REVISITED: 100 Objects in 100 Days
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The "100 Objects in 100 Days" series in 2014 was the catalyst for a second series on Orangeburg County history titled "Vintage Orangeburg County," the Calhoun County "Faces & Places" 100-day series and the "50 Things to Know about Bamberg-Denmark" series.
- T&D Staff Report
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Through blizzards and fires, The Times and Democrat has not missed a day of publication in its 133-year history.
The newspaper’s commitment to providing news to the area was recognized during its 125th anniversary celebration in 2006.
To help mark the paper’s success, Charleston native Dana Coleman shared his talents by painting the mural that graces the Broughton Street wall of The T&D’s building.
The T&D was first published in September 1881 as the result of a merger of two newspapers: The Times and The Democrat. The mural shows the newspaper’s history from its founding to the present.
One portion of the mural shows the fire of 1972 that gutted the newspaper. Despite the fire, The T&D still managed to get the paper out. During the transition period, the paper was printed out of Sumter and Rock Hill.
The new press arrived seven days after the fire. Within 30 days, the pressroom had been rebuilt around it.
The far right of the mural is a display about the newspaper’s online presence and a laptop computer with the year 2006 on the screen. Both are a tribute to the newspaper’s technological advancements.
During the anniversary celebration, partygoers enjoyed entertainment by South Carolina State University’s Drum Line, the Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School Marching Band, the Jarvis Brothers, the Orangeburg Part-Time Players, the SCSU Gospel Choir and the Claflin Jazz Ensemble. The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Color Guard presented the colors.
Following the singing of “Happy Birthday,” the crowd witnessed the unveiling of the mural on the Broughton Street side of The T&D.
- T&D Staff Report
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The Edisto Memorial Gardens Rose Garden has received international and national acclaim as one of nine test gardens in the nation.
For the past 63 years, the Gardens have featured a number of unique and rare roses — from the green rose first discovered in China 271 years ago to a micro mini-rose called Cinderella.
However, the diversity of Edisto Memorial Gardens, which is situated on the Edisto River, is perhaps best embodied in a special hybridized rose, fittingly named the “Edisto.”
The Edisto Rose, the only rose in the gardens named after the Orangeburg landmark, received the 2008 American Rose Society Award of Excellence.
The “red blend” mini-flora rose was hybridized by Michael Williams of Cross Hill, South Carolina. Unlike most hybrids, the color of the rose actually gets brighter in the heat.
The blooms of the Edisto are reddish-fuchsia with yellow-white reverse. The yellow on the outside of the petals intensifies as the weather gets hotter.
The rose can reach about four feet tall and four feet wide. It blooms from the end of April until the last frost.
In the home landscape, the Edisto is best used as an accent plant in a spot where it will receive six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. As with other roses, a well-drained soil suits it best.
Currently, Edisto Memorial Gardens displays some 4,800 rose plants representing at least 120 labeled varieties.
For nearly 40 years, Edisto Memorial Gardens was one of only 23 test gardens sanctioned by All-America Rose Selections Inc. until they ended operations in 2012. In 2012, American Garden Rose Selections was formed to continue testing roses, and Edisto Memorial Gardens is now one of nine test gardens in the United States.
- T&D Staff Report
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The Holcim (US) Holly Hill cement plant opened in 1966, ready to supply much-needed cement to the Southeast.
Prior to the opening of the plant, Home Branch, a tributary of Four Hole Swamp, ran through what is now the company’s quarry.
Holcim’s existing diversion canal re-routed Home Branch around the quarry in the late 1970s and early 1980s in order to divert water away from the mining operations.
Currently, a new stream channel through the middle of the quarry is being designed in an effort to protect it from potential flooding.
The on-site natural resources at the Holly Hill plant contribute to its production.
The quarry on the 3,700-acre property, a multiple bench limestone mine, holds more than 70 percent of the raw materials needed for making cement.
Material is quarried by bucket wheel excavator, conveyed to a belt wagon, crushed, transferred to a belt conveyor system and stockpiled in a storage facility.
The limestone is combined with other materials and used at the mine site to produce cement that is sold in bulk and bag for use in the construction industry.
Sedimentary textures and fossils indicate the limestone that is mined at the Holly Hill plant is in the Eocene Santee Formation, which was formed in a shallow marine and lagoonal environment.
Holcim’s Holly Hill cement plant has grown along with demand. The first shipment left the plant in May 1966. In 1972, a second kiln was added; a third kiln was added in 2001. In December 2001, the name of the plant at the time — Holnam — was changed to Holcim.
In 2003, a single dry-process kiln replaced the plant’s two wet-process kilns, boosting production to about 2 million metric tons of cement per year — nearly six times the plant’s original output.
The Holly Hill plant currently employs 188 people.
Parent company Holcim Ltd. is considered one of the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of cement and mineral components. Holcim (US) has approximately 1,800 employees and operates 12 manufacturing plants and more than 50 distribution facilities in the United States.
- Christopher Huff
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The Regional Medical Center has served Orangeburg and the surrounding community for more than 30 years.
In the early part of the 1900s, no such luxury existed in Orangeburg.
The first sustainable hospital was established in 1919 on Glover Street by Dr. Charles A. Mobley, a young surgeon who came to Orangeburg from Rock Hill.
The need for health care and the growth of Orangeburg soon strained the Glover Street facility.
The Tri-County Hospital Association was formed and a board of trustees was appointed on Jan. 1, 1934. Plans began for construction of a new hospital.
An application was made to the federal Public Works Administration, and a loan of $120,000 to be repaid over 30 years was received as well as a $108,900 grant.
On Jan. 15, 1936, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new hospital on Carolina Avenue. The entire construction cost was about $171,300.
The Tri-County Hospital building opened Aug. 15, 1937, with 82 employees and 100 beds.
The newspaper story about the grand opening carried the headline “Public Invited to Inspect Handsome New 125 Bed Plant, Many Visitors Expected.”
Approximately 3,000 people from Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties toured the hospital during the grand opening. Both Bamberg and Calhoun counties contributed funds for indigent patient costs.
The hospital was made of brick and concrete, thus being “fireproof.” The facility featured automatic elevators, electrical lighting, tile and terrazzo flooring and institutional equipment and furnishings. The overall investment was about $250,000.
The accommodations included private, semi-private rooms and four- and six-person ward configurations.
The hospital was equipped with two major and two minor operating rooms for surgical procedures. It also had an x-ray department, a clinical laboratory and an obstetrical department with its own nursery and delivery room. It also had a cafeteria and a food preparation department. There were two dining rooms for the nursing staff and the medical staff, as well as a larger cafeteria for patients’ families and visitors.
The operating rooms, the delivery room and the newborn nursery were air conditioned.
The success of the hospital was recognized in 1941, when the hospital’s medical staff commissioned portraits to be painted of the two men who were most responsible for establishing the facility: Dr. Charles A. Mobley and W. Eugene Atkinson.
The portraits still hang today at the Regional Medical Center.
The $26 million RMC opened May 17, 1981 on St. Matthews Road, and the first 128 patients were transferred from Carolina Avenue to the new facility on May 30, 1981.
Shortly after its closure, the old hospital became the home of the county health department. Today, it continues to house the Department of Health and Environmental Control divisions, including public health and environmental health.
- T&D Staff Report
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City history books don’t tell much about the daily lives of early 1900s citizens, but a glimpse reveals Orangeburg residents have always liked to swim.
