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History of Hartwell Dam & Lake
The following is from the book “History of the Savannah District, 1829 –
1989” by Henry E. Barber and Allen R. Gann, published by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 1989, pp. 434 – 442. Please note
that some changes have been added to the below information to bring it
up to date – these changes are in italics. This book is available for
checkout at a number of local libraries.
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Aerial view of
Savannah River before construction of the Hartwell Dam.
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The Flood Control Act of 17 May 1950 authorized the
Hartwell Dam and Reservoir as the second unit in the comprehensive
development of the Savannah River Basin.44 The estimated cost was $68.4
million based on 1948 price levels and preliminary designs. The original
project provided for a gravity-type concrete dam 2,415 feet long with
earth embankments at either end, which would be 6,050 feet long on the
Georgia side and 3,935 feet long on the South Carolina side. The
12,400-foot-long dam was to be topped with a roadway 24 feet wide. The
main dam was to consist of two nonoverflow concrete sections on the
right and left banks 887 feet and 940 feet long, respectively; a
gravity-type concrete spillway 588 feet long equipped with 12 tainter
gates 26 feet by 40 feet in the channel; and a powerhouse on the South
Carolina side of the river.45 Full power pool was designed to be 660
feet above mean sea level. At this elevation, the reservoir would extend
7.1 miles up the Savannah River to the confluence of the Tugaloo and
Seneca Rivers; 41 miles up the Tugaloo to within approximately 2 miles
of the existing Yonah Dam; 27 miles up the Seneca to the mouth of the
Little River, South Carolina; 2 miles up the Little River to the Newry
site; and 7 miles up the Keowee to the Old Pickens site. The reservoir
would cover 56,500 acres and would involve the relocation of 3 sections
of railroad totaling 2 miles, the raising of 2 railroad bridges,
construction of 6 sections of new state high- ways totaling 19.6 miles
and 9 sections of county roads totaling 12.7 miles, the construction of
9 new bridges and the raising of 4 existing bridges, and the relocation
of 2 power transmission lines.46
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Construction of cofferdams on South Carolina side. Aerial view
downstream. |
As construction of the dam got under way, the
specifications changed from time to time. The length of the concrete
portions of the structure was reduced to 1,900 feet, the roadway was
removed from atop the dam and made to cross the river just below the dam
site, the size of the tainter gates was increased from 26 feet by 40
feet to 35.5 feet by 40 feet, and the Powerhouse was relocated from the
South Carolina to the Georgia side of the river. Periodically,
construction costs were revised upward to a final figure of almost $90
million. The first appropriations for construction were made on 15 July
1955, and the first major contract was awarded 14 October 1955 for
construction of the earth embankments.47 Filling of the reservoir began
in February 1961 and was completed in March 1962.
When the dam was constructed, 5 penstocks were provided for the
installation of four 66,000-kilowatt generating units and a future
80,000-kilowatt unit. The fifth unit was completed in 1985, bringing the
total generating capacity to 344,000 kilowatts (a “rehab” of units 1 – 4
took place from 1997 – 2000. This increased the total generating
capacity to 422,000 kilowatts). The Hartwell project has provided not
only electricity for municipalities and electric cooperatives but also
an ample water supply for industry and domestic use. Power is sold
through the Southeastern Power Administration (SEPA) to private power
companies and public cooperatives. From 1962, when power was put on
line, through September 1988 SEPA paid the Corps $118,485,133 for power.
The total cost of the Hartwell Project was $89,240,000 (in 1963).48
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Hartwell Dam &
Lake. View southwest towards Georgia embankment. |
In addition to power production, 5 feet of storage above
the maximum power pool has been reserved for flood control. This feature
at Hartwell, along with that at Clark Hill (Clark Hill was renamed J.
Strom Thurmond in 1987), reduced flood damage in the areas downstream by
an estimated $363,000 annually. Hartwell alone prevented an estimated
$9.47 million in flood damages through the regulation of flood flows
from 1962 through FY 1987 (from 1962 – 2000, Hartwell Dam prevented
$13.7 million in flood damages). The combined control by the Hartwell
and Clark Hill multipurpose projects permitted the use of some of the
earlier undeveloped lowlands below Augusta for agriculture and also
allowed extensive development in the low areas of Augusta. Flow
regulation at Hartwell also increased the dependable production of power
at Clark Hill and benefited navigation by increasing the minimum streamflow below Augusta. Water released through the turbines as power
is generated at Hartwell and provides adequate regulation of flow in the
river below the dam to benefit fish and wildlife, to aid navigation
below Augusta, and to increase the dependable power at Clark Hill.49
The large lake created by the impounded waters at Hartwell has been used
extensively for recreation. The number of visitors to the project has
increased regularly from about 750,000 in 1962 to 9.6 million during
2000. This ranked Hartwell third of the ten most popular Corps projects
in the nation. The Corps has developed 61 public-use areas in addition
to recreational facilities provided by private club and quasi-public
groups.
