Salem, South Carolina

The Tamassee DAR School is a school in Tamassee, South Carolina, founded in 1919 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to serve the underprivileged children of Appalachia. Historic buildings can be observed on the DAR School campus. The school survives and thrives to this day, consistently graduating classes of children between the ages of 7 and 18.The school was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Tamassee is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 60.

Keowee (Cherokee: ᎫᏩᎯᏱ, romanized: Guwahiyi) 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 (Colonists referred to the lower reaches of the river as the Savannah in its lower reaches, with its mouth at the city they named Savannah). 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. Both historic sites are within present-day Oconee County, South Carolina at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. European Americans developed the town of Clemson, South Carolina, south of here after they began to populate the area. When the Keowee River was dammed in a mid-20th century hydropower project, both former Keowee sites were submerged in the early 1970s beneath the waters of Lake Keowee. Before that, archeological excavation was conducted by specialists from the University of South Carolina to establish history and recover thousands of artifacts. Human and animal remains were also discovered at the site.

Devils Fork State Park is in northwestern South Carolina on the eastern edge of the Sumter National Forest at the edge of 7,500-acre (3,035 ha) Lake Jocassee. It is located three miles (5 km) off SC 11, the Cherokee Scenic Highway, near the town of Salem, South Carolina. The park offers hiking, camping (including several paddle-in primitive sites), canoeing and kayaking. The park is well known for rainbow and brown trout, as well as largemouth, smallmouth, and white bass, crappie, bream and catfish. The park has accommodations for scuba divers, including a walk-in ramp; thirty foot visibility is common, and due to the lake's recent creation, roads, houses, signs and other marks of human habitation can be seen on the lake bottom. The 622-acre (2.5 km2) park was created in 1990. The park has many small waterfalls that feed lake Jocassee, and is home to the Oconee Bell, a wildflower indigenous to North and South Carolina that grows throughout the park; more than 90 percent of the world population of these delicate white and pink flowers is found in the park.

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.The CDP is on the eastern edge of Oconee County, on a peninsula extending into Lake Keowee, a reservoir on the Keowee River and Little River. The arm of the lake on the Little River borders the western side of the peninsula, while the Keowee River arm forms the eastern side and is the border with Pickens County. The two arms of the lake join via a small channel in the south part of the CDP; to the south, across the channel and outside the CDP, is the Oconee Nuclear Station power plant. The Keowee River is a south-flowing tributary of the Seneca River, a main tributary of the Savannah River. South Carolina Highways 130 and 183 traverse the CDP. SC 130 (Stamp Creek Road) leads northwest 8 miles (13 km) to Salem, while SC 183 (Pickens Highway) leads west 11 miles (18 km) to Walhalla, the Oconee county seat. The two highways merge to form Rochester Highway, which leaves the CDP to the south. SC 130 continues south down Rochester Highway 10 miles (16 km) to Seneca, and SC 183 turns east and leads 15 miles (24 km) to Pickens.

Fort Prince George was a fort constructed in 1753 in the Province of South Carolina, on the Cherokee Path across the Keowee River from the Cherokee town of Keowee. The fort was named for the Prince of Wales, who would later become King George III of the United Kingdom. It was the principal Carolinian trading post among the Cherokee "Lower Towns".

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. Although most manmade structures were demolished before the lake was flooded, divers recently discovered the remains of a lodge that was left intact; it is now below 300 feet (91 m) of water. Mount Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery was a setting for a scene in the film Deliverance (1972), starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, produced before the lake was flooded. The site is now covered by 130 feet (40 m) of lake water.Several waterfalls flow directly into the lake, including Laurel Fork Falls, Mill Creek Falls, Wright Fork Falls, and Moondance Falls.

Jocassee Dam (often called Lake Jocassee Dam) is an embankment dam on the Keowee River, straddling the border of Pickens and Oconee counties in South Carolina in the United States. The dam forms Lake Jocassee, which is fed by the Toxaway, Thompson, Horsepasture and Whitewater Rivers, and serves primarily for hydroelectric power generation and flood control. The dam and reservoir are part of the Keowee-Toxaway Hydroelectric Project, owned and operated by Duke Energy.Completed in 1973, the dam is a zoned earth and rock fill structure, standing 385 feet (117 m) high with a crest length of 1,800 feet (550 m). At full pool, the reservoir has a storage capacity of 1,185,000 acre-feet (1.462×109 m3), encompassing 75 miles (121 km) of shoreline and 7,500 acres (3,000 ha). Floodwater is released through a spillway controlled by two 40-by-32-foot (12.2 m × 9.8 m) gates, with a capacity of 45,700 cubic feet per second (1,290 m3/s).The dam supports a 710 megawatts (950,000 hp) hydroelectric station, generating power from four turbines. Two of the turbines were installed in 1973, while the third and fourth units came online in 1975. The power station functions as a pumped-storage operation designed to provide peaking power, and generates an average of 811 million kilowatt-hours (2.92×109 MJ) per year. The dam is shown under construction in the 1972 thriller film Deliverance.

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. In Lake Jocassee the Whitewater River is joined by the Toxaway River to form the Keowee River. The confluence is submerged beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee. Via the Keowee and Seneca rivers, the Whitewater River is part of the Savannah River watershed.

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. In Lake Jocassee the Toxaway River is joined by the Whitewater River to form the Keowee River. The confluence is submerged beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee. Via the Keowee and Seneca rivers, the Toxaway River is part of the Savannah River watershed.

Keowee-Toxaway State Park is a state park in Pickens County, South Carolina. It was created in 1970 along the shores of Lake Keowee from lands previously owned by Duke Power.The Keowee-Toxaway Museum includes exhibits about the area Cherokee Indians and their interactions with local settlers. There are four interpretive kiosks along one trail that also highlight the Cherokees. Trail has since been closed and artifacts moved to the Cherokee museum in Walhalla, South Carolina. The park includes several picnic shelters as well as fishing and boat access to the adjacent lake. Hiking can be done on the 3.1 mi (5.0 km) Raven Rock hiking trail or the 1.4 mi (2.3 km) Natural Bridge hiking trail, as well as a short interpretive loop trail. The park also offers both backcountry and paved campsites, as well as cabin lodging.

The Alexander–Hill House, also known as the Alexander–Cannon–Hill House, is a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in High Falls County Park near Seneca, South Carolina off of South Carolina Highway 183. Built in 1831 by Pleasant Alexander, the house was originally located on a plantation near Old Pickens, the government center of the Pickens District, which was created after the Pendleton District split into two smaller districts. It was moved to its current location in 1972.The two-story clapboard house has original heart-pine floors in the entrance hall, wainscoting in the parlor and the original stairway. The two original brick chimneys were reassembled after the house was moved.The house is currently used by the High Falls County Park as its office and gift shop. Tours of the house are available on a limited basis.