Clarks Hill or Lake Thurmond? The answer depends on your home state 7/19/2009 11:27 PM
By JENNIFER MILLER Assistant Managing Editor
Trivia: Is it Lake Thurmond, Thumond Lake or Clarks Hill Lake?
It's a 22-year-old question, and the answer probably depends somewhat on which side of the lake you're standing.
"There's no confusion here," said George Stepridge, owner of the Plum Branch Yacht Club on the South Carolina side. "When someone comes with Georgia plates, we say, 'Welcome to Clarks Hill.' When they come in with South Carolina tags, we say, 'Welcome to Thurmond Lake.'"
Many longtime locals from McCormick County, which has most of the South Carolina lake shoreline, still refer to it as Clarks Hill, Stepridge said. But the federal government and local governments and agencies in South Carolina use Lake Thurmond.
Pamela Bugg, owner of the Little River Marina near Appling on the Georgia side, gets lots of questions.
"Is it the same lake? When did they divide it? Can you use the same fishing license in both lakes?" she said.
Locals aren't confused, and most people on the Georgia side call it Clarks Hill, she said. But when outsiders visit the lake, they see different maps with different names.
Columbia County, which has miles of shoreline including the county-owned Wildwood Park, calls it Clarks Hill Lake.
While just across the river at the South Carolina's Hickory Knob State Park, it's called Lake Thurmond. Bassmaster, which hosts major fishing tournaments at the lake, bounces between the two names in its various stories about events there.
And then there are the businesses that cut to the chase and just use both names - Clarks Hill/Lake Thurmond.
So what is it?
Officially, it's the J. Strom Thurmond Lake and the J. Strom Thurmond Dam. Even the highway over the dam and the power plant there are named for the late South Carolina senator. But before that, it was Clarks (or Clark) Hill Lake after the village near the dam that was completed in the 1950s.
The name controversy goes back 22 years. Written accounts vary, but former U.S. Rep. Doug Barnard, who represented the district in Georgia that included the lake, and former U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick, who represented the South Carolina side, remember it well. Both said that even after all these years, they regret not opposing the name change.
"That was probably the worst decision I ever made politically," said Derrick from Washington, D.C., where he lives and works as a partner in a law firm.
Derrick said several prominent people from his district had been urging him to support the name change. They knew that without the local Congressman, the change wouldn't pass.
"I told them no because Strom had enough things named after him," he said.
Finally, one of his biggest supporters asked Derrick to support the renaming, and he agreed.
Within two days, the bill was introduced by former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas. That was two days before Thurmond's birthday in December 1987.
The bill was added in the Senate as an amendment to a foreign relations bill. It was accepted by a conference committee because routine amendments like that usually were, Barnard said.
He was disturbed because he hadn't been consulted.
"Thurmond looked forward to having as many things named after him as possible," Barnard said.
Before that, there had been a "gentleman's agreement" that the next name change along the Savannah River would be for the late Olin Johnston, of Spartanburg, who had served as governor and in the U.S. Senate, Barnard said.
"It violated all of the so-called gentleman's agreement. Dole didn't know about that agreement," Barnard said.
When it came to the House floor, Barnard had to make a decision. If he objected, it would have gone to a vote, but he knew the House as a matter of course would have voted for the bill, which included the amendment.
"It would have looked like a pin in a haystack," he said. "I can't tell you the forces that went through my mind."
So the bill was approved, and the name of the lake and dam was officially changed.
In hindsight, Barnard said he wishes he had objected.
Derrick said that after the vote, his message boxes were filled with people who didn't like the decision.
"It followed me the rest of my career," he said. "In politics, it's like so many things - it's not the big things, it's the little things."
So what do Barnard and Derrick call the lake? Clarks Hill.
There were moves in Georgia to change the name back, but those failed. In 1989, the Georgia legislature passed a resolution making Clarks Hill the official state name of the lake and dam. Today, Georgia state maps bear the name Clarks Hill Lake.
Contact Jennifer Miller at jmiller@aikenstandard.com.
The Players
Former U.S. Rep. Butler Derrick
Democrat from Edgefield
Derrick was elected to 10 terms in the U.S. House before retiring in 1995. Today, he practices law in Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Rep. Doug Barnard Jr.
Democrat from Augusta
Barnard served in the U.S. House for eight terms. He retired in 1993 and lives in Martinez.
Former U.S. Sen. J. Strom Thurmond
Republican from Aiken and Edgefield
When Thurmond retired from the Senate at age 100, he was not only the oldest person to ever serve in the U.S. Senate but the longest-serving senator in history with 48 years.
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole
Republican from Kansas
Dole served in the Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976 and lost to Bill Clinton in his 1996 bid for president. Dole, a war hero, had a distinguished career in Washington, D.C., and continues to serve on various commissions and practices law.
Some of the things named in honor of J. Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University
Strom Thurmond High School in Edgefield County
Strom Thurmond Fitness Center at the University of South Carolina in Columbia
Strom Thurmond Building at Charleston Southern University
Thurmond Building at Winthrop University
There is a statue of Thurmond on the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia and in the town square in Edgefield.
At Fort Jackson, the Strom Thurmond Building is located on Strom Thurmond Boulevard.
The Strom Thurmond Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is in downtown Columbia.
The section of Interstate 20 from the Georgia state line to Florence is known as Thurmond Highway.
Strom Thurmond Biomedical Research Center at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
The Strom Thurmond National Guard is located in Edgefield.
The Strom Thurmond Defense Finance and Accounting Building is in Charleston.
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