Though the West Branch still rises as a blackwater swamp in central Berkeley County, its main headwaters have been seamlessly shifted to Lake Moultrie by the 1940s vintage Tail Race Canal.

Charleston was founded on the western bank of the Ashley River in 1670 (at Charles Towne Landing), before moving across to its current peninsular location ten years later.

Rice and indigo were the primary commodity crops cultivated on the plantations surrounding the brackish marshland of the Cooper River from the early Colonial through the end of the Civil War periods.

Berthed at Patriot's Point are four museum ships, most notably USS Yorktown, a World War II aircraft carrier.

The John P. Grace Memorial Bridge was opened for service on August 8, 1929, as the automobile and trucks became an increasingly important mode of transportation.

Further north, the Dennis C. Bishop Bridge carries US 52-US 17 Alternate traffic across the Tail Race canal just below the Pinopolis Dam on Lake Moultrie in northern Berkeley County.

A CSX Transportation trestle bridge traverses the upper reaches of the West Branch, 13 miles (21 km) below the Pinopolis Dam.