“S” is for Santee Canal. A canal to connect the Santee and Cooper Rivers had been conceived as early as 1770, but the Revolutionary War intervened, and the plans were postponed. In 1786 the legislature chartered the “Company for the Inland Navigation from Santee to Cooper River.” Work commenced in 1793 and was completed in 1800. The canal consisted of two double locks and eight single locks; was twenty-two miles long, thirty-five feet wide at the surface and twenty feet at the bottom; and drew four feet of water. The canal was not a success due to financial problems, lawsuits, poor design and construction, lack of traffic, and drought. With the rise of railroad competition in the 1840s, investors pulled out of the project and in 1853 the General Assembly canceled the Santee Canal company’s charter.
“S” is for Santee Canal
