Anderson-Oconee-Pickens County SC Historical Roadside Markers

SC Historical Roadside Markers

Cherokee to Colleton Counties

Compiled by: Paul M. Kankula NN8NN

Griffith St. just SW of its intersection with O’'Neal St., Limestone College Campus, Gaffney

Used as early as the American Revolution, this site became a "Summer Watering Place" in 1835. Low Country Aristocrats such as Governor David Johnson were attracted here by the climate and therapeutic waters. A post office was here from 1836 to 1879. Limestone College was established in 1845 as the Limestone Springs Female High School.

The Grindal Shoals and Cherokee Ford roads crossed here when this land was originally granted to John Sarratt in 1799 by the State of South Carolina. Michael Gaffney purchased the land in 1804 and by 1820 Gaffney's Tavern was located at the crossroads. In 1873, John R. Logan laid out the present street plan, and Gaffney was incorporated as a town in 1875.

Old Catholic Church Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 12-355) at Great Falls Rd. (S.C. Hwy. 97), Blackstock vicinity

One mile south. Divergent Presbyterian groups held services in this area as early as 1759. Rev. William Richardson, active in the area, is credited with unifying and naming them in 1770. The cemetery contains many graves of Revolutionary and Confederate soldiers. The present building was dedicated in 1842.

S.C. Hwy. 215, Leeds vicinity, just E of the Broad River near the Chester County-Union County line

On the east side of Broad River by an old Indian fish dam, General Thomas Sumter's camp was attacked before dawn on November 9, 1780 by the British 63rd Regiment and a detachment of the

Legion, led by Major James Wemyss. The American campfires made excellent targets of the mounted British, who were severely defeated. Wemyss was taken prisoner by General Sumter.

At this site on August 18, 1780 General Thomas Sumter camped with captured booty and 800 men. He was surprised and defeated by Lt. Col. Tarleton and 160 soldiers. The disaster followed by only two days General Gates's defeat by Lord Cornwallis at Camden. The patriots lost 150 men killed and many captured, but Sumter escaped and soon rallied another large force.

Two miles south, at Cedar Shoals on the south side of Fishing Creek, was the home of John Gaston, Esq., Justice of the Peace under both the Royal and State governments. Though advanced in years, he was the leading spirit in arousing resistance to the British in this area. All nine of his sons fought for freedom; four died in service.

(Front) Thomas Sumter, William R. Davie, and Andrew Jackson all camped or quartered near here during up-country skirmishes after the fall of Charleston. The British General Cornwallis crossed here in Oct. 1780, on his way to Winnsborough after his plans to advance into N.C. were frustrated by Ferguson's defeat at King's Mountain.

Located about 4 mi. E, this ford, an early Indian crossing, was probably named for Thomas Land who received a nearby land grant from the Crown in 1755. Used by Patriot and British armies during the American Revolution. Later home of Wm. R. Davie, founder of University of N.C. The 1823 Landsford Canal bears witness to S.C.'s first great period of public works.

Intersection of Richburg Rd. (S.C. Hwy. 99) & Great Falls Hwy. (S.C. Hwy. 97),

The skirmish which took place here at Alexander's Old Fields, now Beckhamville, on June 6, 1780, was the first victory for S.C. Patriots after the fall of Charleston. A band of Whigs under the command of Captain John McClure attacked and routed an assembly of Loyalists. The victory helped solidify resistance to the Crown in this up country area.

Presbyterian church reportedly est. 1752. Present building, enclosed with brick in 1958, dates from 1785. Cemetery contains pioneer settlers and veterans of many wars.

This courthouse, built in 1852, was designed by Edward Brickell White (1802‑1888) of Charleston, whose work was greatly influenced by Robert Mills. Additions by Alfred D. Gilchrist of Rock Hill in 1896 and 1928 included three‑story rear wings and a rotunda. An elevator tower added to the rear wing, designed in 1994 by Frank M. Williams, complements the designs of White and Gilchrist.

This institute grew out of an 1866 school for freedmen; it became Brainerd Institute in 1868 when the Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church in New York appointed Rev. Samuel Loomis to help establish churches and schools among the blacks near Chester. At first an elementary school, Brainerd grew to ten grades by 1913 and was a four‑year high school by the 1930s. Renamed Brainerd Junior College about 1935, it emphasized teacher training until it closed in 1939.

St. David's, authorized by the General Assembly in 1768, was the last parish established in colonial S.C. Said to be buried in its churchyard are soldiers of British forces occupying the Cheraws in 1780. The steeple and vestibule of this Episcopal church were added c.1827 and services were held here until a new church was built in 1916.

