This past Saturday was Fall for Furman, a weekend for perspective students to check out the school. There was an evening home game, but Laura had duties early in the afternoon, meeting these high school seniors and their parents. I dropped her off, then headed out to follow up on a couple of items from last week.
When I visited Oolenoy School, one of the men I met mentioned that Rock School was nearby, and was in use as a private residence. I decided to find it. Plus, it was a good excuse to ride in the convertible on such a fine, fine day.
I drove up to Marietta and took 288 west. I reached Pumpkintown and continued west on 288. Since I was in Laura’s car I didn’t have my GPS. I made one wrong turn, but spotted a cool old house at the intersection of Carrick Creek Road and 288 that I’d not seen before.
I got back on 288 and soon found the correct road. Up on a hill I spotted the old school. Whoever owns it now did a fantastic job of renovating it. It looked like a wonderful place to live.
Apart from the tower and general shape of the building, there’s nothing else to indicate that this had once been a school.
Pickens County Library has some wonderful photos on Flickr, so I checked there to see if they had one for this school. I couldn’t find one labeled as “Rock School,” but this one labeled “Roll 08-05” looks similar.
I spent the rest of the afternoon zig-zagging through the country. I hit 176 and took it toward Pickens. Somehow I wound up on Meece Mill Road. I was hoping to spot the old mill, if it was still there. I didn’t see anything, but a road sign presented a dilemma. Anyone who knows me would know what a hard choice this was.
Unfortunately, I found neither. I took the road that runs past Robert Perry’s place, but I didn’t recognize his driveway. Eventually I wound up at Dacusville. I drove past the old(ish) elementary school and the new one. The new one is massive, having been built only recently.
I headed on back to Furman and joined the tourists taking photos of the fountains in front of the chapel.
I walked into the Townes Science Center to see the drop-in wrapping up.
Laura and I stayed for the Fall for Furman tailgate, then for the game. It was closer than I thought it would be. It went into double-overtime, but in the end Furman still lost to Coastal Carolina. Most importantly, though, it was COLD! It’s starting to feel like proper football weather.