Drowning Creek, the original name of the Lumber River, rises in NC with dangerous undercurrents and flows past Nichols, SC, through Marion County, which was originally old Georgetown District and Liberty County. During the Revolutionary War, Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” used Drowning Creek and its swamps to crisscross the area and camp along its banks, a crucial advantage in the defeat of the Tories. The river also served the colonists as an important transportation and trade route for turpentine and lumber.