Keowee River

Keowee River
Keowee River
Location
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Oconee County, South Carolina
• coordinates	34°58′35″N82°56′04″W / 34.97639°N 82.93444°W
Source confluence	Toxaway River & Whitewater River
Mouth
• location	Oconee County, South Carolina
• coordinates	34°41′44″N82°52′58″W / 34.69556°N 82.88278°W

Last updated September 14, 2023

The Keowee River is created by the confluence of the Toxaway River and the Whitewater River in northern Oconee County, South Carolina. The confluence is today submerged beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee, a reservoir created by Lake Jocassee Dam.

The Keowee River flows out of Lake Jocassee Dam and into Lake Keowee, a reservoir created by Keowee Dam and Little River Dam. The Keowee River flows out of Keowee Dam to join Twelvemile Creek near Clemson, South Carolina, forming the beginning of the Seneca River, a tributary of the Savannah River. The Keowee River is 25.7 miles (41.4 km) long.^[1]

The boundary between the Seneca River and the Keowee River has changed over time. In the Revolutionary War period and early eighteenth century, the upper part of the Seneca River was often called the Keowee River, as it was part of the Cherokee homeland. They also had a town named Keowee.^[2]^[3]

In current times, the section of the Keowee River between the Keowee Dam and its confluence with Twelvemile Creek is called the Seneca River on many maps, including the official county highway map.^[4] Since this area is flooded by Lake Hartwell, formed by damming the Seneca and Tugaloo rivers, it is natural to refer to this section as the Seneca instead of its proper name.

By the early eighteenth century the Cherokee occupied several towns along the upper Keowee River, which were referred to as the Lower Towns. These had long been occupied by indigenous peoples, and each of the larger towns had an earthwork platform mounds built by ancestral people of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture era. The Cherokee typically constructed townhouses, which were their form of public architecture, on top of such mounds if available.^[5] Keowee was the principal town of the Lower Towns. Other Cherokee towns on the Keowee River included Etastoe (also spelled Estatoe),^[5] and Sugartown (Kulsetsiyi).

External links

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Keowee River

Related Research Articles

Oconee County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,607. Its county seat is Walhalla and its largest city is Seneca. Oconee County is included in the Seneca, SC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area. South Carolina Highway 11, the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway, begins in southern Oconee County at Interstate Highway 85 at the Georgia state line.

Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,102 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area, an (MSA) that includes all of Oconee County, and that is included within the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area. Seneca was named for the nearby Cherokee town of Isunigu, which English colonists knew as "Seneca Town".

The Cullasaja River is a short river located entirely in Macon County, North Carolina. It is a tributary of the Little Tennessee River into which it flows near the county seat of Franklin.

The Tallulah River is a 47.7-mile-long (76.8 km) river in Georgia and North Carolina. It begins in Clay County, North Carolina, near Standing Indian Mountain in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness and flows south into Georgia, crossing the state line into Towns County. The river travels through Rabun County and ends in Habersham County. It cuts through the Tallulah Dome rock formation to form the Tallulah Gorge and its several waterfalls. The Tallulah River intersects with the Chattooga River to form the Tugaloo River at Lake Tugalo in Habersham County. It joins South Carolina's Seneca River at Lake Hartwell to form the Savannah River, which flows southeastward into the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tugaloo River</span> River in the United States of America

The Tugaloo River is a 45.9-mile-long (73.9 km) river that forms part of the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. It was named for the historic Cherokee town of Tugaloo at the mouth of Toccoa Creek, south of present-day Toccoa, Georgia and Travelers Rest State Historic Site in Stephens County, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Jocassee</span> Man-made lake in northwestern South Carolina, United States

Lake Jocassee is a 7,500-acre (30 km²), 300-foot (91 m) deep reservoir in northwest South Carolina. It was created in 1973 by the state in partnership with Duke Power. The lake is known for the clean and cold Appalachian mountain rivers that flow into it, keeping its waters cool and clear year-round. The Jocassee Dam, which forms the lake, is 385 feet (117 m) high and 1,750 feet (530 m) long. The lake is within Devils Fork State Park.

Lake Hartwell is a man-made reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina and encompassing parts of the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca rivers. Lake Hartwell is one of the Southeastern United States' largest recreation lakes. The lake was created by the construction of the Hartwell Dam, completed in 1962 and located on the Savannah River seven miles (11 km) below the point at which the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers join to form the Savannah. Extending 49 miles (79 km) up the Tugaloo and 45 miles (72 km) up the Seneca at normal pool elevation, the lake comprises nearly 56,000 acres (230 km²) of water with a shoreline of 962 miles (1,548 km). The entire Hartwell "Project" contains 76,450 acres (309 km²) of land and water. I-85 bisects Hartwell Lake and makes the area easily accessible to visitors.