Records indicate a cry for a public pool grew, and in the early 1920s, city leaders acted.
By the summer of 1921, the parking lot near what is today Edisto Memorial Gardens held a 50-foot by 100-foot concrete swimming pool. It sat above the ground with a long, covered pavilion on the street side.
That pool is long gone. But the desire for a public swimming option arose again and, in May 2006, Orangeburg County Council announced plans to construct a public swimming center and gymnasium.
The Orangeburg County Aquatic Center was born.
In August 2008, council unanimously accepted a $554,800 architectural bid by Charleston-based LS3P Associates toward the development of the aquatic center on a 3-acre site on St. Matthews Road. In April 2009, council accepted the $8.996 million low bid for the project.
Ground was broken in the middle of 2009 and the park opened in May 2010.
The water park includes plunge pools, tube slides, zero-depth entry, children’s activity pools, picnic areas, concessions, full sun and shade areas.
Adjacent to the outdoor pool there is an indoor, year-round pool facility complete with a hydrotherapy pool, swimming classroom space, lockers and administrative offices.
The Orangeburg YMCA is operating the Aquatic Center under contract with Orangeburg County, the facility’s owner.
The use of the Aquatic Center and the water park is covered by the membership fee. Non-members pay a separate fee on a daily basis to use the facility.
The Aquatic Center was funded with about $4 million from the 1 percent capital project sales tax and about $2 million was used from the county’s $9 million general obligation bond issuance.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
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Theodore Kohn was 10 when he emigrated from Furth, Germany to Orangeburg in 1850 with his parents and brother. He was among the first Jewish immigrants to Orangeburg.
In the decades that unfolded, Kohn proved to be a key to the city’s success.
A downtown building still bears his name. It was where he founded a mercantile business in 1867 and operated it into the 1900s.
Kohn also served in the Edisto Rifles during the Civil War and was awarded the Cross of Honor for his service to the Confederate Army. He suffered an injury to his arm during the war that affected the use of that arm for the rest of his life.
He died at age 62, but not without leaving a legacy in the city that he called his home.
Kohn served as an alderman for the City of Orangeburg, was a founding member of the Edisto Bank and a major force behind the creation of Orangeburg’s public schools.
He’s often regarded in historical writings about Orangeburg as the “father of Orangeburg graded schools.”
He served on the school board of trustees up until his resignation shortly before an illness to which he succumbed.
In 1885, Kohn became president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. The following year, the Hebrew Benevolent Society purchased land for a cemetery within Sunnyside Cemetery.
The people of Orangeburg respected Kohn’s contributions to the city to such a degree that every business in the city closed during his funeral service in June 1902.
Orangeburg became home to several settlers and generations of Jewish residents and business owners.
Harry N. Marcus was the mayor of his hometown of Eutawville from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Marcus was a World War II veteran, Mason, Shriner and owner of Marcus Department Store in the small, eastern Orangeburg County town.
Irving Benjamin, who owned a department store in Bowman, served for three decades on town council.
Joseph J. Miller of Elloree had no living relatives when he died. The merchant left his savings to four Elloree churches, Orangeburg’s Temple Sinai, Charleston’s Britih Sholom Beth Israel, Savannah Hebrew Day School and other charities.
Orangeburg’s beloved Mirmow Field was named to honor Edward V. Mirmow (Mirmowitz) Sr., who was born in New York City to Russian immigrants and moved with his family to Orangeburg in 1901. Mirmow lettered in football and baseball at the University of South Carolina and remained a loyal Gamecocks fan for the rest of his life.
After World War II ended, Mirmow started the Orangeburg Indian Boosters Club which supported high school sports and organized the city’s American Legion Post 4 baseball program.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
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Now that school is back in session, here’s a pop quiz about Orangeburg County:
A) Jamison is a small community located on U.S. Highway 601 between Orangeburg and St. Matthews.
B) The area was named in honor of Gen. David F. Jamison, who served as president of the Secession Convention, and was one of the founders of The Citadel.
C) The region was home for the Jamison School.
If you chose all of the above, you are 100 percent correct.
The Jamison School educated many students before it was closed and later moved to Orangeburg.
A wooden auditorium tucked between the old fire department building and the old Nate’s Bait and Grocery Store is all that remains to remind people of the area’s importance in education.
The school, as well as a building referred to as the teacherage, which served as a home for the school’s teachers, originally faced the woods on the Old Stage Road. The road closed when U.S. 601 was built.
Most recently, the wooden building served as a place where residents could cast their votes during elections.
However, today all the building holds is the memories of the students fortunate enough to have attended its classes.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
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NEESES — Located in the western portion of Orangeburg County is the town of Neeses.
Originally known as Silver Springs from its earliest settlement until Sept. 29, 1898, the name was changed to honor John W. Neese, who sold the right-of-way to the South Bound Railroad in 1891.
Situated in the heart of town on U.S. Highway 321 is the Neeses United Methodist Church, which is celebrating its centennial. On Aug. 20, 1914, the church was organized with a charter membership of 40.
In 1989, Friends of the late L.C. Bonnette erected a bell tower in his memory. The structure stands in the church’s front yard and houses the bell that was originally located in the church narthex -- often serving as a photo-op for passing motorists.
Other sites of interest include the Neeses Farm Museum (which is currently closed for repairs), Giant Flea Market and Thunder Valley Raceway.
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Oliver Cromwell Dawson served for many years as a professor, athletic director, coach and administrator at South Carolina State College.
But it was his prowess as the college’s head football coach that earned Dawson recognition when S.C. State’s current football stadium was named after him in 1984.
As the school’s head football coach in 1947, Dawson led the team to an undefeated season, which propelled it into the national championship for black colleges and universities.
A Georgia native, Dawson coached five sports at S.C. State from 1935-1976 and won championships in four of them. He also served as athletics director and initiated the school’s Health and Physical Education program.
With segregation the law of the land in South Carolina, Dawson’s record in eight seasons (World War II halted football from 1943-45) was 30-29-7, but in 1947, he led the Bulldogs to a 6-0-2 season and the Black National Championship game.
In 1974, Dawson became the first black inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 1983 he became a charter member of the South Carolina State College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Dawson died in February 1989 at the age of 78.
The football stadium opened in 1955 and has undergone several upgrades and renovations over the years.
Semi-permanent seats were added in 1972 to increase capacity to 10,000. Additional renovations included increasing the seating to 15,000 and remodeling the press box.
In 1994, a $4.5 million refurbishment project at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium raised the seating capacity to its present level of 22,000. The refurbishment entailed resodding the playing field, adding extra restrooms and again remodeling the press box.
In 2006, S.C. State installed synthetic turf to replace the natural grass in the stadium at a cost of $552,000 and added a $427,000 state-of-the-art scoreboard.
The stadium, situated on Buckley Street on the campus of SCSU, currently hosts men’s football and women’s soccer. It has witnessed much success. The Bulldogs won Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 2005. The Bulldogs claimed Black National Titles in 1976, 1981 and 1994 and earned NCAA Division 1-AA berths in 1981 and 1982.
- Christopher Huff
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From the old tree that granddad planted to acres of orchards, pecan trees are plentiful in Orangeburg County.
The planting of pecans in the county began in the late 1880s to early 1890s.
By the turn of the century, large groves appeared throughout all sections of the county.
A century ago, there were already three pecan nurseries in Orangeburg County.