One of Chesterfield's earliest houses, the Wm. Duke Craig House, c.1820, stood here before it was moved in 1975. Craig (1845-1935), farmer and merchant, also owned nearby Craig's Grist Mill. He fought in the Civil War with the 21st Regiment, S.C. Infantry, Co. E. In 1933, he donated the land for Craig Park, just north on Page Street. Altered through the years, the house now stands on county property, some 500 yds. N.

Chesterfield County's first courthouse was built here soon after the county was established in 1785. The second courthouse on this site was built 1825-1829 from plans by architect Robert Mills, designer of the Washington Monument. According to local tradition it was burned by troops under William T. Sherman in 1865. The current structure, built c.1884, was used as a courthouse until 1978. Erected by Chesterfield County, 1985

(Front) About 100 yards east of here was the home of General Ellerbe Boggan Crawford Cash, widely known for his 1880 duel with challenger Colonel William M. Shannon, whom he killed. Subsequently, all officers of the state and members of the bar were required to take oath that they had not participated in a duel since January 1, 1881. This proviso was placed in the 1895 SC Constitution.

About three miles northeast of here is the Ellerbe Burial Ground (Red Hill Cemetery) where Captain Thomas Ellerbe (1743-1802) is buried. In 1768 he was appointed commissioner to build a church and parsonage for the Parish of St. David. Ellerbe later served in the Revolution as captain under General Francis Marion.

Erected by Historical Society of Chesterfield County and Chesterfield County Historic Preservation Commission, 1988

Organized in 1881, this Negro Presbyterian (USA) school was founded by the Rev. J. P. Crawford with support from Mrs. C. E. Coulter from whom it received its name. The Rev. G. W. Long was academy president from 1908 until 1943, and Coulter offered junior college credit, 1933-1947. The academy merged with the public school system, 1949.

The first post in S. C. retaken from the British, the stockade fort on this old Indian mound had controlled the road from Charleston to Camden as well as the Santee River. On April 15, 1781, Gen. Francis Marion and Lt. Col. Henry Lee encircled it with troops while Major Hezekiah Maham built a log tower whose fire could command it. On April 23, the Americans undermined the works and forced its surrender.

S.C. Hwy. 527, about .7 mi. N of its intersection with S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-19, S of Sardinia

Midway Presbyterian Church, named because of its location halfway between Salem and Williamsburg Churches, traces its beginning to 1801, when services were being held under a brush arbor. The earliest building was erected in 1802, and the Rev. G. G. McWhorter delivered the first sermon on January 10, 1803. The present structure was built in 1850.

Three hundred yards west is the site of one of the earliest graveyards in St. Mark's Parish. In the cemetery are buried Richard Richardson, Brigadier in the Revolution, James Burchell Richardson, South Carolina Governor 1802-04, and John Peter Richardson, South Carolina Governor, 1840-42, and founder of The Citadel.

This is the childhood home of Anne Custis Burgess, who was born in 1874 in Mayesville. After receiving a diploma from Converse College, she taught music at Summerton, Williamston, and Winthrop College. At the time of her death in 1910 she was employed by Thornwell Orphanage. Miss Burgess composed the music and Henry Timrod the lyrics for "Carolina," which became the state song in 1911.

On the night of October 25, 1780, Col. Francis Marion with 150 men surprised and completely routed 200 Tories under Col. Samuel Tynes near here. Marion's forces suffered no casualties. With the dispersion of Tynes's troops, Lord Cornwallis became apprehensive of losing British supplies on the Santee River.

(Front) On December 12, 1780, according to tradition, British Maj. Robert McLeroth was surprised near here by Gen. Francis Marion. The British first agreed to a staged combat with twenty men on each side, but slipped away during the night, escaping an all-out battle. Credence is given to the event by the skirmish on December 13th at Singleton’s Mill, 10 miles north.

The first church of St. Mark’s Parish, established in 1757 by commissioners Isaac Brunson, John, Joseph, and William Cantey, James McGirt, Mathew Nelson, and Richard Richardson, stood nearby at Halfway Swamp. Burned by the British during the Revolution, it was rebuilt four times and now stands near Pinewood.

Erected by the Clarendon County Historical Society, 2010, replacing a marker erected by the society in 1980

S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-410, 1.1. mi. W of its intersection with S.C. Hwy. 260, S of Manning near Lake Marion Dam

During Francis Marion's 1781 campaign to drive the British from the Pee Dee, he and his men clashed near here in March with British and Tory forces numbering more than 500 men. During the Wyboo skirmish, a Marion private, Gavin James, single-handedly held back an enemy advance. Marion's men finally dispersed the British and Tories.

2310 Liberty Hill Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-373), about 1 mi. N of St. Paul, Summerton vicinity

(Front) In 1867, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Thomas and Margaret Briggs gave four acres of land to this African Methodist Episcopal church. The present building, completed in 1905, has been brick veneered. Meetings held here in the 1940s and 1950s led to local court cases, which helped bring about the U. S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling desegregating public schools.

