Lake Hartwell : Georgia

Lake Hartwell is a man-made reservoir with over 1000 miles of shoreline bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca Rivers. Lake Hartwell, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012 is one of the southeast's largest and most popular recreation lakes. It has numerous islands and features just about every outdoor and water sport you can imagine. Nearby cities are Greenville, SC and Atlanta (90 minutes). Other close towns include Clemson (with big time college football), Toccoa, Anderson, Clarksville, and Dillard. Most of these towns have libraries; the one in Toccoa is an original Carnegie library. Toccoa also has Toccoa Falls College (a Christian college), an airport with a 5,000 foot runway, and an Amtrak station.  
Picture of The Hartwell Dam on the Savannah River courtesy of Wikipedia Jonas N. Jordan, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (public domain); photo of Lake Hartwell courtesy of Wikipedia and blahedo, Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0/

Homes on the lake and in some of the active communities sell for $400k  or more, while older homes not on the lake might be in the low $100's. About half of the homes are 2nd homes.

Lake Hartwell offers lakeside living on a huge lake as well as being close to civilization. Outdoor activities include hiking, ziplines,  mountain biking, boating, (serious) white water on the Chatooga  river.

There is no real town on the lake, although there are some small ones nearby.  Much of the population is seasonal.

The majority of residents are retirees looking for the lifestyle offered by Lake Hartwell. Many of these folks come from the Atlanta area, but the rest of the country is well represented as well.

Tourism and retirement are important, as are natural resources. There are several industrial parks in the area; Paterson Pump is one of the largest employers.

Lake Hartwell spans several counties in western South Carolina and notheastern Georgia. The average January temperature is about 40 and the average July temperature in the high 70s. It can get much hotter in the heat of the day.

Toccoa is the closest town with shopping (Walmart and others) and several restaurants. Many residents travel to the college town of Clemson or exciting Greenville for a special time. Toccoa has a library and frequent festivals.