. Mason James Ross Jim Timmerman Keowee Landsford Canal Forest Liberty Hill Marsh McBee McCalla McConnells Tract Moultrie Hunt Unit Nine Times Oak Lea Palachucola Pee Dee Station Samworth Santee Coastal Reserve Santee Cooper Santee Cooper Tract Santee Dam Santee-Delta Thurmond Tract Turtle Island Webb Wild Turkey Woodbury Worth Mountain
Seabird Sanctuaries	Bay Point Shoal Bird Key - Stono Crab Bank Deveaux Bank Joiner Bank North Santee Bar