Oconee History Museum Exhibit Hall
The exhibit hall in our main location is named after John Ashton Hester.
Displays Unique to Oconee County
Oconee History Museum displays hundreds of artifacts that tell the story of Oconee County and its people. Visitors learn how Oconee’s physical and cultural landscape has changed over the past 250+ years through exhibits featuring the history of Native Americans, immigration, railroads, New Deal programs, textile mills, agriculture and much more.
If you would like to see your family representated in the museum, consider submitting a photo for display in the Oconee Ancestor’s Gallery.
Chattooga Canoe
Oconee History Museum is fortunate to house unique Native American artifacts including our showcase piece the “Chattooga Canoe”. This 32 1/2 ft. dugout canoe has been carbon dated to the late 1700s. In 2004 a recreational boater discovered the canoe along the bank of the Chattooga River in Oconee County. A team of volunteers carried it from the river and placed it on a custom-built cradle for to transport to our facility. For many years the museum performed a lengthy preservation treatment on the Chattooga Canoe. Preservation is now complete and visitors can see the canoe inside the exhibit area. This artifact is truly a remarkable piece of Oconee history!
Keowee Canoe
A second dugout canoe known as the “Keowee Canoe” was rescued from the Keowee River in 2008. Like the Chattooga Canoe, the Keowee Canoe also underwent an extensive preservation process, which is now complete.
Oconee Ancestor's Gallery
The Oconee Ancestor’s Gallery stretches around the exhibit hall mezzanine and features images of many of our Oconee ancestors and families. Please contact us if you are interested in submitting ancestor photos. (All photos must be at least 50 years old, and scanned images will be returned to you.)
The cost to display ancestor photos is of $25 per photograph.
