Land Use and Sovereignty Along the Catawba River

This document-based case study explains how land-use change along the Catawba River Corridor (Lancaster and York Counties, South Carolina) has been produced through the interaction of property rights (dominium) and rule-setting authority (imperium), showing why sovereignty continues to shape development even after land disputes appear “settled.” Through analyzing legal records (Treaty of Nation Ford, the 1959 Catawba Division of Assets Act, the 1986 Supreme Court timing decision, and the 1993 Settlement Act), planning documents, parcel records, and field observations, we trace how shifting jurisdiction and title certainty structured what kinds of land uses were possible and when. We argue that the land-claim litigation and settlement did more than resolve ownership questions: they reorganized the governance framework that determines which institutions control zoning, permitting, and enforcement on and off the reservation. To show how these dynamics play out on the ground, we compare recent development pathways and outcomes across key parcels and proposals, including the Nisbet tract, the River Road/Sun City conversion, and the Spratt-owned tract in Fort Mill. We also examine gaming governance through the Catawba Two Kings Casino development to show sovereignty as an ongoing process of jurisdictional bargaining. In the end, we connect growth pressures to environmental and cultural impacts, including endangered species constraints, riverbank pollution, and the protection of culturally significant clay resources.