Oconee County
29 places on the trail: 27 highway markers, 2 battlefields and state sites.
People of Oconee County in Carolina Quotes
Colonial (pre-contact to 1763)
- 37-27Cane Creek TownThis section of Oconee County was Cherokee land until 1777. Located north of here on the banks of Cane Creek was a small...
- 37-16Chattooga TownChattooga was one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. during the 17th and early 18th centuries and was a s...
- 37-22Chauga TownChauga, one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C., was near the headwaters of the Chauga River. It, like man...
- 37-21Cheowee TownCheowee Town, sometimes spelled “Chehohee,” and meaning “otter place,” was one of several Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what...
- 37-14Jocassee TownJocassee was one of several Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. It was located about 2 mi. E on the Jocassee Rive...
- 37-11Keowee TownKeowee Town, which means “mulberry grove place,” was the largest and most important of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in wha...
- 37-12Oconee TownOconee, also spelled “Aconnee,” was one of the Cherokee “Lower Towns” in what is now S.C. At the base of Oconee Mountain...
- 37-03The Cherokee PathThe main trading path to the Cherokee Nation paralleled the route of Highway 11 for several miles at this point. This se...
Era of American Revolution (1764-1783)
South Carolina in the Early Republic (1784-1815)
Antebellum (1816-1860)
- 37-02St. John's Lutheran ChurchOn November 20, 1853, St. John's was organized by members of the German Colonization Society of Charleston, S.C. who fou...
- 37-10Stumphouse TunnelThe unfinished railroad tunnel cut into the SE face of Stumphouse Mtn. is the largest of three begun before the Civil Wa...
- 37-15The English SchoolWalhalla, in what was Pickens District until Oconee County was created in 1868, was founded by the German Colonization S...
- 04-37Townville Presbyterian ChurchThis church, founded as Nazareth on the Beaverdam Presbyterian Church, was established in 1803. It met in members’ homes...
Civil War (1861-1865)
Reconstruction (1866-1876)
- 37-25Bethel Colored Methodist Episcopal ChurchBethel Colored Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) was founded in 1876, likely by former slaves. Members built a small wood fra...
- 37-09Newberry College 1868-1877Newberry College, founded in 1856, moved here from Newberry in 1868 and remained in Walhalla until 1877, returning to Ne...
- 37-04SenecaFounded August 14, 1873, as "Seneca City," and chartered on March 14, 1874, the town of Seneca was named for an Indian v...
New South (1877-1913)
World War I and the Interwar Period (1913-1941)
- 37-07Oconee County Training SchoolOconee County Training School, which educated the African American children of this county from 1925 to 1955, was the su...
- 37-20Retreat Rosenwald SchoolThis school, often called Retreat Colored School, was built in 1923 for the African-American students in and near Westmi...
- 37-19Tamassee Dar SchoolTamassee DAR School, founded by the S.C. Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1919, was establis...
- 37-26The Lynching of Allen GreenIn 1930, over 100 white men and boys broke into Oconee County Jail to lynch Allen Green, a prominent local African Ameri...
- 37-18West Union Grammar SchoolWest Union Graded School, also known as West Union Grammar School or West Union Elementary School, was built here in 192...
World War II and After (1941-present)
- 37-01First Soil Conservation District PlanOn February 4, 1938, Mrs. Ploma M. Adams, owner of this farm, assisted by the Upper Savannah Soil Conservation District,...
- 37-24Mountain Rest SchoolThe building across the road was constructed in 1948 to house the Mountain Rest School. Initially staffed by four teache...