The leading varieties of pecans in Orangeburg County over the past 100 years have been Mobile, Van Deman, Schley, Stuart and Frotscher.
The “Stuart” is a favorite and is considered the most common cultivars of pecans in the Southeastern United States.
The “Stuart” was discovered in 1880 in Mississippi.
A Stuart pecan tree takes eight to 10 years to begin producing nuts.
In the city of Orangeburg, there are two main pecan shelling businesses: Orangeburg Pecan Company and the “Nut House” at Orangeburg Milling Company.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- Richard Walker
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“Riding along in my automobile, my baby beside me at the wheel. I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile, my curiosity running wild. Cruising and playing the radio, with no particular place to go.” — Chuck Berry.
There was a time when cruising along and playing the radio was the place to be. It was a time that morphed from poodle skirts to teenyboppers on to bouffants and the Beatles.
If you couldn’t afford the just-released Split-T window Corvette as the place to steal a kiss, Dad’s family sedan would do just fine. And that could have been just like today’s “100 Objects” entry — the car perched atop the poles outside of Elloree on U.S. 301.
The now-rusted tank of a car is a 1953 Chevrolet Belair Deluxe that appears to have at one time been painted a flashy yellow.
A novelty, the “cars on a pole craze” seems to have taken hold in the 1970s across the country, typically to advertise a car repair shop or dealership. Orangeburg County’s “Flying Car” seems to have been used for that purpose as well, first advertising a garage, then a car lot and finally a country store — all operated by a family from Elloree.
The Flying ‘53 Chevrolet was the first year for what Chevrolet called its “210” series, a line of autos so designated to follow a growing trend of naming models with numbers. The body styles offered the motorists seeking a premium vehicle included a convertible, a Sport Coupe hardtop, two doors or four, and the ultimate family model, the station wagon.
Elloree’s Flying Car is a four-door model that most likely boasted a light blue body paint with a dark blue top. All models came with an in-line 6-cylinder engine that produced at their maximum a whopping 125 horsepower — about as much as today’s economy cars. A “Powerglide” automatic transmission was optional.
It might not have had the power of the Corvette, but few cars did. Still, the 1953 Deluxe was once the queen of the highways.
Today, the Flying Car has been cruising the air for more than 40 years. An eye-catcher for those who pass, it doesn’t take much to imagine the windows down, six cylinders powering the two-speed automatic transmission and the teenyboppers in Dad’s cruiser cruising down the highway with no particular place to go.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow Walker on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
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A silo stands near the No. 1 tee at Hillcrest Golf Club. It and the clubhouse, the shell of a farm’s barn, serve as reminders of the days before the land was used for recreation.
Before construction of the $450,000 golf course in the early 1970s, the 200-acre site off St. Matthews Road was a South Carolina State University experimental dairy farm.
The site’s terrain — the property is located on one of the highest points in the greater Orangeburg area — proved an attractive opportunity for development.
Seeing the potential, then-South Carolina State College President Dr. M. Maceo Nance Jr. and Orangeburg City Administrator Bob Stevenson worked together to bring the partnership to life with the goal of uniting Orangeburg’s people in the spirit of recreation and entertainment.
The recreational complex, with the golf course as a centerpiece, was born.
Once the Hillcrest idea was approved, Orangeburg City Council applied for matching federal funds.
Gov. John West and U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond helped Orangeburg get about $320,000 through the Economic Development Administration.
S.C. State agreed to lease the property to the city for $1 a year for 50 years, with both the university and city council appointing members to the governing Hillcrest Golf Commission.
West hit the first ball at the new golf course on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 1973.
The 18-hole course was designed and constructed by Russell Breeden.
Open year-round, this par 72 course measures 6,722 yards in length.
There have been improvements at the course over the years, including the addition of an automated sprinkler system and on-course restroom facilities. The club hosts lessons and tournaments including the annual Orangeburg Festival of Roses Tournament in April and the South Carolina State University Intercollegiate Tournament.
It is also a 1994 U.S.G.A. Sectional Qualifying course for the U.S. Amateur Championship.
The course, located on 1280 State A&M Road, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.
- T&D Staff Report
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Initially formed by the hand of man, Lake Marion has evolved into a paradise for wildlife.
Lake Marion, South Carolina’s largest lake, was formed in November 1941 during the construction of the Santee Dam as part of state-owned utility Santee Cooper’s Hydroelectric and Navigation Project.
The project was initiated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program during the Great Depression.
The reservoir was constructed to provide hydroelectric power to rural South Carolina and to provide needed jobs for the depression-ravaged state.
Covering about 110,600 acres, the lake is located within the coastal plain and is bordered by Orangeburg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Berkeley and Sumter counties. The lake’s headwaters extend upstream almost to the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree rivers, where seasonally flooded, forested wetlands form the wildlife-rich Sparkleberry Swamp.
Lake Marion is fed by many tributaries, including Wyboo Creek and the Santee River, and also by numerous springs including Eutaw Springs. The lake is named for the American Revolutionary War General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion. His former home of Pond Bluff was one of the properties flooded when the lake was created.
The completion of the project was moved ahead as the result of World War II, and Lake Marion Dam was closed before the clearing of Lake Marion was completed. As a result, thousands upon thousands of stumps, dead tree trunks and live cypress trees are found in the lake.
These have served as fish habitats for nearly all fish species, especially crappie, bream and catfish.
Native aquatic vegetation is also present along the gently-sloping shorelines and backwater sloughs, providing habitat for fish including largemouth bass, pickerel and bream.
The state fishing record for largemouth bass (16.2 pounds) was set at Lake Marion.
Other fish that abound in its waters are striped bass, white perch, white bass, shellcrackers and chain (Jack). Deer, foxes, squirrels, turtles, doves, turkeys, alligators and various species of ducks, hawks, eagles, egrets and ospreys also call Lake Marion home.
Public access is provided via several public boat ramps as well as at Santee State Park and Santee National Wildlife Refuge on the northern shore of the lake. Of the total 13,000 acres that make up Santee National Wildlife Refuge, only 4,400 acres are owned, with the remaining acreage being managed under a lease agreement with the South Carolina Public Service Authority (aka Santee Cooper). The refuge manages 10 conservation easements on private lands, totalling 458 acres, in Bamberg, Barnwell, Clarendon and Orangeburg counties.
Interstate 95 crosses Lake Marion near the town of Santee.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
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CORDOVA -- Kurt Von Graff, owner of Dry Swamp Airport, has said the property was all farmland when he purchased it in 2003, but now it’s an airport and has been for the past decade.
Von Graff, a retired construction worker from New Jersey, gradually made major adjustments and improvements to the private airport that was on the farmland he purchased from Lawrence Whitaker.
The runway measures 2,900 feet and is made of grass.
The airport is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration and is open to the public.
Von Graff said he’s also working on an aircraft museum for the site.
He said 11 planes are based there and that he has quite a few pilots stop at the only airport in Cordova to fuel up throughout the year.
Von Graff is also a licensed commercial pilot and certified maintenance mechanic.
He’s grateful to his neighbors and to visitors to the airport – whether they arrive there by driving or flying.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
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T&D Staff Report
A man dressed in an 1860 Citadel uniform stands tall in Orangeburg’s Memorial Plaza.
In June 1887, a group of 21 Orangeburg County women formed the Orangeburg Confederate Monument Association with the intent of erecting a monument to the soldiers of the Confederacy from Orangeburg County who had died.
