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Many families tore down their houses in the Santee–Cooper Basin to rebuild them outside the flooded area. Near Bonneau, South Carolina. March 1941. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division: LC-USF34-043456-D [P&P], LOT 1533 (corresponding photographic print). Other Number: E 5985. Listen to this episode here! The conclusion of the Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie story Episode 7 explores the aftermath of the flooding of the Santee Basin – how families relocated, rebuil

Beneath the still waters of Lake Marion lies the ghost of a forest — and a town named Ferguson. Before the Santee River was dammed, the Santee River Cypress Lumber Company had already stripped much of the swamp bare, cutting and milling its centuries-old cypress. By the time the flood came, the forest that once sheltered the town was already gone. This episode traces how the Santee Basin itself was transformed — not only socially but ecologically. Thousands of acres were clea

Across the Santee Basin, communities built lives rooted in land, labor, and belief. In the years after emancipation, Black, Indigenous, and European families shaped intertwined identities through farming, faith, and community — stories that still echo in the cemeteries, churches, and waters that remain. The Ground Remembers  explores how race, land, and belief shaped who belonged — and what endures beneath the water. Listen to this episode here! Featured Voices:  Dr. Thomas R

Before Lake Marion or Lake Moultrie existed, South Carolina imagined connecting the Santee and Cooper Rivers to the port of Charleston. From the 18th-century Santee Canal to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal vision, this episode follows the long road from dream to dam — a story of ambition, technology, and belief in progress. Listen to this episode here! Historians Dr. Thomas Robert Hart  explains how the New Deal reshaped the Lowcountry, while Dr. Kelsey Moore  explores how t

Step back to 1929 with this rare Fox Movietone newsreel of Lake Murray under construction. Featuring remarks from Governor John Gardiner Richards Jr. and the rhythmic songs of African American Gandy Dancers, this archival footage captures the human labor and ambition behind one of South Carolina’s most transformative engineering projects — a story explored further in Episode 2 of Made in Carolina: Submerged Towns.

I didn’t know my grandfather was a Gandy Dancer until recently. While researching what the term meant, I spoke with my father, who told me about my grandfather’s time working on the road. That conversation opened up a part of my family history I’d never fully understood — one tied to sweat, song, and steel. Who Were the Gandy Dancers? Gandy Dancers were the men who built and maintained the nation’s railroads. They lifted rails, drove spikes, and aligned track with heavy tools

Before Lake Murray ever existed, this land was home to thriving communities that would soon face upheaval as the dam project began. In this first episode of our Submerged Towns mini-series, Lolita Rowe is joined by J.R. Fennel to explore the lives, work, and faith that shaped the communities which disappeared beneath the waters of Lake Murray.

Meet Lolita Rowe and the Made in Carolina podcast. WPA Camp signage near Cross's Cross Road