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Hartwell Dam &
Lake. Progress of Hartwell Dam construction. Spillway and Sluice
gates open for test. |
The Hartwell Lakeshore Management Plan was initially
approved in 1979 after more than 4 years of work by Corps personnel, 4
public meetings, and a congressional hearing. This plan for the orderly
development of the lake's shoreline serves to protect and manage the
shoreline, establish and maintain acceptable fish and wildlife habitats,
and help meet the recreational needs of the general public. The
Management Plan became the subject of controversy because adjacent
lakeshore landowners were being required to improve their property to
meet the standards established by the Corps of Engineers. The plan
sought to achieve a balance between the needs of these landowners while
at the same time promoting a safe, healthful use of the lakeshore for
recreational purposes.50 The Hartwell Plan which was revised and updated
in 1989 after another series of public meetings and workshops held in
September 1988, provided a set of maps of the entire lake, pinpointing
areas where private mooring facilities(eg. boat docks) were permitted as well as areas
where docks were in a "grandfather" status. It also gave basic
information on requirements for the construction of mooring facilities
and those permits or licenses required by landowners for any facilities
placed on government property.51 Information on activities such as
mowing and underbrushing was also provided in the Plan.52
The Hartwell
Shoreline Management Plan was again revised and updated in 1998.
During construction, the Hartwell project was seriously challenged on
only two occasions. The first instance was in August 1956 when Mrs.
Eliza Brock and her daughter refused to allow workmen to come onto their
property to begin clearing for the reservoir area. The controversy
involved 103 acres of land that reverted to government ownership on 21
June 1956 when a formal "declaration of taking" was filed by the Corps
of Engineers. Apparently, Mrs. Brock never received an offer for her
land and therefore refused to allow government workers on the property.
She and her daughter used a rifle to hold off contractors until a court
order was served on 27 September. After delaying timber cutting
procedures for more than a month, the 78-year-old Mrs. Brock settled the
issue out of court and accepted the Government's offer of $6,850 for her
property.56
The second challenge to the Hartwell project came in late 1956 when
Clemson College objected to the damage that would be done to its
property as a result of the impounded water in the reservoir.
Correspondence between the Corps of Engineers and Clemson relating to
the construction of the Hartwell project and its effect on the college
began as early as 1949. In addition, representatives of the college and
the Corps held numerous meetings prior to 1956. At a 16 December 1952
meeting in the office of DL Robert F. Poole, president of the college, a
proposed plan for the Clemson College area was presented to college
officials. In a letter of 5 July 1955, the Corps furnished the vice
chairman of the Board of Trustees of the school with information on
plans for acquisition, relocation, and protection of facilities in the
Clemson area. This information was substantially the same as presented
to the college officials in December 1952.57 The Board of Trustees then
pledged their cooperation in the Hartwell project.58 By 1956 DL Robert
E. Edwards had assumed the presidency of Clemson College, and on 29 June
1956 the chairman of the Hartwell Dam Subcommittee of the Board of
Trustees transmitted to the Savannah District a report compiled by a
private engineering firm on the Hartwell project as related to Clemson
College. Based on this report, three plans were proposed by the board
for the protection of school holdings. In order of preference, these
plans proposed the following: lowering the power pool from 660 feet to
610 feet; diverting the Seneca River around the endangered college
property to prevent the anticipated flooding; or compensation for
college lands and facilities that would be affected by the impounded
waters. The Corps proceeded in anticipation of reaching agreement on the
basis of the third plan until December 1956, when the Clemson trustees
declared the land irreplaceable and the damage that would be done to the
college irreparable.59
Following the claims made by Clemson of irreparable damage resulting
from construction of the Hartwell project, and the support which these
claims received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, construction on
the project was halted pending further investigation. The Chief of
Engineers attended a meeting at Clemson College on 20 December 1956 and
subsequently requested authority from the Public Works committees of
both the Senate and the House to restudy the project. Following the
authorization, the Corps did a restudy during the early months of 1957.