The ladies raised $7,000 over a seven-year period to construct the monument.
On Oct. 18, 1893, several thousand people gathered on the plaza to view the unveiling of the 33-foot-tall Confederate Monument modeled after Capt. John Palmer.
Palmer fought in the war as a member of the Hampton Legion. His distinguished looks as a Southern gentleman were considered a perfect model for the soldier on the monument.
The design was an original concept by the women of the CMA. Theo Markwalter of Augusta, Georgia, was contracted to do the work. The monument was built from granite purchased in Winnsboro. Palmer’s image was molded and cast by Markwalter in a small town in Massachusetts.
The Confederate Monument stood in front of Courthouse Square until it was moved to the center of Memorial Plaza.
Palmer had local connections. He was a great-uncle of Miss Ellen Chaplin, who served as superintendent of education for Orangeburg County in the 1960s and 1970s.
- Martha Rose Brown
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The Elloree Training Center, home of the annual Elloree Trials horse racing event each year, got its start in 1939 when the land was purchased for the purpose of building a race track.
On July 25, 1940, Palmetto Racing Park Inc., as it was called then, officially opened with lancing tournaments and horse races, drawing a crowd of thousands.
Gambling was legal at the time but was halted in 1947 when the late Strom Thurmond was elected governor of South Carolina.
Horse racing at the track halted, and Palmetto Racing Park fell silent.
In 1960, Phil Utman, a thoroughbred owner/trainer from Iowa, purchased the facility and revitalized it as Utman Training Center.
Utman’s dream to revive horse racing at the track also spread to local Elloree leaders and civic organizations who arranged for the first Elloree Trials in 1962. The event has been going strong ever since.
Utman Training Center eventually became Pine Hill Farm when it was sold to William Meaut, a Virginian, but it wasn’t long before Franklin “Goree” Smith purchased it.
Smith has owned the facility that became Elloree Training Center since 1976.
The late Chris Antley of Elloree, a nationally known jockey, competed in several races at Elloree Training Center.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545.
- Martha Rose Brown
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The expansive Four Hole Swamp crosses through a major portion of Orangeburg County as well as portions of Calhoun, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
Folklore has it that the name of “Four Hole” was given to the swamp because the water in it originates in “four” holes, or large pits, that bubble up from natural springs.
Other stories of its origin say the swamp merely has four deeper spots in it, thus “four hole.”
One of the deeper portions is known as Goodbys Hole.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service describes Four Hole Swamp as originating in the Atlantic Southern Loam Plains and draining nearly 653 square miles, or roughly 418,000 acres.
Significant tributaries to Four Hole Swamp include Cowcastle Creek and Dean Swamp.
Some of the early land grants to Orangeburgh District settlers were in the headwaters of Four Hole Swamp, at and below what is now the intersection of Belleville Road and U.S. Highway 176.
Margaret Waters of the Orangeburgh German Swiss Genealogical Society has worked to identify early settlers. Among the properties dating 1735-1738 were grants to Peter Faure, Joshua Lockwood, Anna Maria Till, John Myer and Jacob Bruck.
Slightly later grants went to Melchior Smith, Margaret Tenison, Jacob Heagler, Catherine Miller and Michael Smith. Of these people, John Myer and John Heagler were founders of lasting Orangeburg families.
Others like Jacob Lockwood were coastal residents who applied for land and quickly sold it. By the time of the 1790 census, the following resided along Four Hole Swamp: Daniel Kemmerley (Kemmerlin), Frederick Keller, Barbara Mourer (Moorer), Margaret Zimmerman, John Zimmerman, John Rush and William Whetstone.
All of these are familiar names, and in some cases, descendants of the founding families still live in the area.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
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NORTH — The dome which sits atop North United Methodist Church is a unique, ornate symbol which dates back to 1917.
The first Methodist church to be built in North was at the present location of 8301 Salley Road. The wooden rectangular building, complete with a tall steeple and bell, was built in 1896. The present brick sanctuary which includes many beautiful stained-glass windows and a very unique dome was built in 1917.
The dome includes stained-glass windows on each of its six sides, along with a large stained-glass display on its bottom. Lights were added to the dome in the 1990s to illuminate the stained-glass windows at night.
For the church, the dome serves as a permanent symbol of God’s love shinning forth into the world, a beacon for everyone to come and experience the love and hope found in Jesus.
- Martha Rose Brown
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Thousands upon thousands of these “objects” are visible from one end of Orangeburg County to the other in the late summer each year.
Cotton was not extensively grown in Orangeburg County until 1802.
Within decades, cotton production increased rapidly and by 1850 it was the most important crop in the county.
In the late 1790s, Capt. Peter Gaillard purchased lands in Upper St. John’s Parish, which was considered Charleston County at the time, but is now Orangeburg County.
He initially sought to plant crops for consumption, but soon after the invention of the cotton gin in 1794, Gaillard planted cotton.
He’s credited with being the first planter in the region to successfully produce cotton.
On the lands that Gaillard purchased, he soon built a home: The Rocks Plantation in 1803, just outside of Eutawville.
To this day, The Rocks Plantation continues to farm cotton and is likely the oldest consistently operating farm in Orangeburg County.
About 100 years ago, there were 129,053 acres of cotton planted in Orangeburg County.
The Farm Service Agency reported 35,331 acres of cotton were planted in Orangeburg County in 2013, with an average yield of 700 pounds per acre.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
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One landmark on Old Edisto Drive has continued to stand — or in this case, wave — proudly from its 50-foot perch.
A large Old Glory welcomes visitors to the Dodge’s Chicken Store and as it has for at least 30 years, says owner Henry Dodge.
The store at 1801 Old Edisto Drive was formerly known as the Saving Station. Dodge purchased it about 30 years ago and, like other stores in the Dodge’s Store chain, he thought a large the flag would be a nice addition to the business.
“We think it is a nice reminder of the legacy of this country this day and any day,” Dodge said. “When we put it up, we got a lot of recognition. People are used to it now. It is not as novel as it was back then, but we enjoy the use of it.”
Dodge is not sure of the size of the current flag, but he says it has been reduced in size from a previous flag that used to don the pole.
“The wind tears them up and flags that size are about $500 to $600 each,” Dodge said
Dodge said a lot more people used to see the flag back in the day.
“We have been in Orangeburg a long time,” he said. “That was the big highway from Florida to New York. The bypass took a lot of it, but we are proud to be there.”
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
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More than 230 years ago, the birthing pains of a young nation were felt in fierce fighting between American Patriots and British forces.
Orangeburg was in the midst of it as the colonies fought their way toward independence from Great Britain.
Positioned in Orangeburg’s Memorial Plaza are two cannons that are believed to have played vital roles in the Revolutionary War.
Capt. Henry Felder, a native of Switzerland who had an unwavering love for his new country and a devotion to liberty, risked everything — including his own life — to answer the call to defend America.
Felder, who married and had seven sons, was a patriot to the core.
He fought in the Indian War and also served as the foreman of the Orangeburgh Grand Jury.
He subsequently formed a militia to fight for freedom from England. The devotion he and his family demonstrated to the cause of liberty resulted in tragic personal losses for them. Felder’s homestead was burned twice by Tories.
It is speculated that Felder acquired approximately four cannons during his lifetime, but the two displayed today in Memorial Plaza in downtown Orangeburg were his pride and joy.
