Saluda (Poinsett) Watershed

Saluda (Poinsett) Watershed. . The Saluda River, Greenville County's largest, falls 500 feet within the county. The Saluda is named for a Native American tribe that lived along its banks. In areas southeast of Greenville, physical evidence of human occupation on the Saluda dates back over 13,000 years. The Saluda River contains one of the greatest concentrations of Pisgah era artifacts in the United States, demonstrating that the Cherokee tribes that populated the area had deep ancestral roots in upstate South Carolina. Considering that modern archaeology roughly estimates that the first humans arrived in what is now the United States more than 13,500 years ago, the Saluda River may very well be one of our cradles of civilization., Soon after World War II the Poinsett Reservoir was constructed to serve Greenville's growing population. The Poinsett Reservoir, also known as North Saluda, receives its water from the North Saluda tributary of the Saluda River. The watershed spans nearly 20,000 acres and contains all the land and stream tributaries that flow into the reservoir., The Reedy River, which flows through downtown Greenville, is a tributary of the Saluda River, flowing into the Saluda in Laurens County, S.C.