The Tugaloo River (originally Tugalo River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 26, 2011

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that forms the border between the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

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 = ...

. It was named for the historic Cherokee town of

Tugaloo Tugaloo (''Dugiluyi'' (ᏚᎩᎷᏱ)) was a Cherokee town located on the Tugaloo River, at the mouth of Toccoa Creek. It was south of Toccoa and Travelers Rest State Historic Site in present-day Stephens County, Georgia. Cultures of ancient ind ...

at the mouth of Toccoa Creek, south of present-day

Toccoa, Georgia Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, Stephens County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located about from Athens, Geo ...

and Travelers Rest State Historic Site in

Stephens County, Georgia Stephens County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia, in the Piedmont and near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is bounded by the Tugaloo River and Lake Hartwell on the east. As of the 2010 census, th ...

. It is fed by the

Tallulah River :''This article refers to the river. For the town, see Tallulah Falls, Georgia, for the lake, see Tallulah Falls Lake and for the waterfalls and gorge, see Tallulah Gorge.'' The Tallulah River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography ...

and the

Chattooga River The Chattooga River (also spelled Chatooga, Chatuga, and Chautaga, variant name Guinekelokee River) is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Water course The headwaters of the Chattooga River are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carolin ...

, which each form an arm of Lake Tugalo, on the edge of Georgia's

Tallulah Gorge State Park Tallulah Gorge State Park is a Georgia state park adjacent to Tallulah Falls, Georgia, along the county line between Rabun and Habersham Counties. The park surrounds Tallulah Gorge, a deep gorge formed by the action of the Tallulah River, whic ...

. The Tugaloo flows out of the lake via

Tugaloo Dam Tugaloo (''Dugiluyi'' (ᏚᎩᎷᏱ)) was a Cherokee town located on the Tugaloo River, at the mouth of Toccoa Creek. It was south of Toccoa and Travelers Rest State Historic Site in present-day Stephens County, Georgia. Cultures of ancient in ...

, passing into

Lake Yonah Lake Yonah is a lake on the Tugaloo River, separating Georgia and South Carolina. The lake is created by the Yonah Dam, which is owned and operated by Georgia Power, and generates 22 megawatts. Lake Yonah is a residential lake with 72 vacation a ...

and through

Yonah Dam Lake Yonah is a lake on the Tugaloo River, separating Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The lake is created by the Yonah Dam, which is owned and operated by Georgia Power, and generates 22 megawatts. Lake Yonah is a residential la ...

. The river ends as an arm of

Lake Hartwell 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 b ...

, as does South Carolina's Seneca River after its confluence with the

Keowee River 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 D ...

. Below

, it is called the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

History

Competing state territorial claims to the river and its islands were settled with the

Treaty of Beaufort The Treaty of Beaufort, also called the Beaufort Convention, is the treaty that originally set the all-river boundary between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. It was named for Beaufort, South Carolina, where it was signed in 1787. ...

in 1787, as interpreted in the two '' Georgia v. South Carolina'' cases before the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in 1922 and 1989. The river is one of the boundaries of the

Treaty of Hopewell Three agreements, each known as the Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples, were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South Caro ...

and the

Treaty of New York (1790) The Treaty of New York was a treaty signed in 1790 between leaders of the Muscogee and U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox, who served in the presidential administration of George Washington. A failed 1789 attempt at a treaty between the United S ...

. The river's watershed is home to some of the most challenging

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, luring sport

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

ers and

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

ists from all over the country. Cherokee, pioneer and antebellum history are being highlighted by developments of the Stephens County Foundation along the river. South of Yonah Dam was the former site of Estatoe, an historic Cherokee town. Tugaloo Bend Heritage Park is an 87-acre park established here to interpret this history. It is part of the Tugaloo River Historic Corridor that includes sites from later periods of history, extending south along the river to the former area of the historic

town of the Cherokee. The name of the river comes from

(ᏚᎩᎷᏱ), an historic

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

town that was located along the river near the mouth of Toccoa Creek.

References

External links

*
South Carolina DHEC
Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state) Rivers of South Carolina Borders of South Carolina Borders of Georgia (U.S. state) Rivers of Anderson County, South Carolina Rivers of Oconee County, South Carolina Rivers of Hart County, Georgia Rivers of Franklin County, Georgia Rivers of Stephens County, Georgia Rivers of Habersham County, Georgia Tributaries of the Savannah River {{SouthCarolina-river-stub