Oconee County is located in the northwest corner of South Carolina on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oconee means "land beside the water" in Cherokee--the first people to occupy this area. The county was formed in 1868 when Pickens District was divided into Pickens and Oconee Counties.
The county is bordered by water on three sides: The Chattoga River on the west, Lake Hartwell on the south and Lake Keowee on the east with the Blue Ridge Mountains standing majestically in the north. Over a quarter of the county is forest; part of Sumpter National Forest.