The Toxaway River is a 21.4-mile-long (34.4 km) waterway that flows south from headwaters in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Lake Toxaway and over Toxaway Falls, after which it crosses into South Carolina and enters Lake Jocassee, the reservoir behind Lake Jocassee Dam.

The Whitewater River is a 14.6-mile-long (23.5 km) river that flows south from headwaters in Transylvania County, North Carolina, over Upper Whitewater Falls and Lower Whitewater Falls before crossing into South Carolina and entering Lake Jocassee, the reservoir behind Lake Jocassee Dam.

The Seneca River is created by the confluence of the Keowee River and Twelvemile Creek in northwestern South Carolina, downriver from Lake Keowee near Clemson. It is now entirely inundated by Lake Hartwell, and forms a 21-mile-long (34 km) arm of the lake. The Seneca River and the Tugaloo River join to form the Savannah River.

The Little River originally flowed 27.0 miles (43.5 km) from its headwaters in northern Oconee County, South Carolina near Salem into the Keowee River northeast of Seneca.

Lake Keowee is a man-made reservoir in the United States in the state of South Carolina. It was developed to serve the needs of power utility Duke Energy and public recreational purposes. It is approximately 26 miles (42 km) long, 3 miles (4.8 km) wide, with an average depth of 54 feet (16 m), and a shoreline measured at 300 miles (480 km) in total, and is approximately 800 feet (240 m) above sea level.

Keowee was a Cherokee town in the far northwest corner of present-day South Carolina. It was the principal town of what were called the seven Lower Towns, located along the Keowee River. Keowee was situated on the Lower Cherokee Traders' Path, part of the Upper Road through the Piedmont. In 1752 the Cherokee established New Keowee Town nearby, off the traders' path but in a more defensible location.

Isunigu was a Cherokee town on the Keowee River. It was on the west side of the Keowee River, near the mouth of Coneross Creek, in today's Oconee County, South Carolina. Present-day Clemson and Seneca, South Carolina later developed near here.

South Carolina Highway 11 (SC 11), also known as the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, is a 119.850-mile (192.880 km) state highway through the far northern part of the U.S. state of South Carolina, following the southernmost peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The route is surrounded by peach orchards, quaint villages, and parks. It is an alternative to Interstate 85 (I-85) and has been featured by such publications as National Geographic, Rand McNally, and Southern Living.

The Oconee Nuclear Station is a nuclear power station located on Lake Keowee near Seneca, South Carolina, and has a power output capacity of over 2,500 megawatts. It is the second nuclear power station in the United States to have its operating license extended for an additional twenty years by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The Chauga River is a 31.3-mile-long (50.4 km) tributary of the Tugaloo River in Oconee County, South Carolina.

South Carolina Highway 130 (SC 130) is a 30.072-mile (48.396 km) state highway in Oconee County, South Carolina, connecting Clemson and eastern Oconee County with access to Lake Keowee, Lake Jocassee, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The historic Cherokee settlements were Cherokee settlements established in Southeastern North America up to the removals of the early 19th century. Several settlements had existed prior to and were initially contacted by explorers and colonists of the colonial powers as they made inroads into frontier areas. Others were established later.

Keowee Key is a lakeside community and census-designated place (CDP) in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. It is considered part of the Salem community. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census with a population of 2,716.

References

↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine , accessed April 26, 2011
↑ Mooney, James (2008) [First published 1900]. Myths of the Cherokee. Forgotten Books. p. 270. ISBN 9781605068879.
↑ "Hopewell on the Keowee Church". Horse Trails. Clemson University. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
↑ Oconee County General Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1971 ed.). South Carolina Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
1 2 Rodning, Christopher B. (Summer 2002). "The Townhouse at Coweeta Creek" (PDF). Southeastern Archeology. 21 (1). Retrieved 22 January 2021.

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[NHD-1] U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine , accessed April 26, 2011

[Mooney-2] Mooney, James (2008) [First published 1900]. Myths of the Cherokee. Forgotten Books. p. 270. ISBN 9781605068879.

[Clemson-3] "Hopewell on the Keowee Church". Horse Trails. Clemson University. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2009.

[dot-4] Oconee County General Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1971 ed.). South Carolina Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009.

[rodning2002-5] 1 2 Rodning, Christopher B. (Summer 2002). "The Townhouse at Coweeta Creek" (PDF). Southeastern Archeology. 21 (1). Retrieved 22 January 2021.

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