Lockwood Folly River or Lockwood's Folly River is a short tidal river

Tidal river

A tidal river is a river, or more typically a stretch of a river, whose flow and level is influenced by tides. An example of a tidal river is the portion of the Connecticut River flowing from Windsor Locks, Connecticut, to the Atlantic Ocean. The Brisbane River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean...

 in Brunswick County

Brunswick County, North Carolina

-External links:*******....

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, USA. Waters from the Green Swamp

Green Swamp (North Carolina)

The Green Swamp is a swamp that lies in Brunswick and Columbus counties in North Carolina. An unusual carnivorous plant known as the Venus Flytrap is found within this swamp. North Carolina laws prohibit the removal of these plants from their habitat....

 drain into the river near Supply

Supply, North Carolina

Supply is a small unincorporated community in Brunswick County, North Carolina, USA located around the intersection of US 17 and NC 211 . Its name is derived from the use of the Lockwoods Folly River as a trade route in the 18th and 19th centuries...

 and flow southward to empty into the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Sunset Harbor

Sunset Harbor, North Carolina

Sunset Harbor is an unincorporated community on the banks of the Lockwood Folly River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Brunswick County, North Carolina. It is bordered by the city limits of Oak Island and is situated across the river from Varnamtown. By road, the community can only be...

. The Lockwood Folly Country Club in Varnamtown

Varnamtown, North Carolina

Varnamtown is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States situated on the banks of the Lockwood Folly River. The population was 481 at the 2000 census...

 takes its name from the river.

Lockwood Folly Inlet is a nearby inlet

Inlet

An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...

 connecting the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 to the Intracoastal Waterway and was once the mouth of the Lockwood Folly River prior to construction of the Intracoastal and natural sand shifting. The inlet separates the barrier island

Barrier island

Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...

s of Oak Island

Oak Island, North Carolina

Oak Island, North Carolina is a seaside town located mostly on the barrier island of Oak Island , in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. A small part of the town extends onto the mainland north of the island's bridge. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census...

 and Holden Beach Isle

Holden Beach, North Carolina

Holden Beach is a seaside town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Holden Beach is located at ....

.

Name origin

There are two folklore stories that explain the genesis of the name "Lockwood Folly". The first states that a man by the name of Lockwood began building the "boat of his dreams" along the banks of the river. Working tirelessly for many months, Lockwood finally completed his sailing ship, but when he tried to float the boat, he discovered that he had made the draft

Draft (hull)

The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...

 too deep to clear the sandbar at the inlet. So with no way to sail the ship out of the river, Lockwood disappointedly left the ship to rot. The locals began calling the ship "Lockwood's Folly" and according to the story, eventually the name was applied to both the river and inlet.

The second tale tells the story of a group of settlers led by a man named Lockwood that decided to colonize the banks of the river. Lockwood supposedly did not bring enough supplies or got into a dispute with the local Indian tribe and the colony had to be disbanded. According to the story, the remains of the colony were named "Lockwood's Folly" and later the name came to encompass the nearby river and inlet.

The river name appears on an John Ogilby

John Ogilby

John Ogilby was a Scottish translator, impresario and cartographer. Best known for publishing the first British road atlas, he was also a successful translator, noted for publishing his work in handsome illustrated editions.-Life:Ogilby was born in or near Killemeare in November 1600...

map from 1671, making Lockwood's Folly River one of the oldest named rivers in North Carolina.