Lake Murray, named in honor of chief engineer William S. Murray, was completed in 1930 and is owned by SCE&G. It covers approximately 78 square miles of land and provides electricity for South Carolina's entire Midlands region. Originally inhabited by the Catawba and Cherokee Indians, the area that is now Lake Murray was eventually settled by European immigrants, primarily of Dutch and German origin. In order to build Lake Murray, the Lexington Water Power Company (SCE&G's predecessor) relocated 5000 citizens and removed three churches, six schools, and 2000 graves. The Saluda Dam, which was once the largest earthen dam in the world, is 1? miles wide and 208 feet high.