Under the command of General Thomas Sumter, Felder’s Militia Company — including seven of his sons — guided Sumter’s troops by way of Belleview Road, down Russell Street and into Orangeburgh village.
They fired cannons along the way and defeated the British militia in order to gain control of the Orangeburgh post.
In 1781, Felder would succumb to the wounds he suffered in artillery fire by British Tories as he defended his home of Orangeburgh.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
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Ebenezer Baptist Church, its white peaked arches stretching toward heaven, dominates the landscape of the small town of Cordova.
The sanctuary has served as a home for the local Southern Baptist Church since 1926.
The building is reminiscent of the Gothic style with tall, slender, peaked windows lining each side of it and on both sides of the front door.
The name Ebenezer, which means “stone of help,” came from 1 Samuel 7:12. Following an Israelite victory over the Philistines, Samuel set up a stone to commemorate the occasion and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Hitherto the Lord has helped us.”
A history of the church reports that it was constructed on land donated by Mrs. Henry Gibson during the pastorate of the Rev. M.O. Owens. It was valued at $29,000 and had a seating capacity of 350.
Bricks made on the spot were used in construction of the building. At some time, they were painted white and remain so today.
In 1942, the Rev. J.M. Lane challenged church members to pay off the building’s indebtedness. Offerings covering the full sum were received on two consecutive Sundays.
Over the years, Ebenezer has had a strong working relationship with the local public school system. In 1943, the local school burned, and classes were held in the church for the next year and a half.
Almost 20 years later, the school system returned the favor.
In 1962, the church building was declared unsafe and services were held in the school while extensive repairs were made.
The familiar building in Cordova is the third home of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
A building constructed in 1831 was located at the site of the church cemetery about a mile and half from the current site. It was “constituted with nineteen members” and was pastored by John Hallman, according to the “History of Ebenezer Baptist Church 1831-1986.”
At some point, this building was pulled down to make room for another structure.
This second building, known as the “Old Church,” was a one-room frame building. The men sat on one side of the aisle and the women on the other. Curtains were used to divide off Sunday school rooms.
The “Old Church” was torn down and the lumber was used to build a home for Fred Smoak, whose house had been destroyed by fire.
- Martha Rose Brown
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Just a few feet away from the Aiken County line in Orangeburg County stands a granite marker erected more than 90 years ago by the Jeremiah Jones Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The marker is located on Ninety-Six Road, also known as John Nunn Highway, outside the North town limits.
On Feb. 28, 1917, the DAR organized a local chapter and named it in honor of Jeremiah Jones, a Revolutionary War patriot whose homestead was located nearby.
About five years later, the local chapter placed the granite marker beside Old Ninety-Six Road.
Sen. James F. Byrnes delivered the formal address at the marker’s dedication.
Jones was born on Dec. 27, 1759, and he was about 22 when he enlisted in the Army while residing in the Orangeburgh District in 1781.
He initially served under Capt. John Stanfield and was under the leadership of Capt. James Farr when he was involved in the battles of Lynches Creek.
Jones also served under Colonels Wade and Sumter, then under Capt. Andrew Dubose and ultimately under General Francis Marion.
The Ninety-Six Road is also known as the Old Indian Trail because it was the main route connecting Cherokee villages in the Upstate with the English settlement of Charles Towne (Charleston) on the coast.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- BY KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
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Branchville commemorates its place in history as the home of the World’s Oldest Railroad Junction each September by presenting its Raylrode Daze Festivul.
Tom Jennings grew up in the quaint town that spans an area of a little more than three miles.
Throughout his life, many things have been special to him, particularly his friends and family. For 46 years, the Raylrode Daze Festivul has continued to offer those special people in Jennings’ life a chance to gather and celebrate the history that’s backdrop is “built on our little town within a town.”
As Jennings remembers the story, Branch Junction was built in the early 1970s by local men as a backdrop for the popular gunfights staged for the festival. In the first festival in 1969, as a form of entertainment, a group of local men decided to do a mock robbery of the town’s bank. As the villains came out of the bank, they were met by the sheriff and his deputies. An old-time western shoot-out ensued.
“Of course, no one was hurt, but the crowds really seemed to enjoy the show. It was then decided that a place that depicted an old western town, as well as a softer place to land when shot, was needed. Therefore, Branch Junction was born,” Jennings said.
As the festival grew, so did Branch Junction. Each year a few more buildings were added. Eventually, a Grand Hotel complete with a stage for entertainment was added, along with a blacksmith shop that was mostly used for storage, giving Branch Junction the appearance of an old western town.
“I remember there being a jail, bank, several stores, sheriff’s office, saloon and funeral parlor. In earlier years, the stage was a four-wheel farm trailer,” Jennings said.
As the years passed, the buildings would require maintenance and occasionally, some had to be torn down and rebuilt. During Hurricane Hugo, the top of the stage was blown off, but the festival went on.
In 2007, the blacksmith shop and the saloon were destroyed by fire. Some items used for the festival were also lost, along with many of the photographs from past festivals.
The in 2008, a devastating tornado ripped through Branchville, demolishing Branch Junction.
“It was very upsetting to see the twisted wood and bent tin that was once our beloved Branch Junction,” Jennings said. “Only a few structures remained, and it was uncertain as to what the future of Branch Junction would be.”
Many townspeople began working to secure funding to rebuild the venue. Funds from grants through the county and state were obtained, and a new Branch Junction rose from the ashes and was ready for the 40th annual festival that September.
Today, Branch Junction consists of eight buildings that are rented to festival vendors to sell their wares during Raylrode Daze.
One building serves as the arts and crafts and concessions space, a jail, a sheriff’s office, a funeral parlor and a saloon.
The stage in Branch Junction showcases festival entertainers each year.
Can Can dancers perform several times each day during the event, along with singers, dancers and bands. The popular shoot-outs are still performed by the Branch Junction Gunfighters.
“Branch Junction is what makes Raylrode Daze so special,” Jennings said. “It’s what sets us apart from other festivals. Festival-goers bring their chairs to sit under the porches and enjoy the entertainment as well as reminiscence with old acquaintances that they may have not seen since last year’s festival.”
Contact the writer:kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-555. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis. Also contributing to this article was Tom Jennings, president of the Raylrode Daze Festivul.
- Martha Rose Brown
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A building that once served as a school for the Native American population in the area still stands today on Bayview Street just outside of Holly Hill.
Currently known as the White Oak School, the old single-story wooden structure, along with its chimneys, was built in the late 1800s by Frederick Connor. Connor owned and operated Connor Plantation about two miles away.
Early school and state records actually refer to the school as “Crane Pond School,” but the leaders and members of the Santee Indian Organization, headquartered at 432 Bayview Street, have worked over the years to maintain the school’s name as “White Oak.”
For several years, the Santee Indian Organization, a state-recognized tribe, was housed in the former school.
Family records show that Frederick Connor’s daughter-in-law, Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” Murray Connor, began teaching at the Native American school in 1899, earning a salary of $6 a week. She was also provided a horse and buggy to travel from the family homestead to the school and back each day.
The school served students in first through eighth grades.
During the decades of segregation when laws mandated that whites and blacks attend separate public schools, such was the case for the Native Americans.
When Orangeburg County’s schools began to integrate during the early to mid-1960s, the building ceased to function as a public school.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
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Six years ago, Neeses couple Tim and Sherri Adams lost their daughter in a car accident.
They decided a place of remembrance was needed for all families who have lost a child.
