Where Keowee Key residents actually hail from

A man born in North Carolina who lives in Clemson put down the popular belief today about the point of origin for those who make up Oconee County’s Keowee Key home development. According to Kevin McCracken, it’s generally thought that those who live in the gated community on Lake Keowee are Yankees. But McCracken, project general manager, said 46% of the Key’s residents came from somewhere in the South. Twenty-two percent come from the northern states, 28% from the Midwest, and 3% from the West. In front of the June business forum of the Oconee Economic Alliance, he said, “I wanted to maybe, maybe dispel that notion some of you may have, or some in the community may have, that it doesn’t necessarily mean more Yankees. And not that there is anything wrong with that,” he said. The speaker focused his remarks on the economic benefits Keowee Key retirees bring to Oconee County, in terms of personal spending, taxes paid, home sales, and volunteer work.