A focal point for many cities and towns across the Palmetto State, rivers provide key elements, such as commerce, transportation, sustenance, and recreation, in establishing a community’s identity and prosperity. The Catawba River is no exception. Flowing down from the Piedmont region of North Carolina, this river has enjoyed a long and fascinating history with the people of the Carolinas, from early American Indian tribes to the first settlers of the colonies to today’s generations living in York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties. In this volume of over 200 images, many seen here for the first time, you will take a visual journey through a special part of South Carolina, where the Catawba River functions as the life vein for the region and its people. Along the Catawba River is not only a celebration of this beautiful river, but serves as a fitting testimony to the hard work and determination of the people who have carved out successful lives along and near its bountiful banks. As you thumb through these pages, you will meet the region’s everyday citizens, such as farmers, merchants, and community leaders; visit the early one-room schoolhouses that dotted the landscape; explore the home and farms of turn-of-the-century families; travel down unpaved streets and into early mills, general stores, and churches; and see the people at work and at play in the area’s smaller communities, such as Van Wyck and Brattonsville, and in the larger cities of Rock Hill, Chester, and Lancaster.