The Adams’ efforts led to the development of the Angel of Hope Garden, a statue hewn of stone as permanent as the parents’ love for their child.
The Angel of Hope Garden, which opened in December 2009, features a 4-foot-tall Angel of Hope statue atop a granite base, the Wall of Love and the Walk of Love.
The Adams lost their 11-year-old daughter, Amber, in a car crash in May 2008.
They provided the start-up money and helped form the citizens’ committee that raised the entire $45,000 needed for the project. City staff installed irrigation, lighting and landscaping as well as the Wall of Love, the Walk of Love and other walkways.
A local brick mason and monument company donated their skills and labor.
When the work was completed, it became the first Angel of Hope Garden in the state and the 100th in the world.
In 2011, the garden was recognized by the Municipal Association of South Carolina by winning the Municipal Achievement Award.
Since 1994, Angels of Hope statues have been located around the U.S. and in Canada. The first was dedicated in Salt Lake City by Richard Paul Evans, author of the New York Times best-seller “The Christmas Box.”
In the fictional story he wrote for his two daughters, Evans referenced an angel monument that actually did exist in a Salt Lake City cemetery until it was destroyed by a flood. In response to the demand from grieving parents who lost children, Evans commissioned the creation of the first Angel of Hope.
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An Orangeburg livestock auction market is one the city’s best-kept secrets.
Orangeburg Stockyards Inc. on Whaley Street, which dates back to the pre-World War II era, continues to operate today.
Originally called the Farmers’ Livestock Market, the market underwent a number of name changes before becoming Orangeburg Stockyards in the 1950s.
Owned by Four Holes resident Steve Nash since 1990, the market auctions off cattle, hogs and goats.
The operation houses air-conditioned, roofed-in pens on about 1.5 acres. The animals are kept well fed for the traditional hour-long Wednesday auctions.
Each animal has barn space reserved for it, and the livestock is listed by weight and breed.
Buyers typically arrive as early as 7:30 a.m. on Wednesdays to participate in the 11 a.m. auction. The market starts receiving livestock on Tuesdays in preparation for the auction.
On average, Orangeburg Stockyards Inc. sells nearly 550 head of cattle a week, about 200 to 250 hogs and almost 50 goats. Sellers typically get paid immediately when their animal is picked up.
Whaley Street became the hub of the early Orangeburg livestock industry.
The Orangeburg Packing Plant opened on Whaley in 1918, and the plant is believed to have been the first place where meat was ever shipped from the state.
The packing plant closed during the Great Depression in the 1930s and reopened following the Depression before permanently going out of business in 1969.
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It took years of planning and effort, but in 2011 Orangeburg County Fire District firefighters were able to begin practicing in their own fire training tower/burn facility.
The $778,000 tower became operational in June 2011, with a grand opening in the fall of 2011.
The 40-foot drill tower/burn facility is located at the fire complex headquarters on U.S. Highway 301 near the intersection with Interstate 26. The building is about 25 feet wide and 75 feet long. The tower is about 40 feet wide and stands five stories.
The training facility allows firefighters to hone their skills fighting various types of blazes within a controlled environment.
The multipurpose facility is used for search and rescue training and live fire burns. Additional props are put in place, allowing firefighters to jump off the building and train in removing roof structures in the event of a fire.
Three years after its opening, the tower has helped train about 400 firefighters from across the state as well as officers from agencies such as the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division.
Orangeburg County Fire System Coordinator Gene Ball said the fire tower has helped lower Insurance Services Office ratings for the county.
Insurance companies rate fire departments and communities on their fire service infrastructure development. Lower ISO ratings for fire departments typically mean lower insurance premiums for the homeowners they serve.
The structure also allows firefighters to receive training closer to home.
“It is being utilized regularly,” Ball said.
- Dionne Gleaton
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A monument on South Carolina State University’s campus serves as a lasting tribute to the three students who died in the incident that became known as the “Orangeburg Massacre.”
Samuel Hammond, a freshman football player from Florida; Henry Smith, a sophomore from Marion, and Delano Middleton, a 17-year-old whose mother worked at the college, were killed on Feb. 8, 1968.
On that night, S.C. Highway Patrol troopers opened fire on a crowd of protesters following three nights of escalating racial tension over efforts to desegregate the All-Star Triangle Bowl. There were 28 other people who were injured.
A year after the incident, the Smith-Hammond-Middleton monument was erected honoring those who died. Each year on the anniversary, S.C. State holds a memorial service in honor of the three students. A torch is lit at the monument as part of the ceremony.
In 2003, then-S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford formally apologized for the incident.
“I think it’s appropriate to tell the African-American community in South Carolina that we don’t just regret what happened in Orangeburg 35 years ago — we apologize for it,” Sanford said in a statement.
A building on campus is also named for Smith, Hammond and Middleton.
It was following the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the event that Middleton’s friend and classmate Sam Haynes noticed that Middleton’s middle initial was incorrectly engraved in the monument as “B.” While Middleton was affectionately known as “Bump” by family and friends, his middle name was actually Herman.
The monument was corrected in 2013, with S.C. State President Thomas J. Elzey thanking then-Mayor Paul Miller and the city for following through with the work to correct the monument.
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Visitors and students since 2007 have been welcomed to Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College by a semi-circle fountain located in front of the Student and Community Life Center.
The fountain was presented to the college by the OCtech Foundation in honor of its 30th anniversary, according to Executive Director Faith McCurry.
“We wanted to create a landmark on campus visible from Highway 601 that presented an inviting presence and provided a place for students to go and relax,” she said.
“It’s a welcoming point in the middle of campus for visitors and new students and is visible day and night. It’s lit at night,” McCurry said.
The fountain has been part of numerous community celebrations.
Several years ago, the water in the fountain was colored pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Week. Some years before that, it was dyed green in observance of St. Patrick’s Day.
This May, visitors to the campus may have been surprised to see the fountain filled with yellow rubber ducks. Each duck represented a $20 donation to a scholarship drive, McCurry said.
The fountain was designed and constructed by Hay Hill Services.
“It was very important to the Foundation that local people be involved in the construction and design of the fountain,” McCurry said.
A local firm also landscaped the area around the fountain, she said.
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A machine standing approximately 9 feet tall by nearly 15 feet long and weighing more than 25,000 pounds is an essential tool used in treating cancerous tumors at the H. Filmore Mabry Center for Cancer Care at the Regional Medical Center.
With the completion of the expansion of the Mabry Center in the summer of 2013, RMC continues to offer access to the most advanced radiation therapy. A new $2.9 million Trilogy linear accelerator by Varian Medical Systems was part of the expansion.
The equipment generates high energy X-rays by using microwave energy to accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light. As the electrons reach maximum speed, they collide with a metal target to release photons (or X-rays). The accelerator rotates around the patient to deliver the radiation treatments from nearly any angle.
The linear accelerator is outfitted with an important accessory called a multi-leaf collimator. This device, which has 120 computer-controlled mechanical “leaves” or “fingers,” is used to shape the beam of radiation so that it conforms to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor.
RMC’s $8 million expansion of the Mabry Center also features new medical and radiation oncology space, including additional exam rooms, technology and replacement of the heating and cooling system.
The Mabry Center was expanded to better accommodate the care and treatment needs of patients and to help keep patients in Orangeburg and slow the out-migration of patients. An out-migration of approximately 14 percent has been cited.
