The Building of Lake Murray: Voices from 1929

As part of my research for Made in Carolina: Submerged Towns – Episode 2, I came across a remarkable 1929 Fox Movietone newsreel documenting the construction of Lake Murray.

The footage captures the early stages of the dam project — when engineers, state leaders, and local laborers were reshaping the Saluda River into what would become one of South Carolina’s most transformative man-made lakes.

In this three-minute clip, you’ll hear narration describing the massive cost and scale of the project, a statement from then–Governor John Gardiner Richards Jr., and, perhaps most poignantly, the voices of African American railroad workers — known as Gandy Dancers — singing as they moved the tracks that carried earth and stone to the dam site. Their rhythmic work songs echo through time, offering a rare and powerful reminder of the human labor behind industrial progress.

This same archival audio is featured in Episode 2 of Made in Carolina: Submerged Towns, helping bring the story of Lake Murray’s creation to life through the very voices that built it.

Archival Credit

Lake Murray dam — outtakes (Fox Movietone News Story 2-462). Filmed April 18, 1929. Fox Movietone News Collection, Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina. View the original clip

🎙️ Listen to the Full Story

Hear this historic clip in context — along with insights about the engineers, local communities, and families whose lives changed when the Saluda River was dammed — in Episode 2 of Made in Carolina: Submerged Towns.

Listen here or wherever you access your podcasts.