History

 

Lake Greenwood was formed by a hydroelectric dam built across the Saluda River near Chappells, SC. The lake has 212 miles of shoreline and 11,400 acres. While the waters of Lake Greenwood extend into three counties (Greenwood, Laurens and Newberry counties), Greenwood County actually owns the entire lake bed, having purchased all properties comprising the bed of the lake from farmers along both sides of the rivers in the late 1930’s. Funding was provided by loans from the Public Works Administration during the Great Depression. All loans were later repaid in full. The Saluda River, the Reedy River and Rabon Creek come together to feed Lake Greenwood. There is also a local watershed surrounding the basin from which local rain also drains into the reservoir. Water released from Lake Greenwood feeds into the Saluda River at Chappells, which ultimately feeds into Lake Murray.

 

A result of the flowage also included a channel from Cane Creek that formed a large body of water called Hidden Lake on the east side of the lake in Laurens county. In the 1990’s a North Carolina development company, Southeastern Land Sales, Inc., purchased the entire northern section of Hidden Lake from International Paper Corporation for the purpose of developing a gated, residential housing subdivision. On April 22, 1996 Southeastern Land Sale, Inc. formally registered the Declaration of Restrictive Covenants of CRYSTAL BAY Subdivision with the Laurens County register of deeds.  A total of 209 residential lots were created along with hard surfaced roads, a boat landing, community boat docks, gated storage area, underground electrical and telephone service.  The first home construction was completed in August 1997.  As of 2020, 56 residential homes have been completed with the majority located on lake lots.

 

In September 2003, after enough lots were sold, Southeastern Land Sales formally transferred the governing rights to Crystal Bay’s lot ownership.  A Homeowners Association was created by the lot owners to self-govern and manage the Homeowners Association Guidelines via an elected Board of Directors.