Nineteen members of this congregation were plaintiffs in the case of Harry Briggs, Jr., vs. R. W. Elliott, heard in U.S. District Court, Charleston, in 1952. Although this court refused to abolish racial segregation in S.C. schools, this case, with others, led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision desegregating public schools.

Mt. Everett Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-306), 6.2 mi. N of Summerton, Panola vicinity

According to local tradition, this Methodist congregation was organized in 1786 and pioneer American bishop Francis Asbury later visited the area a number of times. The church stands today on land given by Ellis R. and Mary A. Richbourg in 1880. Bessie B. Parker, first woman to be ordained a Methodist minister in S.C., served here 1959-1962 and is buried in the cemetery.

(Front) Five SC governors have come from this area, which was part of the Parish of St. Mark (1757) and Camden District (1769) before becoming Clarendon County in 1785. The county was then part of Sumter circuit court district (1799) before becoming Clarendon District (1855) and finally Clarendon County again in 1868, taking its name from the Earl of Clarendon, one of the original Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

Manning, established in 1855 as the seat of Clarendon District, was incorporated in 1861, its town limits extending ½ mile from the courthouse in all directions. In 1865, the town was partially burned by Union troops under General Edward E. Potter. About two blocks N. of here on Church St. is the grave of Pvt. Josiah B. Pratt, one of Potter's soldiers, who was killed in this foray only a few days before Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

In 1885 this black baptist church bought the building here, said built about 1860, from white Taw Caw church, now Summerton. Building additions have been made over the years.

U.S. Hwy. 301, about 2 mi. N of its intersection with S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-123, Alcolu vicinity,

Black institution built soon after school district purchased the land 1933. School closed 1953 with 5 teachers/159 students. Now a community center.

Founded about 1735 on lands granted John Jackson in 1701. County Seat of Colleton District from 1799 to 1822. Provisional Capital of State while Charleston was under siege in the closing months of the American Revolution. First South Carolina Legislature met here Jan.-Feb. 1782. Sessions held in Masonic Lodge and Tavern. Passed Confiscation and Amercement Acts.

Col. John Laurens, former aide of Washington and envoy to France, was killed Aug. 27, 1782, near Tar Bluff on Combahee River in one of the last battles of the Revolutionary War and buried temporarily 7 miles east in the Stock family cemetery. "For injured rights he fell and equal laws, the noble victim of a noble cause."

Erected 1995 by Colleton County Historical Society, replacing a marker originally erected in 1960

A brick Chapel of Ease for St. Bartholomew's Parish was built here in 1785 in a town laid out in 1740 and named for Landgrave Edmund Bellinger. The Vestry reported the Chapel unfit for use in 1786, and in 1810 it fell in ruins. A new Chapel built in 1819, burnt 1852, rebuilt 1854, was wrecked by Union troops in 1865.

General Nathanael Greene advanced into the Low Country with the Continental Army under his command and set up headquarters in this vicinity on the Round O in December 1781 before moving down to protect the General Assembly convened at Jacksonborough in January 1782 in defiance of the British who were confined to Charles Town.

The cemetery one-half mile west is on the site of a meeting house deeded to the Methodist Society by John Fontaine in 1802. Bishop Francis Asbury had held services at Island Creek on March 4, 1796, in "a pole house." In 1882 the members had moved to other churches. Annual services were held for a time by the Island Creek Memorial Association.

(Front) When Loyalist soldiers attacked the camp of Col. Isaac Hayne’s S.C. militia about 5 mi. W on July 7, 1781, they captured Hayne. He was soon condemned as a traitor because he had previously declared allegiance to Great Britain after the fall of Charleston. Hayne, hanged in Charleston on August 4, 1781, became a martyr to those fighting for America’s independence.

The surrounding land was part of Hayne Hall plantation, home of the Hayne family in South Carolina and Colonel Isaac Hayne (Sept. 23, 1745-Aug. 4, 1781). Rice planter, iron manufacturer, church leader, and Patriot soldier, Colonel Hayne was executed by the British during the Revolution and buried here in the family cemetery.

Erected by the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, State Park Service, 2007, replacing a marker erected in 1964

Incorporated December 17, 1834, Walterborough Academy was the forerunner of the present city school system. Its trustees were Malachi Ford, John G. Godfrey, Thomas Riggs, James C. McCants, John D. Edwards, David Campbell, and Archibald Campbell. The Reverend John B. Van Dyck served as Preceptor until his death on February 17, 1840.

Founded on this site in 1728 by the Reverend Archibald Stobo, Bethel or Pon Pon Church served a large Presbyterian congregation until replaced by Bethel Presbyterian Church in nearby town of Walterboro early in the nineteenth century. The original bell was moved to the new church in Walterboro. The old building burned in 1886.

