The Santee Canal: South Carolina’s First Commercial Highway

A history of one of America’s earliest canals and its impact on the people of the South Carolina Lowcountry

Completed in 1800, the Santee Canal provided the first inland navigation route from the Upcountry of the South Carolina Piedmont to the port of Charleston and the Atlantic Ocean. By connecting the Cooper, Santee, Congaree, and Wateree rivers, the engineered waterway transformed the lives of many in the state and affected economic development in the Southeast region of the newly formed United States. In The Santee Canal, authors Elizabeth Connor, Richard Dwight Porcher Jr., and William Robert Judd provide an authoritative and richly illustrated history of one of America’s first canals.

Connor, Porcher, and Judd tell a comprehensive story of the canal’s origins and history. Never-before published historical plans and maps, photographs from personal archives and field research, and technical drawings enhance the text, allowing readers to appreciate the development, evolution, and effect of the Santee Canal on the land and the people of South Carolina.

William Robert Judd is a self-taught draftsman/artist, archaeologist, and historian. He is retired from the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPARWAR). He previously produced the technical drawings and illustrations for The Market Preparation of Carolina Rice