Can Georgians and South Carolinians Agree on Anything? 6 Fights Between the Two States

In March 2007, the governors of Georgia and South Carolina announced an agreement to build a port together on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

By 2013, the states still hadn’t settled on construction permits, and a 2018 report pushed the opening estimate to 2035 at the earliest.

These are some of the biggest disagreements between Georgia and South Carolina.

1. River Boundary Dispute

Georgia and South Carolina fought over where their border runs along the Savannah River, and the U.S. Supreme Court had to step in.

The 1787 Treaty of Beaufort made the Savannah River the common boundary between the two states.

The same treaty gave Georgia the islands in the river.

You might think a river makes an easy border, but shifting sand and water left ownership of several strips of land unclear, including Barnwell Island and Oyster Bed Island.

Between 1855 and 1900, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other groups significantly altered the lower Savannah River for navigation.

A 1922 U.S. Supreme Court ruling placed the line midway between the main banks of the river.

A 1977 altercation between Georgia law enforcement officers and a South Carolina shrimp boat captain drew national press and reopened the dispute.

On June 25, 1990, the Court ruled in favor of South Carolina.

The Court put Oyster Bed Island in South Carolina and treated Georgia’s Tybee Island as the south side of the river’s mouth.

The decision added 3,000 acres of land and 7,000 acres of water to South Carolina’s side.

2. Clemson-Georgia Football

Clemson, a South Carolina school, and Georgia have played each other 66 times.

The Bulldogs led the series 44-18-4 after the 2024 game, with Clemson at 18 wins and four games ending in ties.

Georgia is 8-1-1 against Clemson at neutral sites.

The schools opened the 2014 season against each other in Athens, and Georgia won 45-21.

Georgia won the 2024 game 34-3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

3. Film Incentives

A pilot incentive for South Carolina-based productions with budgets between $250,000 and $1 million took effect in July 2025.

The pilot was created through a proviso passed in 2025.

Eligible productions can receive a 25% rebate on qualifying production costs.

In September, Sen. Tim Scott and other senators introduced a bill that would create a federal tax credit, generally 20%, for film and TV productions.

South Carolina’s film commissioner says the state wants to keep local producers from going to Georgia and other states with lower thresholds.

4. Savannah Harbor Dredging

In 2011, dredging the Savannah River for the Port of Savannah had Georgia and South Carolina at odds.

That September, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control said it planned to deny the Army Corps of Engineers a permit to deepen the river.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley met over lunch in Columbia, and the rivalry appeared to calm.

Deal said the Savannah and Charleston port projects were compatible, not in conflict.

The Georgia Ports Authority says the Port of Savannah shipped 5.67 million twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo in fiscal 2026.

5. Charleston vs. Savannah

Santa Fe, New Mexico, took No. 1 on Travel + Leisure‘s 2026 ranking of the best U.S. cities, so neither state got the top spot.

Charleston, South Carolina, came second, one spot ahead of Savannah.

Greenville, South Carolina, ranked No. 10 on the same list, which gives South Carolina two cities in the top 10 to Georgia’s one.

The survey is based on responses from more than 207,000 readers.

6. Jasper Ocean Terminal

Georgia’s and South Carolina’s governors announced an agreement in March 2007 to build the Jasper Ocean Terminal on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

The Post and Courier described a 1,500-acre port with up to 10 berths that could handle up to 7 million cargo containers a year.

The newspaper put the estimated cost at $5 billion.

In 2018, the Jasper Project Office, a bi-state panel charged with building the terminal, was chaired by a Georgia Ports Authority director.

By 2013, the states still had not agreed on construction permits, and a Georgia Ports Authority official said the boards couldn’t reach consensus on proceeding.

One study cited by Georgia Public Broadcasting said the port wouldn’t be needed until 2025, when Charleston and Savannah were projected to run out of capacity.

Jasper County officials said the states were wasting time on studies.

Jasper County officials said a South Carolina law would let the county take over the project over needless delays, but state ports officials disagreed.

A 2018 report said the opening estimate had been pushed back about a decade, to 2035 at the earliest.

South Carolina’s State Ports Authority chief said the added capacity wouldn’t be needed until about 2035 or 2037.

The Peach Count

State law has named the peach South Carolina’s official fruit since 1984.

South Carolina grew about 78,500 tons of peaches in 2025, against about 35,700 tons in Georgia, based on the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s state figures.

In pounds, you’re looking at roughly 157 million for South Carolina and 71 million for Georgia.

The utilized crop was worth about $131 million to South Carolina growers and about $52 million to Georgia growers.

South Carolina growers also got $2,030 a ton, against $1,670 a ton for Georgia’s.

Peach Acres and Yield

South Carolina had more peach acres than Georgia and a higher yield on them in each of the last three crop years.