Category: Local

Local items of interest from Greenville and Upstate SC.

The Oeland Churches

Posted on By Tom 6 Comments on The Oeland Churches
History and Genealogy, Local, Miscellaneous, Religion

For many years I was music director at McCarter Presbyterian Church here in Greenville. McCarter is a small church located prominently at the intersection of Pelham Road and East North Street, a spot it has occupied for the past 123 years. It seemed a unique little church in the bustle of a major neighborhood that somehow managed to survive.
But then I found out that it wasn’t unique.

Journey to Nazareth

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Journey to Nazareth
History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Religion

I worked in Spartanburg county for fifteen years. During all of that time I never got around to visiting Nazareth Presbyterian Church. I knew it was one of the first churches in the area, having been established around 1765, but for some reason I thought that the building had been updated and no longer retained its historic character. I was wrong. When I had driven by it I had seen the new Family Life Center (a.k.a “gym”) and had thought that IT was the church, somehow missing the older building right next to it. While out doing some research on another project about church architecture Alan Russell and I finally paid Nazareth a visit.

Drumming at the Duck Derby

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Drumming at the Duck Derby
Local, Music

Last Saturday was Derby Day. For Greenville that means it’s time for the annual Reedy River Duck Derby, where thousands of rubber duckies are set loose at the top of Reedy Falls downtown and prizes are awarded for the first ones through. I had never witnessed the event, but this year decided to join my friends Jeff and Lori Holland and Our World Festival to do some drumming as part of the festival.

Exploring the Broad River with Scott Withrow

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Exploring the Broad River with Scott Withrow
History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Rambling

During our Lost Communities course for OLLI someone said that they wanted to got with Scott Withrow, my co-teacher, and me on one of our adventures. We confessed that we had never actually gone on an adventure together, but independently had been exploring many of the same areas. We decided that it was time for that to change. We had both wanted to explore the Broad River area for the following class, so we decided to do that together.

Buried in the Tall Pines

Posted on By Tom 19 Comments on Buried in the Tall Pines
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Rambling

Last week it was announced that a new preserve has been established under control of SC Department of Natural Resources. The new public space, called the Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area, will be open to hunting, fishing, and hiking. Located in Northern Greenville County along the banks of of the South Saluda River, the property … Read More “Buried in the Tall Pines” »

Random Upstate, Vol 1-ish

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Random Upstate, Vol 1-ish
Local, Miscellaneous

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we now find ourselves no the first day of December, 2018. I didn’t do any great explorations or historic research over the past couple of weeks, but I did get out and about. Perhaps I should start a series similar to my “Random Skagit” posts from last year in Washington State. Regardless, here’s a roundup of a few of the happenings over the last week or so.