Located at 1161 Cook Road, Orangeburg, the Mabry Center was built in 1992 to treat 400 patients a year. In 2012, more than 1,000 patients were treated and more than 5,000 radiation treatments were performed.
Along with the second linear accelerator, which was added to handle increasing patient volumes for radiation, the 9,696-square-foot addition to the Mabry Center for Cancer Care has also allowed for patient, family and support areas.
The RMC paid for the project using a portion of a $25 million borrowing package. The multi-phase project was done without interrupting patient care.
For more information about the Mabry Center for Cancer Care at RMC, call 803-395-4600, toll free in S.C. at 800-476-3377, ext. 4600 or visit www.trmchealth.org.
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Four years ago, Holly Hill and Orangeburg County officials held a public hearing to discuss plans to renovate the vacant former Holly Hill Middle School.
The plans called for transforming the structure into a multi-purpose building providing both county and city services.
Earlier this year, the fruits their labor were realized when the new $4 million intergovernmental complex, located at 8423 Old State Road, opened to the public.
The building houses Holly Hill Town Hall and the Holly Hill Police Department as well as the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Home Health Services and clinicians.
The Holly Hill Branch of the Orangeburg County Library operates in the facility five days a week.
The balance of the project, approximately $3 million, was funded through grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other funding came from county’s capital projects penny sales tax monies.
In the mid-1920s, Holly Hill High School was located at the site. Eventually, with modifications and renovations through the years, it became Holly Hill Middle School.
The school closed in 2004 after the district’s two high schools merged into one — Lake Marion High School — and the middle school students and staff relocated to the former Holly Hill High School campus.
Orangeburg County purchased the building from Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three for $10 in 2007.
The building has received recognition on the state level, earning honorable mention this month in the J. Mitchell Graham Memorial Award presentation. The South Carolina Association of Counties presents the award annually to recognize counties that address community challenges, implement operational improvements or enhance their citizens’ quality of life in a unique way.
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“Serving 100,000 Radio Families Covering Ten Lower Central South Carolina Counties.”
Although the station can no longer be found on the dial, the message is broadcast on the exterior of the building that once housed Orangeburg’s WTND Radio.
The building, which is located on Memorial Plaza, was home to the radio station from the late 1940s to the late 1970s.
J. Izlar Sims, son of then-Times and Democrat owner James L. Sims, is credited with putting the radio station on the air. It was owned and operated by The T&D and the Dixie Home Building.
Izlar Sims was also credited with bringing the first talking picture to Orangeburg in the late 1920s.
WTND aired an unusual play-by-play account of afternoon games of both the National and American Leagues.
The announcers of the particular network carried by WTND were not allowed to broadcast from where the game was being played. Instead, the announcers were situated in studios where the actions of the game would be transmitted over teletype.
Surrounded with a variety of sound effect instruments, all the sounds that would be heard from the game would be focused into the announcer’s mike. There was no way the listener could tell the background noise from the real thing.
The building was built in 1909 by W.C. Wolfe as a 100-room hotel. At five stories high, the hotel was the second-tallest building in the state at the time. It had electric lights, an electric elevator and fans.
A 1941 fire destroyed the two upper floors of the hotel.
At the time, the first floor was occupied by the law office of Julian S. Wolfe, the Hutto and Haddock Barber Shop and Walker & Bowman.
The building has also housed Sears and a Belk-Hudson thrift store. It later housed E-Mart, which closed in January 2005.
The building was purchased in February 2006 with plans to make it the headquarters of a church ministry. In 2010, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety put a notice on the building deeming it unsafe to enter.
Today, the roof of the entire building has collapsed. The building has been condemned by the city.
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The three-story building in the heart of Norway towers above everything around it. It has also been called the tallest building between Columbia and Savannah, and Orangeburg and Aiken.
The building at the corner of Norway Road and U.S. Highway 321 was built in 1926 for use as a bank by B.B. Williams, who also helped build Norway’s Willow Swamp Baptist Church. Williams was the grandfather of the late state Senate President Pro Tem Marshall B. Williams.
The building has vaults on the main floor and in the basement, apartments on the second floor and the third floor was added for the Masons.
When the building was used as a bank, an elevator transport system would drop money bags from the bank’s first floor vault to its cellar vault.
The building, which has 16-foot ceilings, has had a number of uses over the years.
The second-floor apartments were often used by newly married couples.
It was rented out for some time as warehouse space, but has also housed a cotton brokerage, a fertilizer business and doctors’ and dentists’ offices.
The last bank in the building was the former South Carolina Bank and Trust and the last business was Norway Insurance Company. The building is now used for storage.
Danny Covington, the current owner, says he has not been able to confirm if the building is the tallest for miles and miles but says it is 52 feet tall.
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The roar of engines has been heard at Orangeburg Drag Strip since its construction and opening in 1961.
At that time, there was no timing equipment. Everything was started by a man getting out in front of the cars and dropping his hands. Then, off to the races they went!
There was no guard rail to protect spectators from the cars back then. The original track featured racing over a quarter-mile, with another quarter-mile of stopping distance.
In 1972, brothers Zane, Tommy and Jimmy DeWitt purchased the track from original owners T.J. Ashe, Ezel Hutto and Nick Davis.
The DeWitt brothers installed guard rails and brought in timing equipment that was built in Leesville. It was a black box that sat in the tower; a calculator was used to subtract the difference from each car’s dial in.
During this time, racing took off with cars getting faster running the quarter-mile in the high 10-second range.
The track saw the likes of the DeWitts, Houston Platt, Zeigler Chevrolet, the Brickles at Orangeburg Auto, Buddy Boozer, Sonny Tindal and the Smiths of North.
The DeWitts started what is now called “grudge racing.” A driver would pay $1 to get in and another $1 to run his car.
Don Garrick purchased Orangeburg Drag Strip from the DeWitt brothers in 1982. Garrick continued with the Thursday night racing, along with Sunday bracket racing. He also started running motorcycle events.
Garrick sold the track to Charles and Johnny Dowey. The Doweys tore up the old asphalt and converted the track to all concrete for better traction.
In 2001, Jimmy and Zane DeWitt re-purchased the track and continued to feature similar races for the next five years.
In 2006, the current owner, Buddy Boozer, purchased the track with the intention of refurbishing it.
With the help of the Doweys and their heavy equipment, the track was completely torn up as well as the buildings on the site.
The only exception was the tower, which the Doweys had installed from a prison they had demolished in Columbia.
A new racing surface, concrete guard rails and a shut-down area were put in place.
New timing equipment, scoreboards, a cafe and restrooms have since been added.
Today, the track is home to Pro Modified drag racing, bracket racing, grudge racing, junior dragsters and bike racing.
Orangeburg Drag Strip is located at 194 Dragstrip Road in Neeses.
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During the 1940s, legendary boxer Joe Louis forever helped to raise the profile of African-American athletes in the realm of sports. A decade later, the late Arthur Rose began his quest to play a similar role for African-American artists on Claflin University’s campus in Orangeburg.
Rose, a 1950 graduate of Claflin and the university’s first art major, was known as the “dean of black artists in South Carolina.” He served as chairman of Claflin’s art department from 1952-1976, making the university’s art department among the best in the state. Claflin was the only institution in the state where African-Americans could get a degree in art until the mid-sixties.
In December 1999, the former Lee Library building at Claflin was named the Arthur Rose Museum. The library had formerly served as Rose’s art studio.
Claflin graduate William Wilson Cooke was the architect who supervised the building’s construction by students in 1898.
