Long Branch Pentecostal Holiness Church…

The name is long in our family lore.  The church was established by my grandfather in 1911, as were many of the Pentecostal Holiness churches of this area.  My father pastored the church for most of the 1960′s, and it is here that I have my earliest memories of church.

The church was small, and our large family made up a sizable bit of the congregation.  My father preached and led the singing, and my mother played the piano after Mrs. Annabelle Brown left that position.  It was just a tiny, unique country church, but its effect on us was indelible.  The place is etched in our memories, and the myths and legends of Long Branch have grown over time, and have been embellished through retelling.  So, today, nearly forty years since I last set foot in the church, I decided to see how close those myths were to today’s reality. (more…)

By some strange coincidence Houston and Lynda were working on family photos when I posted my piece about Echo Valley.  The weird thing was, they were processing photos from 1968, and had just come to our great mountain adventure when we visited the park.  These photos were taken by my father. Last night they gave me two more photos from the old park.  Here’s a scene from the town…

Here’s a shot of the chairlift heading over the ridge….

Notice the base of the tower. It’s the same square block of concrete I photographed a couple of weeks ago for my piece…

My thanks to Houston and Lynda for preserving these bits of our family history.

After reading my recent post about Echo Valley, my brother Houston decided that further photographic proof was necessary.  As archivist for our family, he had the necessary photographs and sent them to me via email. So, here we go..

Here’s a photo of my standing in front of the Swamp Rabbit Railroad…

…and here’s the infamous shot of Stephen standing on the gallows…

My thanks to Houston for keeping these reminders.

In the northern part of Greenville County the Middle Saluda River flows across a long flat valley. Where Highways 276 and 11 come together, and where the Saluda crosses this road, one finds the community of Cleveland, South Carolina. The valley now hosts a post office, convenience store, and a couple of other businesses, but at one time an exciting amusement park occupied this same spot.

It was the late 1960′s and I was seven or eight years old. Dad and Mom loaded five of us (my two oldest siblings were in college) into the Chrysler and we headed toward the Great Smokey Mountains. It was a fantastic trip up through the mountains of North Carolina, with stops at Pisgah National Forest, Maggie Valley, and eventually Gatlinburg, Tennessee. That was the trip that we visited Echo Valley, a Western-styled theme park along the banks of the Saluda River in Cleveland, South Carolina.

During this time Western theme parks were all the rage in North Carolina. There was Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley, Frontierland in Cherokee, and Tweetsie Railroad in Boone. Most of these featured a Wild West town with regular shoot-outs and the endless conflicts between cowboys and Indians. There were also carnival rides and can-can dancers to round out the bill. Echo Valley followed this same pattern, and was developed to capture some of that Wild West market for Greenville audiences.

The late Melvin Jarrard was postmaster of the Cleveland post office and a local businessman. In his autobiography The Mountaineer of Cleveland, South Carolina, Jarrad describes how Harry Stuart brought the idea of Echo Valley to the area, and how that idea had originated with Ghost Town in the Sky. (more…)

This morning I loaded up the photo and recording gear and headed up to Furman for the 2009 Greenville Scottish Games. It was a great day to be outside – finally no rain, and not too terribly hot. I decided to check out the games, and see if I could get a bit more information on family history.

The crowds were gathering, but not too back. Shuttle buses were running from the parking areas, so I boarded one. I should have walked. The bus I was on circled the same route twice until it had enough people to head on up to the games proper. I was beginning to wonder if we were on some perverse infinite loop.

I made it to the games and shelled out the rather pricey $15 for admission. This gained me entrance to a wonderland of Gaelic activity. In one field were the athletic competitions – caber toss, sheaf toss, and hammer throw. In another were the sheep dog trials. A tent was set up for dancing competitions, and pipers were competing on a hill near Cherrydale.  There were vendors for food and Gailic stuff set up near the stadium, along with a large tent with a stage for bands.  The main field was ringed with the clan tents, and each of the aforementioned competitions were featured on the main field at one point or another.  Quite a lot to see. (more…)