Portman Shoals: The Forgotten Settlement

19/11/2017

26/07/2017

Heads up Book 3 "The Secrets beneath Lake Hartwell Waters" will be available mid to late September.

08/02/2017

A big thank you to the Rotary club of Walhalla for their invitation to speak this past Monday at their meeting to tell my story on Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement". A fine group of people.

11/02/2016

Not only did Mr. Whitner turn the lights on in Anderson but ignited the spark that lit the world. Pretty everyone wanted a piece of the light

A birdseye view of what lies under the waters of Lake Hartwell, where the birth of electrical power as we know it originated.

18/09/2015

Good Morning everyone. Let me take this opportunity again to thank you all for your response to both Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement and Campfire Tales by the Seneca River". Your response has been overwhelming. Now That was good news but the Better Good news is that our next venture Will be in two volumes. The first will be Portman Shoals "The Secrets that lie beneath Lake Hartwell waters." If all goes well this one should be here before Christmas. I can't wait to see this in print, loaded with pictures all over the 77000+ acres that make up Lake Hartwell. If you want your name on the list to get first copies message me. Thanks again for your continues support.

28/08/2015

Listen up I have inventory on now both books. If you were not able to come to my book signings or speaking engagements message me and I will be happy to hook up with you.

07/05/2015

A Big thank you to the Anderson Chapter of the Historical Society for the invitation to speak to their group last night at Mama Penn's in Anderson. They were so enthusiastic when I told my Story about Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement" and my newest book "Campfire Tales By The Seneca River. A wonderful group thank you for your part in keeping our heritage alive.

15/04/2015

A big thank you to the Golden "K" Kiwanis Club of Anderson for the invitation to speak at their recent meeting to tell my Story about Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement" and my newest book "Campfire Tales By The Seneca River. A wonderful bunch of guys and a great response. Thanks Again.

14/04/2015

I had a good day April 11th at the Townville Tractor event. Made new friends and sold a number of books both The Forgotten Setlement and now my latest one "Campfire Tales By The Seneca River".

03/03/2015

Great time tonight speaking to the Anderson Chapter of the Genealogy Society. Wonderful turnout Thank you so much for allowing me come tell my story about the beginning of Hydro-electric power and my latest book Campfire Tales By The Seneca River.

24/12/2014

So Thankful for my Church, Hepsibah Baptist for allowing me to go out on a limb and let GOD open doors. So Blessed to have been a part of this Ministry

24/12/2014

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas!
So happy to have the opportunity of giving away the last of over 50 Bikes I rebuilt this year through the Bicycle Ministry at Hepsibah Baptist Church. Such a blessing to see those kids smile:) I have a few more books left in stock if anyone needs a last minute Christmas gift! I will be delivering several tomorrow. Inbox me and we can schedule to meet...

20/12/2014

So excited to announce my latest book, Campfire Tales by The Seneca River just came in hot off the press!
It will take you down many trails of adventure to the place where I was born and raised, The Forgotten Settlement of Portman Shoals…
It was a much slower time, which gave kids much more time to download all sorts of fun! No,,,, we didn’t have all the electronic gadgets of this day, but we had the river and there was never a dull moment while playing outside, especially when it came time for night. As the moon stood big and bright under a blanket of stars we sat entranced by the campfire’s flames telling our tales of adventure and planning which ones would be our next!
Great stocking stuffer just in time for Christmas for anyone interested in the history of the area before Lake Hartwell was built:)

23/06/2014

Back in the day...and then there was light:)

19/06/2014

Throwback Thursday:) Hope you all have a Blessed Day:)

25/04/2014

The Waters of Ole Portman Shoals Dam have flooded once again! Only this time they have made a splash on the Front Cover of the Anderson Independent Newspaper this morning!!! There are lots of pictures on andersonindependent.com of the book this morning as well!

19/01/2014

Saturday night was a fun time in the back of GrandPa"s store, with Dupree Cann and the Lazy River Boys.

05/01/2014

Here I sit in my front yard at Portman Shoals. If the Corps of Engineers keep dropping the water level in Hartwell Reservoir I soon will be able to sit again in my front yard and I think I will claim Squatters rights on it. Go to my page on Portman shoals

23/08/2013

Thanks So Much to James Payne and The US Army Corp of Engineers for opening the doors to their Archives of pics of the building of Lake Hartwell for me to put in the next edition of the book. We had a great meeting at the Dam this week...
Lots of great pics to come in the future once we get them digital...

22/08/2013

I recently was invited to speak to the Anderson Lions Club. This organization does a wonderful work in relationship to assisting in vision awareness and reaching out a helping hand. I had an enjoyable time speaking to them about my book Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement". Made some new friends and hooked up with some old friends from years ago. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

11/06/2013

Portman Shoals Dam and Power Plant. This was early 1900's. All covered but still vivid in my memories.If you have memories of this area please pass them on. When this generation passes they will be gone.

