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| Depart From: | Youth Learning Institute Education Center | | Breakfast: | The day will start with a hot breakfast served at the Education Center's dining facility. | | Morning: | Travel by vans to Lake Jocassee for a boat trip to see Jocasse Falls. Lake Jocasse is tucked into the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is one of the most scenic lakes in the country with a back drop of mountains & several waterfalls that pour into the lake. The valley where the lake is located was once home to 4 mighty rivers. It is surrounded by over 50,000 of protected state land. The lake has 7,500 acres of water & 75 miles of shoreline. The recorded history of the Jocassee Gorges area dates back to 1539 when Hernando deSoto explored the area. South of what is now the dam was once Keowee Village, the capital town of the Lower Cherokee Indians. In 1690 James Moore led a British expedition through the area in search of gold. The Vale of Jocassee was home to the Cherokee Indian Nation. It now lies 300 feet beneath the surface of the lake. By the late 1700's trade routes between Cherokee and Europeans were will established. In 1785 a treaty was signed that gave all of the Jocassee Gorges land area, with the exception of northern Oconee County, to the US. It would not be until 1835 that the Oconee mountains of Jocassee Gorges were ceded to the US. This controversial treaty signed by a very small representation of Indians, granted the US all the Indian territory east of the Mississippi. In 1916, the Toxaway Dam in NC failed. The flood removed much of the fertile topsoil and deposited rocks and boulders on the family farms. After this, it was difficult for homesteaders to make a living off the land. In the 1920's, livestock was transported from the east by rail. Cattle were free ranged. The advent of the textile industry made mountain inhabitants migrate to local mill towns to work. Their land was generally sold or abandoned and auctioned for back taxes. The timber industry emerged. In 1965, Duke Power Company announced the construction of the Keowee Toxaway Project and began construction in 1967. It resulted in the formation of Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee | | Lunch: | Participants will enjoy bag lunches during their boat trip | | Afternoon: | Rest and Relaxation - Free time - Take a nap, enjoy each others company, explore the area, read a book, hit the exercise room - do whatever you enjoy! | | Dinner: | Dinner will be a cookout at Hagood Mill | | Evening: | Before dinner explore one of the "gems" of SC upstate - Hagood Mill. This is a 1845 gristmill that served many generations of rural farm families until its closing in the mid 1960's. Hagood Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1973 the mills and surrounding property were donated to the Pickens County Museum Commission. The mill went back in business on a monthly basis in 1997. Since that time, the mill has operated the third Saturday of the month. These Saturdays become mini-festivals of traditional arts, folklife and music. Since the first re-opening, the barn was remodeled into a family farm exhibit, a visitor building with gift shop was constructed, a three quarter mile nature trail was developed, two historic Pickens log cabins were relocated to the site, blacksmith shop was built, a moonshine display was added as well as a large outdoor stage. Recently, a cotton ginning operation was donated and the county's last steel bridge was relocated to the property for restoration and eventual placement over the creek to allow for expansion and development of several acres on the side currently inaccessible. In 2003, perhaps the most exciting development occurred when Native American petroglyphs (rock cravings) were discovered on a large, thirty foot long rock near the mill. "It is the only petroglyph site recorded in SC that is located on publicly owned property and accessible to all citizens. By virtue of its ownership and location on a National Register property, it is at present SC's only petroglyph site that meets criteria for long term preservation and that might simultaneously serve the public as an educational center for Native American rock art" - Mr. Tommy Charles, archaeologist and Team member conducting a ten year "SC Rock Art Survey" for the SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology | |