Lake Marion & Moultrie, Part 1: Reaching the Port of Charleston

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.

Historians Dr. Thomas Robert Hart explains how the New Deal reshaped the Lowcountry, while Dr. Kelsey Moore explores how that progress touched African American communities whose lands lay in its path.

Featured Voices: Dr. Thomas Robert Hart, Dr. Kelsey Moore

Credits Created, produced, and hosted by Lolita Rowe Original music by Sister Sai