Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2012 - from Mel Coker at Lake Murray, SC
Barbara and I are bringing in the New Year in Surfside Beach (SC), but, we will be back to Chapin on Monday to watch the Gamecocks play Nebraska in the Capital One bowl on ESPN.

Top New Year's Resolutions

1. Get Fit - Start working out / work out more
2. Save Money / More Responsible with Cash
3. Spend more and better family time
4. Quit smoking
5. Volunteer for community service
6. Eat better - less or no fried food and plenty of fruits/vegetables
7. Lose weight - Yes, Americans are typically too overweight
8. Better work/life balance
9. Get organized
10. Read more
11. Have more fun on Lake Murray

Got your resolutions figured out for 2012?  I've set personal, health/exercise and real estate business goals.

Mel Coker

Lake Murray Historical Map

I had the pleasure to see and meet with Mr. Ed Fetner again today.  Mr. Fetner, now retired, produced the Lake Murray Fishunt map for approximately 48 years. During his career, he worked in aeronautics and aviation related fields during World War II, mapping at the South Carolina Highway Department and finally retiring as the chief structural engineer at Wilbur Smith and Associates.

Mr. Ed Fetner as his Lake Murray home - December 2011

After he and a cousin got lost on Lake Marion in the early 1950's, he produced his first map - Lake Marion. Around 1952, he produced his first Lake Murray map and called his maps Fishunt after that. That map was the very first Lake Murray map produced for sale to the public. An interesting thing... I first met Mr. Fetner in the early 1960's when my father went to his Columbia home to buy an early edition Lake Murray map. He moved to Lake Murray in the early 1970's. Then, I met Mr. Fetner again a few years ago when I bought a supply of Lake Murray maps. He sold his Fishunt map business about 11 years ago.

Through the years, Mr. Fetner personally named a number of islands and prominent points on Lake Murray. He has received numerous recognitions and awards as a historian and cartographer, including Citizen of the Year by the Lake Murray Association.   Writing historical articles has also been a favorite hobby as he has written numerous articles for local newspapers and other publications.

The special map I bought today is the Lake Murray Then and Now historical map.  Want one? You can buy the historical Lake Murray Then and Now print or a framed print at Palmetto Fine Arts in Chapin.

Mel Coker

Lake Murray resident and Realtor
RE/MAX Metro Associates
(803) 223-6214

Merry Christmas!

A belated Merry Christmas!  We were in Cancun for a vacation and arrived back in the USA just two days before Christmas, so I got behind a bit with my blogging.  We had a very nice Christmas and I hope you and your family have had a nice Christmas season as well.




Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!





Barbara and Mel in Cancun - Dec. 20, 2011




Mel, Barbara and Kelly - Christmas Day 2011


Please keep following my blog in the New Year... 2012!   Good stuff is on the way such as real estate reports, new home communities, Columbia news and events, energy savings ideas, an upcoming Mel Coker client/friend event, Lake Murray news and events, vacation ideas and much more.


Mel Coker
Columbia, SC Realtor
RE/MAX Metro Associates
(803) 318-2007
email

Lake Murray Birthday!

I missed this one a few days ago... the date I believe to be Lake Murray's Birthday: December 1st!   Lake Murray is now 81 years old.

The work of clearing the site for the project was started in April 1927. The Saluda Hydroelectric Project was constructed between 1927 and 1930 by the Lexington Water Power Company, which merged in 1943 with South Carolina Electric and Gas Company (SCE&G).  In July 1930, the reservoir reached an elevation of 298.5 feet. 



Popular Mechanics Magazine - May 1931
(click for larger image size)



At 7:00 a.m. on December 1, 1930, the first electric power - 10,000 kilowatts - was delivered to Duke Power Company. Today, SCANA Corporation (parent company for SCE&G) owns Lake Murray and is responsible for the lake. Lake Murray was named for William S. Murray and The Dreher Shoals Dam is named for the Dreher family that owned land in the immediate area where this dam is built.  So, the reason the lake was built, hydro electric production, was achieved on December 1st with the first hydroelectric output, the official beginning of Lake Murray's awesomeness!

When construction was finished on Lake Murray and the Dreher Shoals Dam, Lake Murray was the largest man-made lake in the world for power production purposes and Dreher Shoals Dam was the largest earthern dam in the world.

CLICK HERE for more information on Dreher Shoals Dam and Lake Murray



This year, Lake Murray was named one of the Top Ten Best Lakes in America for living and boating!  Want to live on or near Lake Murray?  Contact Mel Coker (a Lake Murray resident):

(803) 388-8011

email Mel Coker

Visit Mel Coker's website

The Dreher Shoals Dam is approximately 1.5 miles long and 213 feet high.