The earthen and concrete dam was completed in 1941 by Santee Cooper, the state-owned electric and water utility also known as South Carolina Public Service Authority.
[2] Broadly speaking, the dam impounds the Cooper River and creates Lake Moultrie.
The overall New Deal-era Santee Cooper Power and Navigation Project improved navigation, provided hydroelectric power, and improved the general health, recreation, and economy of the area.
[3][citation needed] The Pinopolis generating station was renamed Jefferies Hydroelectric Station in 1996 after Richard Manning Jefferies, former Governor of South Carolina and executive of Santee Cooper.
[5][6][7] The project also flooded the Santee Canal, the cemeteries and plantations of St John's Parish Berkeley,[8] and other historic resources.