One curious circumstance that surfaced during the restudy was the fact
that the Department of Agriculture had conveyed more than 7,600 acres of
bottom land along the Seneca River to the college for the payment of one
dollar in December 1954, more than four years after the authorization of
the Hartwell project. This had been done without the knowledge of the
Department of Army. In December 1956, the Department of Agriculture
declared that the damage to this land “would be so great as to cast
serious doubt on the economic feasibility of the project."60 Following
the restudy it was concluded that redesigning the project with a power
pool of 610 feet would be economically unfeasible and that the only
alternative was to provide for the diversion of the Seneca River so that
impounded waters would pose no threat to the Clemson College lands. On
the basis of this revised project, work was resumed in 1957 and
completed in December 1963.
The two diversion dams built in the vicinity of Clemson College in 1961
to rechannel the Seneca River and protect valuable school facilities
were constructed of random earth fill raised on alluvial soil. Seepage
on the dry or protected side of the structures required numerous repairs
over the years, so in 1982 steps were taken to solve the problems
permanently. The solution involved constructing concrete cutoff walls
within the existing earthen dams using slurry wall panel method. This
technique, borrowed from an earlier construction method used at the West
Point project, involved excavating a trench along the entire length of
each of the earthen dams and filling the trenches with a soupy masonry
mixture that, when hardened, formed a relatively impervious concrete
wall. Work on the lower diversion dam at Clemson was completed in
December 1982, and seepage was reduced to the level anticipated. Work on
the upper dam began in June 1983 and was completed in June 1984, well
ahead of schedule.
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Early History
The Hartwell region abounds in historical lore, much of it inherited
from the Cherokee Indians who once roamed here and from the early
settlers who pioneered the area. Many local streams, rivers and
recreation areas bear colorful Indian names. Some streams allegedly were
named by Issaqueena, a young Indian maiden who rode to Fort Ninety-Six
to warn settlers of an impending attack. On her journey, she marked her
travel by naming the streams that she encountered for the number of
miles she had covered. The story of Issaqueena accounts for the names of
Six-Mile, Twelve-Mile, Twenty-Three Mile and Twenty-Six Mile creeks
which are part of the lake today. Before and during the Revolutionary
War, the region was a hotbed of anti-British activity.
Nancy Hart, for
whom Hart County, Ga., Hartwell, Ga., and Hartwell Dam and Lake
subsequently were named, was renowned for her heroic exploits on behalf
of the Patriot cause. Other historic figures who lived in the immediate
region of Hartwell Lake were Andrew Pickens and John C. Calhoun, both
eminent Statesmen from South Carolina. Also, William Bartram, foremost
botanist in the late 1700's, traveled the region which is Hartwell Lake
today, recording vegetation types and plant species and noting his
observations on the Indians in his Travels.
44
Stats. at L., 64:171.
45
Annual Report, 1950, p. 723.
46
U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Engineer Officers Advanced Class, 1952,
p. 52.
47
Stats. at L., 72:307.
48 U.S. Army, Corps of
Engineers, Water Resources Development in Georgia, 1989, p.59.
49
Ibid.
50 U.S. Army, Corps of
Engineers, Water Resources Development in Georgia, 1981, p.68.
51 Ibid., p.60.
52
U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Congressional Fact Book (1989).
56 Greenville News,
28 Sept. 1956; Atlanta Journal, 28 Sept. 1956; Atlanta
Constitution, 29 Sept. 1956;
Augusta Herald,
12 Oct. 1956.
57 U.S. Army, Corps of
Engineers, Restudy Report, Hartwell Reservoir, Savannah
River, Georgia
and South Carolina
(Savannah, GA: U.S. Army Engineer District, 1957), p. 3.
58
Anderson Independent, 19 July 1955.
59
U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Restudy Report, Hartwell Reservoir,
p. 4.
60 Ibid., p. 52.
61
U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Congressional Fact Book (1984).
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Historical Society
Links
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Anderson County Historical Society
P.O. Box 785
Anderson, SC 29622
(864) 260-4737
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Anderson County Museum
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Oconee Heritage Center
123 Brown Square Drive
P.O. Box 395
Walhalla, SC 29691
info@oconeeheritagecenter.org
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Pickens County Historical Society
P.O Box 775
Pickens, SC 29671
(864) 878-9459
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Hart County Historical Society
31 East Howell Street
Hartwell, GA 30643
(706) 376-6330
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Franklin County Historical Society
(706) 384-4361
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Stephens County Historical Society
313 Pond Street
P.O. Box 125
Toccoa, GA 30577
(706) 282-5055
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