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Category: History and Genealogy

The Tale of a Map

Posted on July 25, 2017 By Tom 1 Comment on The Tale of a Map
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy

1822 Carey and Lea Map of South Carolina

I recently acquired a map from my Aunt Grace’s estate. While she was in Paris she found an old map of South Carolina in an antique store. The map had lots of interesting information, including the slave population for each county. The information and history intrigued her, and since it was from her home state, she bought it. Aunt Grace knew that I was a map geek and was especially interested in the history of the state. Before she died she expressed her desire that I get the map. I won’t go into the long and sordid details of how it did eventually end up in my possession, but rather delve into the history of the map itself and the cartographers that created this work of art.

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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.

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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 6 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.

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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.

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Photo ID at Henderson County Library

Posted on July 12, 2017July 12, 2017 By Tom 1 Comment on Photo ID at Henderson County Library
History and Genealogy, Miscellaneous, Photography

Hendersonville Picture ID Workshop

I was at the Henderson County Library doing some research on The Kingdom of Happy Land. As I was leaving I passed by the library’s auditorium and noticed folks gathering for some sort of presentation. Having just given a talk at a library myself, I was curious. As I glanced at one of the flyers a man at the door said that it was a meeting about photo identification. I decided to check it out.

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Seeking the Kingdom of Happy Land

Posted on July 10, 2017July 10, 2017 By Tom 5 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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A Long Wet Hike on Long Cane Creek

Posted on May 15, 2017May 15, 2017 By Tom 10 Comments on A Long Wet Hike on Long Cane Creek
History and Genealogy, Paddling, Photography

Long Cane Creek with Lowcountry Unfiltered-100

It was time to plan another Second Saturday trip with Lowcountry Unfiltered. We’ve been trying to expand our trips, visiting places that we haven’t done multiple times. There are lots of waterways in this state, so I don’t think we’ll exhaust our opportunities, but it’s fun to see new stretches of water. This time we decided to paddle part of the Little River Blueway, specifically, a section of Long Cane Creek. Our route would take us through a very remote, historical section of South Carolina, but there would be many, many obstacles before we reached the end of our paddle.

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The Unknown Rosenwald

Posted on April 19, 2017 By Tom 6 Comments on The Unknown Rosenwald
History and Genealogy, Rambling

Unknown Rosenwald School in Butts County-004

A follow-up to the previous post’s mystery Rosenwald School. Fellow explorer Mark Elbrecht left a comment on that post with some clues as to the identity of the school we found in Butts County, Georgia. Unfortunately, that opened up an additional can of worms and conflicting info.

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Down by the Riverside

Posted on April 5, 2017April 5, 2017 By Tom 2 Comments on Down by the Riverside
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Riverside Cemetery Asheville-060

Gonna lay down my burdens,
Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside,
Down by the Riverside,
…Ain’t gonna study war no more.

It was Keith’s birthday. I’d called him to see if he wanted to go for lunch, but he was already in Asheville for some early appointments. He suggested I join him up there for a late breakfast instead. Having no other plans, I agreed. It turned out to be another day of discovery and laid the groundwork for further exploration.

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