This neo-Gothic building, designed by Jones & Lee, noted architects of Charleston, and constructed by J. & B. Lucas in 1855-56, replaced the jail built in 1822 when Walterboro became the seat of justice of Colleton District. It served as a jail until 1937, since which time, it has been used by Colleton County to house various offices.

S.C. Sec. Rd. 15-41, 2.5 mi. W of its intersection with S.C. Hwy. 303, S of Walterboro

Settlers from Ireland of the Roman Catholic faith in this area helped form the ecclesiastical territory of Colleton, Beaufort, and Barnwell Districts under Bishop John England in 1831. The Church of St. James the Greater was dedicated on this site on January 30, 1832, and remained in use until destroyed by fire on April 12, 1856.

Near here in a hickory grove Paul and Jacob Walter built in 1784 summer houses, which formed the nucleus of a summer colony which grew into the town of Walterboro. The first store in the town was here and later the first drug store. The park here was the center of community life until the cyclone of 1879 leveled most of the trees.

Sent to intercept a raid by 540 Hessians, British, and Tories, General Francis Marion with a force of 400 men, on August 30, 1781, set up an ambuscade along this road about 1 mile from the ferry. The enemy advancing along the narrow causeway were surprised and suffered heavy losses forcing them to withdraw to Charles Town.

On top of this ridge stood a sylvan temple erected before the Revolution by Colonel Barnard Elliott, patriot and sportsman. The structure was supported by columns in the classic manner. The site, a part of Colonel Elliott's Plantation "Bellevue," afforded an excellent stand for hunting deer.

On Parker's Ferry road one mile northeast of here are the ruins of Pon Pon Chapel of Ease, established in 1725 by an Act of the General Assembly after the Yemassee War aborted plans for St. Bartholomew's Parish Church. John Wesley preached here in 1737. The brick building erected in 1754 was burned in 1801 and has since been known as "the Burnt Church."

Erected 1994 replacing a marker erected 1970 by Colleton County Historical Society

Hendersonville Hwy. (U.S. Hwy. 17-A) near its intersection with U.S. Hwy. 21, Salkehatchie vicinity

This was formerly the site of a Presbyterian church organized in 1766 by the Reverend Archibald Simpson, minister from Scotland. The church was incorporated on December 17, 1808. Serving the church were the Reverends Simpson, Edward Palmer, and J. B. Van Dyck. In the cemetery are the graves of early Scotch-Irish settlers.

Salem United Methodist Church, 7191 Hendersonville Hwy. (U.S. Hwy. 17A), Hendersonville

(Front) Settled by 1791 and known as Godfrey Savanna, this area later was the summer home for a colony of Combahee River rice planters. The settlement, known as Hendersonville by 1862, was named for Dr. Edward Rogers Henderson, a local landowner and signer of the 1860 Ordinance of Secession from Colleton County.

The book Autobiography of Arab was written by his master Corporal Edward Prioleau Henderson, and included their experiences in the Civil War. Henderson of the 2nd SC Cavalry, rode Arab extensively with Gen. James "Jeb" Stuart in MD, PA and VA and around Union Gen. George McClellan's army. Arab is buried west of here on the plantation where he was foaled and raised, which once belonged to Dr. Edward Rogers Henderson.

Erected by Salem United Methodist Church and Colleton County Historical Society, 1993

(Front) This airfield, the first in Colleton County, was built and dedicated in 1933 on 60 acres leased to the town of Walterboro by the estate of C. C. Anderson, for whom it was named. By 1937 the town purchased the field and its 3 unpaved landing strips. Local, state, and federal sources combined to fund a large hangar and paved runways by 1941. The U.S. Army Air Corps leased the field from the town in early 1942 and purchased an additional 3,712 acres to create a new Walterboro Army Air Field.

The Walterboro Army Air Field, opened in August 1942, was a sub-base of the Columbia Army Air Base and the largest sub-base in the 3rd Air Force. It served as a final training base for pilots prior to overseas duty and housed a military population of as many as 6,000 as well as hundreds of German POWs. When the base closed after the war the field was deeded back to Walterboro and Colleton County.

Erected by the Walterboro/Colleton County Airport Commission & the Colleton County Historical and Preservation Society, 1997

Cherokee County

Near intersection of College Dr. and Griffith St. at the entrance to Limestone College, Gaffney

Founded in 1845 as the Limestone Springs Female High School by Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son Dr. William Curtis, distinguished Baptist clergymen. The school thrived until falling on hard times during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In 1881 the institution was revived by New York benefactor Peter Cooper as Cooper‑Limestone Institute. Renamed Limestone College in 1898.

