Secession Lake Dam
Historic Property
Street Address:
Co. 72, Abbeville, South Carolina (Abbeville County)
Date Surveyed:
circa 1979
Category:
Structure
Construction Date:
1940
Historic Use:
Agriculture/Subsistence
Current Use:
Agriculture/Subsistence
Architect or Builder:
J. Ray Pennell Co.
Exterior Walls Materials:
Concrete Block
Signficant Architectural Features:
Description: Reinforced concrete multiple arch dam 85 ft. high and 370 ft. long. Structure consists of 9 arch-rings supported on 10 buttresses. The dam was built by J. Ray Pennell Co. Lake has capacity of 90,000 acre feet and is used for hydroelectric power. Reinforced concrete multiple arch dam was first built in California in 1908 and was an important American development in dam design subsequently used throughout the Americas, Europse, and Asia. The Secession Lake Dam is an excellent example of the structural form and the only one of its type known to exist in South Carolina.
Historical significance: Regionally significant example of multiple arch dam construction. Oldest example of this kind of construction in the state. Though not a dam of monumental proportions it is exceptional in terms of water power development in the South.
Survey:
Abbeville - City 1981
Archives Location:
Box 10, Series 108042, Survey of historic resources (county by county data on surface properties), circa 1971-2014
