Tag: South Carolina

Bound for the Promised Land

Posted on By Tom 18 Comments on Bound for the Promised Land
History and Genealogy, Local, Photography, Travel

What more could you want?

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye
to Caanan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the promised land, I’m bound for the promised land.
Oh, who will come and go with me, I am bound for the promised land.

The trip was going to be a ghost-hunting expedition for Eric Rogers and me. Eric and I had finally met offline, and were planning a joint expedition to the haunted Rock House just south of Greenwood. Since we would be down in that area, we had also plotted out some other interesting locations. I had flagged one little town, Promised Land, SC, with the comment, “With a name like that, how could we NOT go there?”

Eric was not able to make the trip, but my brother Houston and sister Glynda were able to go. Houston took on the role of Aaron, the spokesperson, with Glynda as Miriam, and me as Moses, leading and documenting our trip. So early Sunday morning we found a suitable radio evangelist and headed for the Promised Land. We hoped we would make it all the way, further than our biblical counterparts.

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The Oconee Bale Trail

Posted on By Tom 4 Comments on The Oconee Bale Trail
Local, Photography, Travel

Bales of Hay 2 HDR

Laura had a quick business trip to Chicago, so Glynda and I decided to get out and see the countryside. I had spotted an advertisement for the Oconee Bale Trail, a series of decorated hay bales through that county, and it looked like as good an excuse as anything to get out and about.

Glynda hadn’t been with my on one of my photo rambles before. As with most of my family, she loves photography, too. She has also inherited our parents love of exploring backroads. While growing up, instead of calling her by her name Glynda Jo, my father called her “Glynda Go.” She had just finished her last day at the Boys Home of the South on Friday, so this was going to be a celebratory get-away.

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Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands
Entertainment, Local

I added yet another book to my growing collection of South Carolina ghost lore. Tally Johnson has a book out entitled “Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands.” While the subject itself was of interest to me, what sealed the deal as far as my purchasing the book was the dedication in the Acknowledgments section: To … Read More “Ghosts of the South Carolina Midlands” »

Remembering the “Old Fields”

Posted on By Tom 7 Comments on Remembering the “Old Fields”
History and Genealogy, Local

I’ve come across the term “old field” in place names several times recently. Our put-in on one of our Enoree trips was at Mas Old Field Landing. At the Owings History Museum last week there were references to the Ora Old Field Church (pictured above) and the Riddle Old Field School. This got me thinking … Read More “Remembering the “Old Fields”” »

Owings Pioneer Days 2008

Posted on By Tom 5 Comments on Owings Pioneer Days 2008
History and Genealogy, Local

Re-enactors

This morning I was feeling much, much better than I had the past couple of days, so I decided to head down to Owings for their Pioneer Days. I had gone last year and really enjoyed myself, and really didn’t want to miss this year’s event. It was enjoyable again this year, but this year I noticed something very distressing. More on that later.

I left Greenville early so that I could get there before the parade started. As I was driving down the Interstate it looked like a wall of clouds hovering over the Gray Court exit. Under this cloud the humidity skyrocketed. Unfortunately, hot and humid was the way it was going to be.

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Photo of the Month

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Photo of the Month
Internet, Local, Photography

Sciway.net (South Carolina Information Highway) is an outstanding website that has information or links to information to just about anything you would want to know about South Carolina. I use their resources regularly, and have tried to promote them when doing conference presentations, etc. There is some great stuff there. Random Connections has just been … Read More “Photo of the Month” »

Children’s Graveyard – Followup and History

Posted on By Tom 37 Comments on Children’s Graveyard – Followup and History
History and Genealogy

In my previous post I mentioned that I wasn’t able to find much information on Duncan Chapel online. Thanks to a bit of help from my friend Duckhunter, I was able to get some more info. Dr. A. V. Huff’s book on the history of Greenville mentions the area twice – once in reference to … Read More “Children’s Graveyard – Followup and History” »

The Children’s Graveyard

Posted on By Tom 23 Comments on The Children’s Graveyard
History and Genealogy, Local, Photography

Mary P

Eric from “A Day’s Drive from Greenville” recently wrote about a trip he took to the “Children’s Graveyard” near Furman University. His descriptions and photos made me want to take a visit for myself, so today I set off in search of this supposedly haunted location.

I had only heard about this graveyard recently while reading about ghost stories of the Upstate. It’s odd that throughout all my years of association with Furman and the Furman area I was never aware of this cemetery. However, it is easy to overlook the entrance, and the area has been left undeveloped.

Thanks to Eric’s lat/long coordinates, I was able to find the spot with no trouble. The entrance road, Thackston Road on Google Maps, has huge holes in the pavement and doesn’t look like something that’s really accessible. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you would drive right by.

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