Oconee County, nestled in the foothills of the Upstate, possesses a rich history intertwined with its geography, which extends from the fertile Cherokee lands along the waters of the Tugaloo to
the mountain forests of the churning Chattooga River. Equal to the challenges of the region's harsh
yet beautiful terrain, the people of Oconee County
entered the 20th century with an agrarian economy
established by Revolutionary War veterans, cultivated
by German settlers, brutalized by the events from the
Civil War, and advanced in part by educators from the county's military institute, Clemson College.