Union Hwy. (S.C. Hwy. 18), S of its junction with Round Tree Rd., approximately 5 mi. S. of Gaffney

This plantation, 1.5 mi. S. near Thicketty Creek, was settled about 1767 by John Nuckolls, Sr. (1732-1780), a native of Virginia. During the American Revolution, as the war in the backcountry became a vicious civil war, the plantation became known as "Whig Hill" for Nuckolls's support of the patriot cause. He was murdered by Tories in December 1780 and is buried on his plantation.

Battleground Dr.. (S.C. Hwy. 216), approximately 75 yds. from the NW entrance to Kings Mountain National Military Park

(Front) Frederick Hambright (1727-1817), a prominent militia officer of the American Revolution, lived his last 25 years in a house which stood 200 yds. NE. Hambright, born in Germany, emigrated to America as a boy, and settled in N.C. by 1750. He held several Tryon Co. offices from 1774 to 1776, most notably a brief term as a member of the N.C. Provincial Congress in 1775.

(Reverse) Hambright, after several campaigns, was promoted to lt. col. by 1779. He commanded the Lincoln Co. (N.C.) troops at Kings Mtn. Oct. 7, 1780, and was severely wounded. After recuperating at a log cabin near the battlefield he returned to N.C. but soon moved to S.C. and built a two-story house near the cabin; it burned in 1927. He is buried 1 mi. E of Grover, N.C. at Shiloh Cemetery.

This Classical Revival building, built in 1913-14 and designed by Arthur W. Hamby, was one of 14 public libraries built in S.C. between 1903 and 1916 with funding from Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Foundation. A 1937 addition compatible to the original design doubled its size. It served as the Cherokee County Public Library until 1972 and has housed county offices since that time. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

(Front) This is the original location of Granard Graded and High School, also known as Granard Street School. It was built here between 1905 and 1914 and included the first black high school in Gaffney. The first high school graduating class numbered two students in 1923. J.E. Gaffney served as Granard’s principal for more than thirty years. A new Granard High, a brick building, was built on Rutledge Avenue in 1937.

The 1937 Granard High School included grades 1-11 until 1947, then added grade 12. Standard courses for grades 8-11 were supplemented by industrial and home economics courses, sports, music, art, and other activities. Granard High School organized its first sports team in 1928 and its first band and chorus in 1947. The school closed in 1968 when Cherokee County schools were desegregated.

Erected by the Cherokee Historical and Preservation Society and the Cherokee County African-American Heritage Committee, 2008

(Front) This house was built in 1843 for William Thompson Nuckolls (1801-1855) and later owned for many years by John D. Jefferies (1838-1910). Built in the Greek Revival style of the antebellum period and altered in the Neo-Classical style of the post-Civil War era, it is a fine example of a mid-19th century plantation house with significant late-19th century alterations.
(Reverse) William T. Nuckolls, a lawyer and politician, had represented what was then Spartanburg District in the U.S. House of Representatives 1827-1833. This house passed through several owners after his death until 1875, when Capt. John D. Jefferies, a Confederate veteran and businessman, acquired it. The house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

MULBERRY CHAPEL METHODIST CHURCH
Asbury Rd. (S.C. Hwy. 211), 1 mi. W of its intersection with Union Hwy. (S.C. Hwy. 18), Pacolet vicinity

(Front) This African American church, the first in what is now Cherokee County, was most likely built between 1880 and 1890. It served the Whig Hill, Asbury, and Thicketty communities of what was Union County before Cherokee County was created in 1897. Jack Littlejohn donated land for the chapel and cemetery.

(Reverse) Regular services ended in the 1940s, but in 1953 Carl E. Littlejohn and others founded the Littlejohn Family Reunion, which holds annual services here every fall. Several members of the Littlejohn family are buried here, as well as Samuel Nuckles (d. ca. 1900), state representative

Erected by Mr. and Mrs. James West and the Cherokee Historical and Preservation Society, 2008

STEEN FAMILY CEMETERY
El Bethel Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 11-15) at the bridge over Thicketty Creek, Gaffney vicinity

The family cemetery of Lt. Col. James Steen (d. 1781), S.C. militia officer during the American Revolution, is on his plantation nearby, along Thicketty Creek. Steen, who commanded units in several campaigns from 1775 to 1781, was killed in 1781 while attempting to arrest a Loyalist in N.C.

(Front) This church, the oldest in the Broad River Association, was founded in 1770 and was first called Thicketty Branch Baptist Church. After meeting in a brush arbor and area houses, it built its first permanent church, a log building, about 1 mi. N. Another log church replaced it on that site shortly after the Revolution, and the congregation was renamed Goshen Baptist Church in 1794.

