State of Georgia v. State of South Carolina

Background

The dispute was between the States of Georgia and South Carolina over their shared border. The Court heard the case and issued an order to carry its opinion into effect. The Court named the rivers — Savannah, Tugaloo, and Chattooga — as the boundary up to the point where the Chattooga meets the North Carolina line at the thirty-fifth parallel of north latitude.

Reasoning

The central question was where, exactly, the state line runs along those rivers and how islands should be treated. The Court answered by fixing clear rules: where there are no islands, the line is on the water midway between the main banks at ordinary water level; where islands exist, the line is midway between the island bank and the South Carolina shore at ordinary water level. The Court also declared that all naturally formed islands in the Chattooga are reserved to Georgia like those in the other rivers. The decree allows the States, by mutual consent, to locate and monument the boundary in the river sections.

Real world impact

This order finalizes how the two States must measure and mark their river boundary. It affects state control, local jurisdiction, land ownership along the rivers, and how surveyors draw the line at normal water levels. The Court directed that the States split the lawsuit costs equally and ordered the Clerk to send authenticated copies of the decree to each State’s chief magistrate.