AREA HISTORY
Around 1540, Hernando deSoto explored the area surrounding what was once known as Keowee Village or Keowee Town, the capital of the Lower Cherokee Indians. Keowee Village was located just across the Keowee River (Oconee side) near the confluence of Crowe Creek and the Keowee River. In 1690, James Moore led a British expedition through the area in search of gold.
In 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the area now occupied by Lake Jocassee.
The Jocassee Gorges, as the area later became know, was part of the Keowee Village, the capital of the Lower Cherokee Nation. Legend has it that the name “Jocassee” is taken from a Cherokee Indian chief’s daughter.
The Gorges were a busy place for Indians and European settlers alike during the 1700’s. The Keowee Village was a central hub along Indian trading paths that connected Cherokee towns and villages throughout eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and northwestern South Carolina with the Atlantic Ocean.
During the mid-1700’s, the colony of South Carolina placed a trade embargo on the Cherokees. War ensued. In 1785, the colonists and Cherokees signed a peace treaty giving all of the Vale of Jocassee to the US.
More people moved into the mountains and valleys afterwards.
Professional market hunters hunted the ridges and gorges. They shot bears and deer, preserved their meat and hides, and sold them in Asheville, Greenville, and Spartanburg. More settlers built farms and homes in the gorges. Communities thrived. The settlers built schools and churches, opened stores, and ran grist mills.
The railroad was built through Oconee County in the 1870’s, bringing mountain inhabitants to work in local towns. The area also became somewhat of a tourist destination.
The timber industry, further, sprouted during this time. The mountains of Pickens and Oconee counties provided much of the timber and lumber to build factories and houses. Also, due to a lumber shortage in the northeastern US, the area provided timber for national demands as well. Many timber companies formed as a result. One of these was the Poinsett Lumber Company, a subsidiary of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The lumber company cut down trees in the area to use for sewing machine cabinets. Poinsett Lumber took possession of the land, but didn’t use the railway system. Instead, they built roads into the mountains and hauled their lumber on trucks.
In 1963, Duke Power formed Carolina Land & Timber Company. They bought the 83,400- acre tract of land from the Singer Company and from private landowners.
In order to produce hydroelectric energy, Duke Power filled the valleys with water. Known as the Keowee-Toxaway Project, Duke Power successfully formed 18,400- acre Lake Keowee and 7500-acre Lake Jocassee.
Carolina Land & Timber Company later became Crescent Resources and has managed Lake Jocassee ever since. The company still governs all social and economic factors surrounding Lake Jocassee, making it one of the most exclusive lakes in the upstate of South Carolina.
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