(Reverse) The church, renamed Goucher Creek Baptist Church in 1800, acquired this site in 1883. A frame sanctuary here was replaced by a larger frame church in 1902. The congregation was renamed Goucher Baptist Church by 1930. Services were once a month until 1917, then twice a month until Rev. C.C. Alsbrooks became its first full-time pastor in 1949. The present church was built in 1960.

Chester County

Main St. (S.C. Hwy. 72) between Center St. (U.S. Hwy. 321) and Wylie Sts., Chester

Chesterfield County

(Front) John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in a house on this site on Oct. 21, 1917. His family lived here until they moved to Philadelphia in 1935. A founder of modern jazz, Gillespie was an innovative trumpeter and bandleader known for his bent horn, bulging cheeks, sense of humor, and showmanship. In the 1950s he became a good will ambassador for the U.S. State Dept., playing concerts around the world.
(Reverse) Gillespie was invited to perform at the White House by eight presidents from Eisenhower to George Bush. He received the National Medal of Arts, the highest prize awarded to an American artist, in 1989 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1990 for his lifetime contributions to American culture. Among his best-known songs were "A Night in Tunisia" and "Salt Peanuts." He died in New Jersey Jan. 6, 1993.
Erected by the Pee Dee Committee, Colonial Dames of America in the State of South Carolina, 2001

W. Pine Ave. at the railroad tracks, one block west of N. 7th St. (U.S. Hwy. 1), McBee

This depot, built in 1914, was the second station built by the Seaboard Air Line Railway in McBee. The town, the most successful of those established along Seaboard's Columbia-to-Cheraw line after it was completed in 1900, grew so quickly that a new depot became a high priority by the end of the decade. This depot was both a passenger and freight depot until it closed in 1971. Now the McBee Library and Railroad Museum, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

(Front) This church, formally organized in 1867, had its origins in Cheraw Baptist Church, founded in 1837. Shortly after the Civil War 285 black members there received permission to organize a separate church. Rev. Wisdom London, the first pastor here, preached from a platform erected on this site until a new sanctuary was built. The first church here, a frame building, was destroyed by a tornado in 1912.

(Reverse) The present brick church, replacing the original one destroyed by the tornado, was built in 1912 during the pastorate of Rev. Isaiah Williams. Three ministers have served Pee Dee Union Baptist Church for twenty years or more: Rev. F.W. Prince, who served here from 1915 to 1940; Rev. J.C. Levy, who served here from 1953 to 1974; and Rev. Thomas Dawkins, who served here from 1974 to 1999.

(Front) This house, the oldest in Chesterfield, was built ca. 1798 for John Craig (1755-1839), veteran of the American Revolution, merchant and miller, and county official. Craig’s father Hugh moved his family from Ireland to Virginia in 1760; John and his older brother Alexander came to S.C. soon after the war and helped organize Chesterfield District, later Chesterfield County. Craig was also Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and Commissioner of Locations.
(Reverse) Craig, his wife Sarah Chapman (1778-1852), and their eleven children lived in this 14-room house, which often entertained travelers and distinguished guests. Craig ran a general store, tannery, and shoe shop in Chesterfield, and Craig’s Mill on Thompson’s Creek. His son William E. lived here on March 2, 1865, when Federal Gen. W.T. Sherman used the house as his overnight headquarters in Chesterfield.

(Front) This Carpenter Gothic house was begun ca. 1858 for Aaron Austin (1831-1863) and his wife Margaret Jane Craig. Austin, a Northerner who settled in Chesterfield in the 1850s, was a lawyer and also a Chesterfield District magistrate. He joined the Confederate army in 1862, became 2nd lt. of Co. D, 6th S.C. Cavalry, and died in 1863 in Charleston County. This house remained unfinished until after the war.
(Reverse) In 1903 Aaron Austin’s widow Margaret gave this house to George Kershaw Laney (1872-1959) and Sarah Louise Tiller (1883-1963) as a wedding present. Laney was a lawyer and teacher, then a longtime state representative and senator, serving in the S.C. House 1903-06 and the S.C. Senate 1907-1922 and 1931-1942. He was a member of the Senate judiciary committee 1911-1922 and 1931-1942, and committee chair 1919-1922.
Erected by the Town of Chesterfield, 2010

(Front) Francis Asbury (1745-1816), pioneer bishop of American Methodism, came to Cheraw in 1785, on his first visit to S.C. Asbury had just been ordained a superintendent at the first General Conference in Baltimore on December 27, 1784. He was on his way to Charleston with Revs. Woolman Hickson, Jesse Lee, and Henry Willis. They crossed the Great Pee Dee River and arrived in Cheraw on February 17, 1785.
(Reverse) Asbury’s party spent the night with a merchant here, a Methodist. Their host’s clerk told Rev. Jesse Lee (1758-1816) that his native New England needed circuit riders to preach the gospel there. He so impressed Lee with his earnestness that Lee established churches from Connecticut to Maine. Asbury and his party spent “some time” in prayer here at St. David’s Episcopal Church before continuing south.
Erected by the First United Methodist Church of Cheraw, 2010

(Front) This two-story house with a central-hall plan was built about 1868 for Dr. Thomas Ephraim Lucas (1836-1920), physician, Confederate officer, and state representative. Lucas graduated from the Citadel and the Medical College of S.C. in 1859. During the Civil War he was major of the 8th S.C. Infantry, then a lieutenant in the 15th Battalion S.C. Artillery. Lucas also represented Chesterfield in the S.C. House in 1864.

