Issaqueena Falls/Stumphouse Tunnel

Above is the top of Issaqueena Falls, conveniently located off of Hwy 28, just north of Walhalla, SC. Issaqueena Falls is a 100-foot tall waterfall with a tale of local lore associated with its name.




The waterfall is named after the Indian madien, Issaqueena. The story, in a nut-shell, goes that Issaqueena had fallen in love with the white-man, David Francis, who lived in the South Carolina town of Ninety-Six. When she had learned that her tribe was going to attack David's home and fellow settlers, she set out to warn them. She rode through the landscape while naming the areas that she went past. Some of the names are still being used today in towns such as "Six-Mile", "Twelve-Mile" and "Ninety-Six", and in roads as "Three and Twenty" and "Six and Twenty". Anyway, David and Isaqueena fled to the waterfall to hide from her tribe. When the tribe got close, Issaqueen jumped into the waterfall and hid under the veil of falling water. Not being able to see her, they believed she was dead.




Also in the same park is the Stumphouse Tunnel, located about 100 yards from the falls.The Stumphouse Tunnel was to make the dream of a railroad connecting Charleston to the Midwest. This tunnel through Stumphouse Mountain was going to be a great obstacle. Construction was started in 1852 by the Blue Ridge Railroad. The tunnel never reached its expected 1861 completion date because of the Civil War. The tunnel is 25 feet wide, 17 feet tall, and over 1600 feet long, and was never completed. Some speculate that Greenville, SC would have been what Atlanta is today, had the tunnel and railway been completed.

The tunnel remained idle until the 1940's when Clemson University started to cure blue cheese because of the climate conditions inside. There was a wall and door installed near the center of the tunnel, beyond was where the cheese was cured.



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