03/05/2013

Had a great time seeing "Man on the Corner" Play at the Anderson Museum tonight! All who had a part putting this together did a wonderful job!

01/05/2013

A big Thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Anderson. I had the pleasure of speaking to their group this morning about Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement". The Kiwanis International reaches out to The Children of the world. I made a large number of new friends today. It was a fun time trying to answer all their questions.

13/04/2013

If anyone is in the Townville area today come by and see me at the annual Tractor Show going on all day! I'll be doing a book signing as well as collecting photos and sharing memories of our beautiful area...Everyone have a great Saturday!

18/03/2013

The Waters of Ole Portman Shoals Dam have flooded once again! Only this time they have made a splash on the Front Cover of the Anderson Independent Newspaper this morning!!! There are lots of pictures on andersonindependent.com of the book this morning as well!

10/03/2013

Portman Shoals Review from Amazon purchase
Filled with Stories of a Place Lost to Progress, March 4, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Portman Shoals: The Forgotten Settlement (Paperback)
I love the history of early hydroelectric power plants in SC. I haven’t researched Portman Shoals in a few months and one night decided to search 'Portman Shoals' to see if anything was new. Low and behold this book turned up and I had to have it. This book is a great first-person account of life in a small community and, most of all, plain old fun. I really enjoyed reading about a wonderful place now in the depths of Lake Hartwell. Makes me think of what we gave yesterday for the lake we enjoy today.

My favorite stories are of the author having fun and those of the great Portman Shoals plant I will never get to see. Anderson depended on that power plant, driving the looms in huge cotton mills with smoke belching out the chimneys and lighting the downtown and prominent homes making Anderson a beautiful and unique place.

23/02/2013

Article in the Seneca newspaper about Furman Beck:
Portman Shoals and the coming of electricity

Furman H. Beck Jr. can never go home again.

Beck, who lives in Townville, grew up riding his bike on the dirt roads of Portman Shoals, a community about five miles over the Oconee County line going toward Anderson. In 1957, when they built the Hartwell dam, water flooded his old home and thousands of acres that became Lake Hartwell.
He’s written a book about those days growing up in Portman Shoals and about not only the Hartwell dam but of the Portman Shoals dam that was built in 1897 and provided power for the first electric land lines in the South. It’s a book full of memories for him and historical information for others who may not know much about how Anderson got its name, The Electric City, or about how electricity came to the region.
Beck, who married an Oconee County native, Linda, has worn many hats in his life.
He started out in textiles with Seabrook Inc., but as we all know, textiles played out and he was faced with “reinventing” himself.
“I ended up doing a variety of jobs including working for West Lumber in Anderson for a few years. That sat on the lot where the Sears building is on Main,” he said. “Then I got my real estate license and sold homes until the (President Jimmy) Carter years. You couldn’t give a house away then.”
Beck eventually came back to real estate, however, and was very successful selling into developments in Anderson County before he finally retired.
Now he likes to write, and Portman Shoals was the topic of his first self-published book: “Portman Shoals: The Forgotten Settlement.”
He said his father sold their two acres for about $9,000 when the dam was built – “farm land back then was selling for about $25 to $50 an acre,” he said. After that, his boyhood home was under several feet of water.
His book tells a lot about William Whitner’s idea to send out AC electric over landlines. He built the first plant here to do just that, with Stanley Electric (now G.E.) putting in 10,000-volt generators to produce the power to Anderson and vicinity. Anderson cotton mill was the first textile plant in the world to run on power generated elsewhere, Beck said.
To learn more about electricity and the early years in Portman Shoals you can call Furman – (864) 972-5584 or (864) 934-3704 – and he’ll be glad to sell you a copy of his book.

John Hackworth is the editor of The Journal and can be reached at (864) 882-2375

19/02/2013

This tiny little dam turned the lights on for our area and the world. The way of thinking in generating power all changed because of Mr Whitner's accomplishment here.

19/02/2013

This tiny little dam turned the lights on for our area and the world. The way of thinking in generating power all changed because of Mr Whitner's acomplishment here.

19/02/2013

The Highway 24 bridge dwarfs the old Portman dam. The very thing that brought electricity to the entire Anderson area. The dam now has been covered over 50 years. My how time flies.

02/02/2013

Listen up- New shipment of books just arrived. If you haven't gotten your copy of Portman Shoals "The Forgotten Settlement" now is the time. Message me - go on my FB page and purchase there with Paypal or call me @864-934-3704. Thank you

01/02/2013

Here I sit in my front yard at Portman Shoals. If the Corps of Engineers keep dropping the water level in Hartwell Reservoir I soon will be able to sit again in my front yard and I think I will claim Squatters rights on it. Go to my page on Portman shoals