The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. It lies along the lower watershed of the

Pee Dee River The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known a ...

, which was named after the Pee Dee, an Indigenous tribe historically inhabiting the region.

History

The region was the homeland of the Pee Dee Native Americans, a people who originally occupied the area as part of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture from about 1000 to 1400, leaving the region for unknown reasons. Today, several nonprofit organizations have been recognized by South Carolina as descendants of the historic Pee Dee, including two state-recognized tribes and one state-recognized group. However, none of these organizations are

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

Economy

The region's largest county is Horry. It encompasses the Grand Strand, which includes the beaches running from the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

state border to the Winyah Bay in Georgetown County in South Carolina. On the coast, the economy is dominated by

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, and features beaches,

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

s, shopping, fishing, and golf. The area has become a major retirement center in the United States, in part because of its low cost of living, mild weather, and numerous golf courses. Inland is a belt featuring rivers,

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es,

Carolina bay Carolina bays are elliptical to circular depressions concentrated along the East Coast of the United States within coastal New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and north Florida.Kaczorowski ...

s, and sandy rises where forestry is predominant. There are pine

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s and

bald cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (baldcypress, bald-cypress, bald cypress, swamp cypress; ; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a w ...

timbering. Further inland, on higher ground, but still of only slight relief, is an agricultural belt of cultivation of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s and

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

. The region, especially the inland portion, remained mostly rural well into the 20th century. As late as the 1970s, it was still so rural that Florence's second television station,

WPDE-TV WPDE-TV (channel 15) is a television station licensed to Florence, South Carolina, United States, serving the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions of South Carolina as an affiliate of ABC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which ...

, obtained a Farmers Home Administration loan to build a studio and tower.

Regional definition

There is no agreed definition on which of South Carolina's counties are included in the region. The region takes its name from the

. The counties in the Pee Dee region are located, either entirely or partially, within the river's watershed.

Always included

* Chesterfield County * Darlington County * Dillon County * Florence County * Marlboro County * Marion County

Usually included

* Horry County * Georgetown County *

Williamsburg County Williamsburg County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census its population was 31,026. The county seat and largest community is Kingstree. After a previous incarnation of Williamsburg County, the current ...

Rarely included

* Clarendon County * Lee County * Sumter County

Politics

The Pee Dee region has remained relatively constant during the first decade of the 21st century in terms of its voting history. The region's voters have been close during the previous four presidential elections, but lean toward the Republican Party. The tilt of the region is primarily due to the numerous Republicans resident in Horry County along the Atlantic coast. At the congressional level, the region, including the rarely included counties, is located within three congressional districts. The Pee Dee region is mostly contained in

South Carolina's 7th congressional district South Carolina's 7th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in South Carolina, established in 2011 following apportionment of another seat to the state in the 2010 United States redistr ...

. Williamsburg, Clarendon, parts of Sumter, and parts of Florence counties are located in the majority-minority 6th district. Lee and the remaining parts of Sumter counties are located in 5th district. The 5th and 6th districts are represented by Republican

Ralph Norman Ralph Warren Norman Jr. (born June 20, 1953) is an American real estate developer and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. His district includes most of the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metropolitan ...

and Democrat

Jim Clyburn James Enos Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . First elected in 1992, Clyburn is in his 17th term, representing a congressional district that includes most of the majority-black precinc ...

, respectively. The 7th district was established following the 2010 census. In the 2012 elections, incumbents Mulvaney and Clyburn won re-election. Republican Tom Rice defeated Democrat Gloria Tinubu, both of Horry County, 54.9% to 45.1%, to represent South Carolina's new House seat.

Cities

Primary cities

(population figures is from 2020 census estimates) *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

: 39,899 *

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the " Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. It ...

: 35,682

Cities with a population of at least 5,000

* Bennettsville: 7,020 *

Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...

: 5,040 *

Conway Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway Townshi ...

: 24,849 *

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

: 6,149 * Dillon: 6,384 * Georgetown: 8,403 * Hartsville: 7,446 * Lake City: 5,903 * Marion: 6.448 * North Myrtle Beach: 18,790

Higher education

4-year colleges

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

- Conway * Coker University- Hartsville * Francis Marion University- Florence

2-year or specialized colleges

* Florence-Darlington Technical College-Florence * Horry-Georgetown Technical College- Conway * Northeastern Technical College- Cheraw * Williamsburg Technical College- Kingstree

Media

The area is served by four commercial broadcast television stations, WBTW CBS 13, WPDE ABC 15, WMBF NBC 32 and WFXB Fox 43, the first two with twin studios at Florence and Myrtle Beach, as well as two

educational television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that are often associated with cable televi ...

stations substations, WHMC-TV, in

Conway, South Carolina Conway is a city in and the county seat of Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,849 at the 2020 census, up from 17,103 in the 2010 census, making it the 18th-most populous city in the state. The city is part of ...

, and WJPM-TV in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

Daily newspapers include ''

The Sun News ''The Sun News'' is a daily newspaper published in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in the United States. It serves the Grand Strand region of South Carolina. History The ''Myrtle Beach News'' was founded as a weekly in 1935 by brothers-in-law ...

'' of Myrtle Beach and '' The Morning News'' of Florence. The '' Georgetown Times'' is published five times per week.

Major highways

* Interstate 20 *

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

*Future

Interstate 73 Interstate 73 (I-73) is a north–south Interstate Highway, currently located entirely within the US state of North Carolina. It travels , from northwest of Rockingham, North Carolina to northeast of Stokesdale, North Carolina, Stokesdale, ...

* US Highway 1 * US Highway 15 * US Highway 17 * US Highway 52 * US Highway 76 * US Highway 301 * US Highway 378 * US Highway 401 * US Highway 501 * US Highway 521 * US Highway 701 * SC Highway 22 * SC Highway 31 * SC Highway 9 * SC Highway 38 * SC Highway 41 & SC Highway 41 ALT * SC Highway 51 * SC Highway 145 * SC Highway 151 * SC Highway 177 * SC Highway 261

References

External links

Pee Dee Tourism Commission
{{Coord, 34.205833, -79.539167, display=title Regions of South Carolina