Specific Area Report, Congaree Swamp National Monument
National Park Service. 1963. Specific Area Report, Congaree Swamp National Monument. National Park Service. Richmond, VA
The history of the woodlands of South Carolina is that of the south in general. Much of the virgin forest still stood when the rapidly growing lumber industry moved southward in the 1880s. Giant trees representing nature's growth of centuries were harvested during the next twenty years--giants that do not now appear except in small widely scattered and protected places such as the Congaree Swamp. Today the forest within the study area exists in a near virgin state. This magnificent forest of specimen trees is a rare remnant of what was once typical of southern river bottom lands. Elsewhere lumbering has all but wiped out such forest stands. The Congaree Swamp forest would make a fine complement to the record trees of other species preserved in the upland forests of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The swamp-like flood plain with visible former river courses reflected clearly in its topographic and vegetative patterns emphasizes the relationship of the geology to the biology of the area and is truly a remarkable ecological story deserving protection by the National Park Service.