Georgia v. South Carolina, 257 U.S. 516 (1922)

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Georgia v. South Carolina

No. 16, Original

Argued January 4, 5, 1922
Decided January 30, 1922
257 U.S. 516

IN EQUITY

Syllabus

1. Under the Beaufort Convention of April 28, 1787, defining the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia on the Savannah River and tributaries, reserving islands to Georgia,

Held:

(a) Where there are no islands in the boundary rivers, the line is on the water midway between the main banks when the water is at ordinary stage. P. 521.

(b) Where there are islands, it is midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore, with the water at ordinary stage. P. 522.

(c) Islands in the Chattooga River, the "most northerly branch or stream" of the Tugaloo, apparently not known as the Chattooga at the time of the Convention, are reserved to Georgia as completely as those in the Savannah and Tugaloo proper. P. 522.

2. The general rule is that, where a river, navigable or nonnavigable, is the boundary between two states, and the navigable channel is not involved, in the absence of convention or controlling circumstances to the contrary, each takes to the middle of the stream. P. 521.

3. The location of the boundary under the above convention held unaffected by the thalweg or main navigable channel doctrine in view of the provision that each state shall have equal rights of navigation on the streams. P. 521.

Original suit to define a boundary between states.