(Reverse) Lucas, who had married Dorothy C. Hanna (1841-1921) in 1859, returned to Chesterfield after the war and resumed his medical practice, also serving as a school commissioner in 1870. His office, next to the house, was later attached to it for use as a kitchen. Thomas and Dorothy Lucas raised their four sons and three daughters here. This house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

(Front) This church, organized about 1865, held its early services in a nearby brush arbor but built a permanent sanctuary here soon afterwards. Rev. Daniel Humphries, its first pastor, served both Mt. Zion and its sister church St. James 1865-1879. The original sanctuary was torn down in 1918 and the present sanctuary was built that year with lumber from the old sanctuary.

(Reverse) Mt. Zion School, once located here, served the community for many years with church member I.S. Hilton as principal. Mt. Zion A.M.E. hosted several meetings from 1948 to 1954 on the desegregation of the public schools, and member Levi Pearson was the plaintiff in Pearson v. County Board of Education (1948), which led to the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

(Front) This church, founded in 1875 as a mission of the Presbyterian Church in Manning, grew out of occasional services held in the Methodist church before the Civil War. The first worship site, a renovated carriage house, was located ½ mi. east at Wildwood Plantation, on Taw Caw Road.

(Reverse) Summerton Presbyterian Church was formally organized in 1883 with twenty-one charter members. A frame church was built on Main St. in 1885, but by 1905 the congregation wished to move from the downtown business district and began work on the present brick sanctuary here, completed in 1907.

Erected by the Congregation for the 125th Anniversary and in Memory of C. Alex Harvin, Jr., 2001

This complex, featuring a blacksmith shop (ca. 1903), grist mill (ca. 1905), and bottling plant (ca. 1921), was operated for many years by John G. Senn (1851-1942) and his son-in-law Frank W. Josey (1872-1959). Senn's grandson Walter B. Senn, Jr. (1917-1999) then ran the mill for almost fifty years. A significant example of a type of commercial complex once common in the towns of the rural South, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

211 N. Brooks St., Manning

(Front) The Hannah Levi Memorial Library, built in 1909-10 grew out of a library fund begun in 1905 by the children of Moses and Hannah Levi, along with proceeds from the sale of the Moses Levi Memorial Institute. A matching grant from the city of Manning and a public fund raising effort helped complete this Classical Revival building. It was possibly designed by Shand & Lafaye, architects for the county courthouse.

Managed by the Manning Civic League, this building served as the Manning Library and as a social hall 1910-1976. Deeded to the county in 1976, it was the Clarendon County Public Library until 1984. The library was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Clarendon County Archives & History Center, established to collect, preserve, and display documents and artifacts, opened here in 1996.

(Front) This church was founded soon after the Civil War by 50 freedmen and women who held their first services in a stable donated to them by S.A. Rigby. In 1869 the church trustees bought a half-acre lot for a school, and in 1870 they bought a one-acre lot for “the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Manning” on what is now Rigby Street, named for Rigby. The first church here, a frame building, was completed in 1874.
(Reverse) The congregation, first called simply “Our Church” by its members, was renamed Trinity A.M.E. Church when its first building was completed in 1874. That building was replaced by a larger frame church, which burned in 1895. The present church, also a frame building, was built that year and covered in brick veneer in 1914. The Central S.C. Conference of the A.M.E. Church was organized here in 1921.

(Front) This church was founded about 1869 by Mary Scott “Aunt Mary” Harvin, and held its first services in a nearby brush arbor. In 1881 church trustees purchased a one-half acre lot here from Dr. J.G. Dinkins for $35.00. The present church, built in 1901, was described as “enlarged and beautified on a very modern style” when two towers, a gallery, and anterooms were added in 1912.
(Reverse) This was one of several churches in Clarendon County to host meetings between 1949 and 1954 on the desegregation of public schools. On April 20, 1949, plaintiffs in the suit that became Briggs v. Elliott met here. That case was later part of the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). By late 2009 Rev. George P. Windley, Sr. was Ebenezer’s longest-tenured pastor, serving more than 30 years.
Erected by the Congregation, 2010

