Cape Fear River

… is formed by the junction of Deep and Haw Rivers on the Chatham-Lee county line. It flows SE along the Chatham-Lee county line and through Harnett County, S through Cumberland County, SE through Bladen County, and along the Columbus-Pender, Brunswick-Pender, and Brunswick-New Hanover county lines into the Atlantic Ocean. It had a succession of names after it was first discovered by Europeans. Spanish explorers in 1526 named it Rio Jordan; a Barbadian colony in 1664 named it Charles River; and between 1664 and 1667, when Clarendon County existed in the area, it was known as Clarendon River. It appears as Clarendon River on the Ogilby map, 1671; as "C. Fear R. or Clarendon R." on the Gascoyne map, 1682; as Cape Fear River on the Barnwell map, 1722; as Clarendon River on the Moll map, 1729; and as Cape Fear River on the Moseley map, 1733, and thereafter on others.