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Tag: Ghost Towns

Calhoun County MLK Day Ramble

Posted on January 22, 2022January 23, 2022 By Tom 1 Comment on Calhoun County MLK Day Ramble
Photography, Rambling

Alan Russell and I usually do a photo trek on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As educators we usually had the day off and it made for a great mid-winter escape. Now that we’re both retired we can go pretty much any day we want, but we still try to stick to our annual tradition. … Read More “Calhoun County MLK Day Ramble” »

Searching for Skagit City

Posted on October 9, 2017March 12, 2021 By Tom 2 Comments on Searching for Skagit City
Searching for Skagit City
Photography, Rambling, Washington Sabbatical

Skagit City

Ghost towns in Washington State? Yes, please! With all of the settling in and touristy stuff we’ve been doing I had not taken time for a good photo ramble. Laura had some Furman work to do, the weather was perfect, so I decided that I head off in search of the ghost town of Skagit City.

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Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 4, Jordanville to Dalcho

Posted on July 22, 2017 By Tom 1 Comment on Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 4, Jordanville to Dalcho
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Old Spring Branch School

I was out and about exploring the Pee Dee region of the state, searching for ghost towns. I’d already found a couple of potentials – Ella’s Grove, Centenary, and Eulonia – and I’d stopped by the Marion County Museum and had lunch on Main Street in Marion. Now it was on to a couple more remote locations, and eventually find my way back home.

Read More “Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 4, Jordanville to Dalcho” »

Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 3, Marion Museum

Posted on July 22, 2017July 22, 2017 By Tom No Comments on Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 3, Marion Museum
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Marion County Museum-002

I had one day to explore the ghost towns of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. So far I’d visited several potential locations, including Ella’s Grove, Centenary, and Eulonia. On these trips I always like to stop in at the local museum or historical society to see what additional information they might have. With that goal in mind, I set off for the Marion County Museum in downtown Marion.

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Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 2, Centenary

Posted on July 20, 2017July 21, 2017 By Tom 3 Comments on Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 2, Centenary
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Centenary Grocery

I was on a quest to visit potential ghost towns in the Pee Dee area of the state. So far I had visited Ella’s Grove and the Palmer School and Cemetery. I still had quite a bit of exploring to do. Next up was the town of Centenary and the community of Eulonia.

Read More “Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 2, Centenary” »

Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 1, Ella’s Grove and Palmer

Posted on July 20, 2017July 21, 2017 By Tom 1 Comment on Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 1, Ella’s Grove and Palmer
History and Genealogy, Rambling

Ella's Grove-001

Yes, I’m still working on my ghost towns list. However, I have some serious gaps in the places I’ve visited. The eastern part of the state toward Myrtle Beach is uncharted territory to me. I decided that before I move out west and seriously start on this book I needed to make at least one visit to this area.

Read More “Ghost Towns of the Pee Dee – Part 1, Ella’s Grove and Palmer” »

Seeking the Kingdom of Happy Land

Posted on July 10, 2017July 10, 2017 By Tom 4 Comments on Seeking the Kingdom of Happy Land
History and Genealogy, Rambling
kingdomhappyland
Kingdom of the Happy Land by Gary Carden. Acrylic on canvas, 36”x24”. Source

A few weeks ago I gave my talk on the Hidden Towns Under South Carolina Lakes at the Taylors Branch of the Greenville County Library. After the talk someone came up to me and asked if I’d ever heard of the “Kingdom of Happy Land.” I had not. After chatting for a bit I decided I needed to see if I could find this kingdom. Last Thursday things had finally settled down from all our traveling and the Fourth holiday, so it was a perfect time for an expedition. I went to see if I could find the Kingdom of Happy Land.

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Lost and Forgotten Towns under South Carolina’s Lakes

Posted on September 16, 2016 By Tom 1 Comment on Lost and Forgotten Towns under South Carolina’s Lakes
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy

Submerged Towns in SC Lite.001

Several months ago I received and e-mail from Kes Crumpler. Kes is with the Lake Murray Power Squadron, and asked if I’d be willing to give a talk to their group about ghost towns under South Carolina’s lakes. Since I’m no stranger to public speaking, I said, “Sure!” Although I was completely unsure as to what a “power squadron” was.

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Paddling to Andersonville

Posted on June 25, 2014June 25, 2014 By Tom 14 Comments on Paddling to Andersonville
History and Genealogy, Paddling, Photography, Rambling
Paddling to Andersonville Island
Andersonville Island, Lake Hartwell

Ever since I found out about it I’ve wanted to visit the location of Andersonville. I was finally given that opportunity this week, as fellow paddlers Alan Russell and Jim Leavell joined me for an early week trek out to the island. With this week’s paddle I was able to add another check to my list of South Carolina ghost towns.

Stephen and I had done some previous scouting in this area. Stephen’s brother-in-law, Jim, owns a barbecue place nearby, and he provided some valuable information about the area. Since that time I had been looking for the optimum launch site for a trek over to Andersonville.

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Lower Richland and the High Hills of the Santee – Part One

Posted on May 20, 2014May 22, 2014 By Tom 1 Comment on Lower Richland and the High Hills of the Santee – Part One
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling
Eastover Tilt-Shift
Downtown Eastover

Dwight and I had a day available in common, so we decided to do some exploring. I’ve been trying to work through my list of locations of ghost towns, seeing if there is anything of interest at these locations – ruins, an old church or cemetery, or some actual buildings. I had several possible sites in Lower Richland, Sumter, and Kershaw Counties.

As is typical with one of our expeditions, we didn’t get to all of the spots we had marked on the map, and we found a few new interesting places along the way. Plus, I got a chance to try out my new GPS (which is basically a larger version of my old GPS.)

Minervaville

First on my list of places was Minervaville. It had an interesting, but somewhat brief history in the early 1800’s. I really didn’t hold out a hope of finding anything there, but wanted to check it out anyway.

Read More “Lower Richland and the High Hills of the Santee – Part One” »

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