About Lake Murray
Lake Murray
Lake Murray is a reservoir in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is approximately 50,000 acres in size, and has roughly 500 miles of shoreline. It was impounded in the late 1920s to provide hydroelectric power to the state of South Carolina. Lake Murray is fed by the Saluda River, which flows from upstate of South Carolina near the North Carolina state line. The Lake Murray Dam (officially the Dreher Shoals Dam) was an engineering feat at the time of its construction. The dam, using the native red clay soil and bedrock, was the largest earthen dam in the world when it was completed in 1930. Lake Murray itself is named after the project's chief engineer, William S. Murray. The Lake Murray Dam is approximately 1.5 miles long and 220 feet high. Lake Murray is 41 miles long, and 14 miles wide at its widest point. At the time when the lake was finished, it was the world's largest man-made reservoir. .
Lake Murray Fun Facts
- Named after William S. Murray William was six foot eight and was the lead engineer for the construction of the dam.
- The Lake Murray Dam took 3 years to construct and was considered an engineering marvel at its time. When it was completed in 1930 in was the largest earthen dam in the world.
- Approximately 100,000 acres of land was purchased for the building of the dam and lake. Land was purchased from more than 5000 families. The land sold between $15 and $45 an acre.
- To clear the land and log the trees, from the area to be covered by water, an average rate of 50 cents per day, was paid to 2,000 men to clear the 65,000 acres by hand using crosscut saws and axes. Out of the trees cut down, 100 million board feet of lumber was manufactured. Some of the lumber was used in the construction of the dam, and some were used to build a three-mile railroad between the dam site and what is known today as Irmo.
- Each of the towers is 223 feet tall. The four smaller ones were built 16 feet in diameter and larger one is 60 feet in diameter.
- It cost 20 million dollars to build and its 337 foot think.
- In the early 1940s, the U. S. military used the lake to train bomber pilots on the B-25 bomber airplanes.