.2 mi S of S.C. Sec. Rd. 14-28, and 1.7 mi. E of S.C. Sec. Rd. S-351, Jordan vicinity

(Front) This cemetery was established about 1739 by Joseph Cantey (d. 1763), planter and member of the Commons House of Assembly. It is on the site of Mount Hope, Cantey's plantation near the Santee River. Cantey served what was then Craven County as a captain in the militia and justice of the peace, then served Prince Frederick's Parish in the Commons House of Assembly 1754-1757. (Reverse) Several generations of Canteys, as well as members of the Burgess, Clemons, Keels, McDonald, Montgomery (McGomery), Oliver, and Rhodus families related to the Canteys, are buried here. In 1883 Joseph Cantey's great-great grandson Joseph Samuel Cantey deeded this two-acre tract to eight trustees. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the Cantey Cemetery Association. Erected by the Cantey Cemetery Association, 2010

(Front) The Manning Collegiate Institute, the town’s first public school opened here in early 1890. The two-story frame school with a betl tower, built in 1889-1890, was called “one of the most handsome and imposing” buildings in Manning. By 1899, however, the school was in debt and the building and property were endangered. The family of Moses Levi (1826-1899), farmer, merchant, and civic leader, bought it, cleared the debt, and donated it to the town.
(Reverse) The school, renamed the Moses Levi Memorial Institute, operated here 1899-1910. In 1910 a new two-story brick school was built here as Manning Graded School and the old school was moved to West Boyce St. to house the Manning Training School. The new school, designed by Edwards, Walter, & Parnham of Atlanta, was later Manning High School for many years. Manning High moved to a new building in 1982. The old school here burned in 1983.

Colleton County

(Front) The original section of this courthouse, completed in 1822 after the county seat moved to Walterborough from Jacksonborough, was built by contractor William Thompson. The front portico is attributed to Robert Mills, who completed an unfinished design by William Jay. The courthouse was in such poor condition within a few years, however, that it was extensively renovated in 1843-44.
(Reverse) This courthouse, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, is built of brick covered in stucco to imitate stone. It was enlarged in 1916 by a frame wing on the west elevation. In 1937-39 a project of the Works Progress Administration covered the west wing with brick, built a new brick wing on the east elevation and an addition on the north entrance, and remodeled the interior.
Erected by the Colleton County Historical and Preservation Society, 2001

(Front) This church, originally located at Jacksonboro, was founded in 1728 by Rev. Archibald Stobo (d. 1741), father of the Presbyterian church in S.C. The first building at Jacksonboro was replaced in 1746 by a “handsome sanctuary” that stood until it was destroyed by a forest fire in 1886. A summer chapel built on this site in 1821 was a branch of the Jacksonboro church.
(Reverse) By the 1830s the Walterboro church became the main sanctuary under the leadership of Rev. Edward Palmer (1788-1882), minister here 1827-32, 1844-45, and 1862-74. A second frame church, built here in 1860-61, was destroyed by a tornado in 1879. It was replaced by another frame church in 1880, which burned in 1966. The present brick sanctuary, the fourth on this site, was built in 1969.
Erected by the Colleton County Historical and Preservation Society, 2003

CROSS SWAMP METHODIST CHURCH
Lively Stone Rd., just N of its intersection with Cross Swamp Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 15-27), Islandton vicinity

(Front) Cross Swamp Methodist Church, the first Methodist congregation in upper Colleton County, was founded in 1808. James and Asia Sineath deeded an acre on this site to church trustees in April and the first sanctuary, which was a log pole building, appears as a “meeting house” on a November 1808 plat.
(Reverse) The second sanctuary, a hewn log building, was replaced by a frame sanctuary shortly before the Civil War. That church burned in 1910; this sanctuary was built and dedicated in 1911. Cross Swamp was on the Lodge Circuit when regular services ended in 1969. The cemetery here dates from the 19th century.

TRAINING THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
1447 Mighty Cougar Drive, Walterboro, near the Colleton County High School Student Parking Lot

(Front) Graduates of the Tuskegee Army Flying School, who belonged to the first African-American units in the U.S. Army Air Corps, took further combat flight training at Walterboro Army Air Field from May 1944 to October 1945. Many of the first “Tuskegee Airmen” had already won distinction and fame in missions over North Africa, Sicily, and Italy in 1943-44, and several of them were assigned here as combat flight instructors.
(Reverse) Trainees here flew the P-39, P-47, and P-40 fighter planes and the B-25 bomber. The officers’ quarters and enlisted men’s barracks stood just east and just west of this spot, respectively. Segregation on American military posts, in place until 1948, was made worse by the fact that German POWs held here could use “White” facilities but the “Colored” officers and men of the U.S. Army Air Corps could not.
Erected by the Hiram E. Mann Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., 2011