cemetery – Random Connections

Orphaned Graveyards – Bakers Chapel AME

February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 Tom 4 Comments

Sometime back, Laura and I were driving down White Horse Road and it struck us just how many unkept cemeteries there were. I made a mental note to check on these, and subsequently several were added to my list of orphaned graveyards. One that struck me as particularly forlorn was located right next to an … Read More “Orphaned Graveyards – Bakers Chapel AME” »

Orphaned Graveyards – Fellowship Church

February 17, 2021February 19, 2021 Tom 2 Comments

History and Genealogy

Continuing with my exploration of old and abandoned church graveyards, one of the most surprising and upsetting finds was the graveyard of Fellowship Church. Located at the intersection of Fork Shoals Road and Georgia Road, the graveyard is abandoned and trash laden. The plot is now bounded by a Dollar General to the east and … Read More “Orphaned Graveyards – Fellowship Church” »

Orphaned Graveyard – South Saluda Baptist

February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 Tom No Comments

One of the orphaned graveyards on my list belonged to the South Saluda Baptist Church in northern Greenville County. The church was located in what is now the Tall Pines Heritage Preserve. I visited this site two years ago, in February of 2019. At that time we found the graveyard in terrible disarray, with several … Read More “Orphaned Graveyard – South Saluda Baptist” »

Orphaned Cemeteries – Old Salem Methodist Church

February 9, 2021February 9, 2021 Tom 1 Comment

History and Genealogy

Salem United Methodist Church sits prominently on White Horse Road, right where it intersects with I-185 on the west side of Greenville. The church has a history with our family. From 1963 until 1976 its pastor was the Rev. Bill Cooke. My brother, Stephen, and Bill’s daughter, Cynthia Cooke were married in the church in … Read More “Orphaned Cemeteries – Old Salem Methodist Church” »

Laurens Cemetery Tour 2016

May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 Tom No Comments

History and Genealogy, Local

This has been an incredibly busy weekend. I paddled two different rivers – the New River and the May River near Bluffton, and the weekend wasn’t yet done. I was also serving as a docent for the Laurens Cemetery Tours this year.

Hidden Mill Cemeteries of Greenville

April 16, 2016April 16, 2016 Tom 7 Comments

History and Genealogy, Local, Rambling

So far I’d found two old textile mill village cemeteries somewhat by accident. These reminded me of an article in the Greenville News by Judy Bainbridge from 2009. The article was entitled “Woodside, other mill villages need care.” Bainbridge had listed several mill village cemeteries in town, and at the time I’d thought about trying to find them. Then I kind of forgot about it. That is, until my recent discoveries. Now I was ready to seek out these other forgotten cemeteries.

From Pickens to Oolenoy

May 11, 2015 Tom No Comments

History and Genealogy, Local, Miscellaneous, Photography, Rambling

It was a spectacular Wednesday morning. I’d been doing yard work all week, and needed to escape. That seemed like the perfect time for a trip to the Pickens Flea Market. This time, rather than carry cameras, I had a backpack loaded with audio recording gear.

Apparently everyone in Pickens County had the same idea as me. I had planned to get there around 8:00, but Highway 183 from Greenville to Pickens was a zoo, and traffic was clogged headed through the town and out to the flea market. Eventually, though, I did get a nice, shaded parking space, and set out to explore.

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Tybee and Bonaventure

April 15, 2014May 16, 2014 Tom No Comments

Photography, Rambling, Travel

Bonaventure Cemetery-10 — Bonaventure Cemetery

This weekend is our monthly outing with Lowcountry Unfiltered. Since our river was down below Savannah, I decided to head down on Friday and do some exploration ahead of time.

My plan was to leave as early as possible, check out the Savannah waterfront and some of the old homes, then check out Bonaventure Cemetery. In the evening I planned to have dinner at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island.

Unfortunately, traffic didn’t cooperate. It was Friday before Easter week, so it seemed like everyone was heading south. I didn’t get down to Savannah until afternoon. The city was a zoo, and I’d had enough traffic, no matter how historic and scenic. I decided to drive on out to Tybee, since I hadn’t been there in a long time.

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Cokesbury Tour, Tabernacle, and Ninety-Six

June 26, 2013July 25, 2013 Tom 1 Comment

History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Rambling

Cokesbury-086 — Old Cokesbury College Main Building

It finally happened. As many times as I’ve been here and photographed the exterior, I was finally able to get inside the old main building at the old Cokesbury College. This weekend is Greenwood’s Festival of Flowers, and as part of the event they were holding an open house at the historic location. While in Greenwood I hit a couple of other locations I had been wanting to photograph. I was joined by fellow explorers Mark Elbrecht, who alerted me to this year’s tour dates, and Alan Russell.

I had tried to do this last year. Mark was able to go down on a Saturday, but I had to delay until Sunday due to a paddling trip. Even though their website said the event would be Saturday and Sunday, when we got there Sunday morning everything was closed up tight. We never got into the building.

This year it would be different. The Chamber of Commerce had even used one of my photos of the old building on their promotional website. I was going to make sure that we were there on the correct day. So, Mark, Alan, and I headed down and arrived at the site at about 10:30 am.

LCU vs Manchester, Part 3

January 19, 2013 Tom No Comments

Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography

So far our crew from Lowcountry Unfiltered had breakfast at Battens in Wedgefield, visited the cemetery of a deranged governor, hiked part of the Palmetto trail and discovered an old railroad junction, and we were just getting started.

Manchester and Melrose

We got back to our vehicles and headed to the location of the ghost town of Manchester. The town died out with the demise of the Wilmington and Manchester railroad. All that remains are a few rural houses. We paused briefly, and left in search of a more interesting section of Manchester.

Nearby is a marking indicating the location of Melrose Plantation. Built in the late 1700s, the plantation was owned by Matthew Singleton, whose cemetery we had visited earlier in the day. We stopped at the marker and took a look around. There were a few foundation stones, and the twisted remains of a metal bed. Unfortunately the bed appeared to be more of modern than pre-Civil War origin.

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