Also across from the camp meeting was a cemetery. This was established about the same time as the camp meeting and the church. It contained a mix of old and modern stones. I didn’t see any signature stones.
Van Wycke and the Corner Stone
From Pleasant Grove we drove back through Waxhaw and headed west. We saw signs pointing to the Andrew Jackson birthplace, but I didn’t pay attention to whether it was the South Carolina claim or North Carolina. Quite frankly, I’m not a fan of Andrew Jackson, so visiting his birthplace was not high on my agenda, regardless of the state.
We crossed the one odd bit of the SC-NC border that runs from north to south and headed toward the community of Van Wyck. I had stopped by here once before, thinking this might be a potential ghost town. This time I was wondering if there might be more to explore. Turns out there wasn’t much – just one old commercial building and an inaccessible railroad depot. The architecture of the old Van Wyck Presbyterian Church did catch our attention, though.
From Van Wyck we headed south to the SC-NC Cornerstone. For much of the 1700s this portion of the North Carolina-South Carolina border was in dispute. In 1813 the corner along Catawba Land was established and marked with a cornerstone, erected in 1818. That cornerstone still stands, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
I had the cornerstone marked in my GPS, so we found it with no problems. The stone was on the side of the road, ringed with a protective barrier. Apparently the top part of the stone was knocked off when a car collided with it in the 1970s.
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Amazing!! I look forward to exploring the area.
Several things caught my attention. The Tower of Babel certainly does not look like any ziggurat I ever saw pictured. I guess that would have put me a little off when it comes to the other exhibits, unless they had an explanation of why this tower looks so different.
I had a bit of a funny thought when I was reading your comments about the campground. The newer structures, the things that did not look quite authentically ramshackle or historic. I was reminded in this of the scene in the fourth harry potter book. At the campground for the Quidditch World Cup. Some of the tents did not definitely look Muggle at all. The rambling 2 level tents with turrets and towers and what not. Anyway, it is amazing what one sees sometimes. And quite a story in itself. Sounds like a fantastic trip!