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Lake Marion is the largest lake in
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, centrally located and with territory within five counties. The lake is referred to as South Carolina's inland sea. It has a shoreline and covers nearly 110,000 acres (450 square kilometers or 173.7 square miles) of rolling farmlands, former marshes, and
river valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ...
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
. The Santee River was dammed in the 1940s to supply
hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
, as part of the
rural electrification Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billion ...
efforts initiated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. This created Lake Marion, one of the fifty largest lakes in the United States, whether natural or man-made reservoirs. At current capacity it is only about a third of the area of what, if filled to capacity, would be the fifteenth largest lake in area.


Origin

Lake Marion was created by the construction of the Santee Dam in November 1941, part of the state-owned electric and water utility
Santee Cooper __NOTOC__ Santee Cooper, also known officially from the 1930s as the South Carolina Public Service Authority, is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility that came into being during the New Deal as both a rural electrification and ...
's Hydroelectric and Navigation Project. The project also included construction of the
Pinopolis Dam Pinopolis Dam is a dam in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The earthen and concrete dam was completed in 1941 by Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric and water utility also known as South Carolina Public Service Authority. The dam is 138 fee ...
(Cooper River Dam) to create
Lake Moultrie Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina. Created in the 1940s by a state utility project to dam the Cooper River, it covers more than . It provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities, including fishing. Location Lak ...
, immediately downstream, and a diversion canal seven and a half miles long to connect the two. This was one of the infrastructure projects supported by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
to provide jobs and invest in the future. The dam at Wilson's Landing is eight miles long and has 62
Tainter gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. A side view of a Tainter gate resembles a slice of pie with the ...
s. Despite its size, the Santee Dam generates only 1.92 megawatts of hydropower. Hydroelectric facilities at Pinopolis Dam were designed to produce the lion's share of power under the original scheme: it generates about 128 megawatts. In 1985, as part of a large-scale rediversion and redesign, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
installed the St. Stephen Dam hydro facility to recapture lost generating capacity of another 84 megawatts. Lake Marion is fed by many tributaries, including Wyboo Creek and the
Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain ...
, and also by numerous springs, including Eutaw Springs. The lake is named for the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
General
Francis Marion Brigadier-General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the Swamp Fox, was an American military officer, planter and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the Amer ...
, known legendarily as the "Swamp Fox". His former home of Pond Bluff was one of those flooded when the lake was created.


Location

The lake is located in five South Carolina counties: Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Orangeburg, and Sumter. Public access is provided through several public boat ramps,
Santee State Park Santee State Park is in the Sandhills of South Carolina on the western edge of the Lake Marion. It is located off SC 6, three miles (5 km) northwest of the town of Santee and I-95. The park offers boating, hiking, camping, birding, ca ...
, and the Santee National Wildlife Refuge.
Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
crosses the man-made lake near the town of Santee. Lake Marion is home to several communities and camps for youth and students. Religious groups, fraternal organizations, and rowing teams come to Lake Marion each spring and summer due to its sheltered location, calm waters, and temperate climate.


Wildlife

The state fishing record for
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, ...
(16.2 lbs) was set at this lake.Freshwater Fish Records for South Carolina
/ref> Other fish that abound are
striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...
,
white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White per ...
,
white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white s ...
,
crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis' ...
,
channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...
, Arkansas blue catfish, shellcrackers,
bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...
and
chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike. Taxonomy Fren ...
(jack). Other wildlife at Lake Marion include
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
, fox,
squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...
,
turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
,
dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
,
wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...
,
alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...
, and various species of
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
,
hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...
,
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
,
egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...
, and
osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
. Conditions vary from shallow swamps and
blackwater ponds Blackwater or Black Water may refer to: Health and ecology * Blackwater (coal), liquid waste from coal preparation * Blackwater (waste), wastewater containing feces, urine, and flushwater from flush toilets * Blackwater fever, an acute kidney disea ...
to vast open water, with a multitude of underwater structures. The area was not completely cleared when Lake Marion was created. As a result, there are thousands of stumps, standing dead tree trunks, and live
cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the l ...
trees.


See also

*
Lake Moultrie Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina. Created in the 1940s by a state utility project to dam the Cooper River, it covers more than . It provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities, including fishing. Location Lak ...
*
List of lakes in South Carolina This is a list of lakes and reservoirs in the state of South Carolina in the United States. All major lakes in South Carolina are man-made. Lakes in South Carolina * Alcohol and Drug Abuse Lake * Lake Blalock *Lake Bowen * Lake Brown * Lake Gre ...


References


External links


History of Santee Cooper

Freshwater Fishing Regulations
{{authority control Marion Protected areas of Berkeley County, South Carolina Protected areas of Calhoun County, South Carolina Protected areas of Clarendon County, South Carolina Protected areas of Orangeburg County, South Carolina Protected areas of Sumter County, South Carolina Dams in South Carolina United States state-owned dams Dams completed in 1941 Santee River Bodies of water of Berkeley County, South Carolina Bodies of water of Calhoun County, South Carolina Bodies of water of Clarendon County, South Carolina Bodies of water of Orangeburg County, South Carolina Bodies of water of Sumter County, South Carolina 1941 establishments in South Carolina