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Tag: Tobacco Trail

The Tobacco Trail through Clarendon County

Posted on September 25, 2015 By Tom 4 Comments on The Tobacco Trail through Clarendon County
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Motel Featherbed

I had come to a roadblock on the Tobacco Trail, quite literally. The Highway 301 bridge across Lake Marion still exists, and still connects across the lake. However, in 1987 it was closed to automotive traffic, and now serves as a fishing bridge. If I were going to cross from Orangeburg into Clarendon County, I was going to have to do some backtracking.

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The Rise of Santee on The Tobacco Trail

Posted on September 22, 2015September 26, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on The Rise of Santee on The Tobacco Trail
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Rambling

Tobaco Trail-3

For some reason the town of Santee intrigues me. It’s something of an anomaly compared to the other cities on the Tobacco Trail. There is no main street or central business district. Those features make me think that the town as, say, Orangeburg, Allendale or Bamberg. I decided to find out more about it. In the process of that research I discovered a new ghost town.

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The Tobacco Trail through Orangeburg County, Part 2

Posted on September 20, 2015February 1, 2020 By Tom 13 Comments on The Tobacco Trail through Orangeburg County, Part 2
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Tobaco Trail-1

I was out exploring the Tobacco Trail through South Carolina. So far I had started at the SC-GA border on the Savannah River and had crossed Allendale, Bamberg, and a good portion of Orangeburg Counties. Orangeburg is a large county, and is bordered by Lake Marion on the east. I was ready to check out the rest of the county, and see how far I could go on this day’s exploration.

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The Tobacco Trail through Orangeburg County, Part One

Posted on September 18, 2015September 23, 2015 By Tom 3 Comments on The Tobacco Trail through Orangeburg County, Part One
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Coffee Cafe B&W

So far I had traveled across two South Carolina counties on The Tobacco Trail, aka US Highway 301. I still had a long way to go, though. I was able to get through about a third of Orangeburg when we had a death in the family. Yesterday I was able to go knock out another huge chunk of the highway.

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The Tobacco Trail through Bamberg County

Posted on September 13, 2015September 13, 2015 By Tom 3 Comments on The Tobacco Trail through Bamberg County
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Bamberg Service Station Sign

I’d made it through Allendale County, my GPS beeping every time I reached the location of an old tourist spot that I had marked. I was following the Tobacco Trail through South Carolina on Highway 301. Now I had just crossed the Salkehatchie River into Bamberg County.

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The Tobacco Trail through Allendale County

Posted on September 11, 2015September 18, 2015 By Tom 5 Comments on The Tobacco Trail through Allendale County
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Crescent Motel Retro 1

I was out exploring Highway 301, the Tobacco Trail. I had driven down early in the morning, trying to resist distractions along the way. Once I finally reached my starting point I visited two old welcome centers, one still in operation, and one finding new life. Now it was time to continue eastward. However, my day was running out, and the trip was much quicker than I would have liked.

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The Tobacco Trail – Getting Started

Posted on September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on The Tobacco Trail – Getting Started
History and Genealogy, Photography, Rambling

Highway 301-69

It was time to explore Highway 301. I had done the preliminary research and discovered the importance of The Tobacco Trail as a major route through South Carolina. I was ready to get out and actually take photos of some of these locations. However, I still had a bit of research to do.

The first thing I did was begin collecting old postcards and images from eBay and other sources. This would give me a comparison of what had been with what I would find. The next step was to mark potential locations in Google Earth. I traced the route of 301 through the state, marking motel and other locations as I spotted them. I also added any National Register or other interesting sites I found along the way. These were then uploaded to my GPS so I’d have them for ready reference.

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The Tobacco Trail – An Introduction

Posted on September 7, 2015September 7, 2015 By Tom 1 Comment on The Tobacco Trail – An Introduction
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Travel

Highway 301 Banner

On our last Lowcountry Unfiltered kayaking trip on the Savannah River Larry Easler and I drove back along Highway 301.  We were amazed at the number of old motels and abandoned tourist spots along the way.  I knew it had to have once been a major thoroughfare, now bypassed by I-95, but I wanted to know more about it.  What was its history?  How did this highway through one of the most desolate parts of South Carolina become such a major route?  The answer turned out to be much more interesting than I could have possibly imagined.

In a previous post I wrote about the old auto trails that predated the US Highway System, and the business associations that promoted these routes and the tourist amenities along them. Here’s the story about how Highway 301 became known as The Tobacco Trail, one of the most important north-south routes along the Eastern Seaboard.

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