Students fired the bricks in kilns dug on the campus. The library was named after Priscilla E. Lee Bennett, who provided the construction funds.
For his design, Cooke used a unique multi-sided, T-shaped plan and characterized the building’s exterior with red brickwork, terra cotta medallions and window details.
In 2005, the project received the South Carolina Historic Preservation Award from the Office of the Governor, the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
The museum is not the only historic building on Claflin’s campus.
Tingley Hall, the main administration building, was named in honor of Malvena Tingley of Providence, R.I., whose husband, Herbert, donated the money for its construction in 1908. Cooke also designed Tingley Hall, which contained 14 classrooms and an assembly hall.
Originally used for the institution’s English and pedagogical department, Tingley Hall has served as Claflin’s administrative building since a fire destroyed the main campus building in 1913.
Today, Tingley Hall houses the Office of the President as well as the provost, human resources, finance, public relations, IT, institutional development, auditor and other offices that function as the collective heartbeat of the university.
The building was renovated and upgraded about 11 years ago. Tingley’s copper-clad cupola is Claflin University’s most-recognized symbol. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Minister’s Hall was constructed in 1919 and was used as the college dining hall until the fall of 1964. It is the third oldest building on campus. Minister’s’ Hall is now home to the performing arts center and the Ernest A. Finney Jr. Library, named in honor of the Claflin graduate and South Carolina’s first African-American chief justice.
While it was being used as a storage facility, Minister’s Hall caught fire in 1994. The fire damaged the interior of the building and prompted several people to call for the structure to be demolished.
University officials opted instead to restore the building to its original integrity.
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A federally supported facility occupying approximately 250 acres, the Orangeburg National Fish Hatchery has been described as a well-kept secret in the community.
As one of two federally supported hatcheries in South Carolina — the other being on Wadmalaw Island — the fish hatchery has played a vital role in preserving the state’s aquatic life and one of its largest recreational activities: fishing.
The hatchery has two units. The main station is located on Lakeview Street just outside the city limits of Orangeburg, while the substation is on Cannon Bridge Road south of Orangeburg.
The hatchery is a warm-water fish hatchery, where fish are reared in approximately 27 earthen ponds in temperatures ranging from 60 degrees to 85 degrees.
The hatchery produces a variety of freshwater fish, including striped bass, redbreast sunfish, bluegill sunfish and shortnosed sturgeon. They are stocked in reservoirs, lakes and coastal streams across the Southeast, according to the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.
Federal funding has helped with structural issues at the hatchery, which completed an extensive renovation project on the dam at its Cannon Bridge Road substation in the early 2000s, along with the construction of an underground culvert at its main station on Stonewall Jackson Boulevard to assist with drainage for the area’s watershed.
To help enlighten the public on the importance of preservation and conservation, the Fish Hatchery sponsors tours and special fishing days for kids, senior citizens and those with special needs.
For more information on the various programs at the Orangeburg Fish Hatchery, call 803-534-4828.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
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Step inside the doors of one of Orangeburg’s oldest businesses and all your senses will be tested by everything from the savory aroma of freshly popped popcorn, to the creaking plank flooring beneath your feet, to the vast variety of merchandise, including a framed picture of the Last Supper, sewing notions, dry goods, BB guns and a Radio Flyer wagon.
No wonder for years it was called “Orangeburg’s favorite store”.
Welcome to Ferse’s 5&10.
The store was founded by T.B. Ferse Sr. in 1906. The gentleman was actually a farmer who sold produce at the corner of Broughton and Russell streets and later went into the retail business.
In 1985, the store was about to go out of business as its competition, like Woods and Kress, did years before.
However, that same year Roy Chandler purchased it from its previous owners, Santee Wholesale.
Chandler was no stranger to the dime store business, having worked for S.H. Kress for 30 years.
His reputation was such that on a particular Saturday morning he received a phone call from a Mr. Sam Walton, who offered him a position with his company.
Chandler turned down the offer.
According to the Russell Street businessman, the term 5&10 was coined by Sam Kress in 1896 when he opened his first store in Mephis, Tenn.
In those days, the store was split in half. Everything on one side was five cents, while the other side contained 10 cent items.
To this day, the Orangeburg business sells a few items at the 5 and 10 cent price points.
The locals enjoy the daily specials that the inside diner serves — from the post roast to Friday’ fish.
It also provides a variety of services that have helped Ferse’s 5&10 survive the dollar stores as well as the big box stores.
And while you are cruising the aisles, treat yourself to an Icee — it’s the only store in town that still serves the brand.
And you might just possibly find that hard-to-find item that has eluded you for years.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
The small town of Woodford boasts of a big way to save energy.
In 2011, dozens of solar panels were installed on the roof of the Woodford Community Center. The addition of the panels has essentially reduced the town’s utility bill to zero.
The solar panels were installed by Sunstore Solar Energy Solutions of Greenville. They work by converting sunlight into energy to operate the community center.
Any unused power is sold back to South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.
With a population of about 185, the town applied for a federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant of approximately $45,000 to make all of the improvements.
The life expectancy of the solar panels is more than 50 years, and the investment in the panels will pay for itself in 20 years.
While Woodford still has to purchase electricity from SCE&G, the panels have significantly reduced the town’s utility bill.
n Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
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When Interstate 95 was constructed through South Carolina in 1967, it ran from the North Carolina state line into U.S. Highway 301 in the town of Santee.
The U.S. 301/I-95 interchange was the southern terminus of the interstate, leading to the current non-traditional Texas diamond-shaped interchange.
U.S. Highway 301 served as a major thoroughfare for travelers on the East Coast until I-95 was complete.
I-95 and I-26 meet in eastern Orangeburg County — a symbol of the county’s strength in the area of transportation.
About 17 years ago, state Sens. John Matthews and Brad Hutto wanted to tap into the potential of the interstate and highway network as an ideal place for economic development.
In the early 2000s, the county started promoting the area formed by the interstates and U.S. 301 as the “Global Logistics Triangle,” which it eventually trademarked.
With the widening of the Panama Canal expected to bring larger ships into the Port of Charleston, the area is seen as ripe for distribution centers, light manufacturing and other transportation-related businesses.
In addition to the interstates, two rail lines pass through the triangle. The triangle also has the needed utilities and infrastructure for economic development.
Seeing the potential for growth, the South Carolina Department of Transportation plans to make improvements to the I-95-U.S. 301 interchange, including modifying it from a partial-access interchange to a full-access interchange. The $41 million upgrade aims to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic generated by the Jafza Magna Park, a planned industrial mega-site.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
A renovated two-room schoolhouse in the Santee Town Hall complex once served generations of students at its original location of Parler, a couple of miles from Santee towards Elloree along Old Number Six Highway.
Back in 1995, the Santee Development Association led efforts to move the old boarded-up schoolhouse from its setting in Parler to 176 Brooks Boulevard, where it is in use today.
The school dates back to the late 1800s, measures 2,100 square feet and is crafted from heart pine.
Now, fully renovated with its original hardwood floors salvaged and broken windows replaced, it serves as Santee Cultural Arts and Visitors Center.
U.S. Congressman James Clyburn has a representative in the building a few hours during the week to serve the public.
Outside of the renovated schoolhouse is a bell, which is original to the building when it was in Parler.
The Old Parler Schoolhouse is also a point of interest on the S.C. Heritage Corridor that crosses the state from east to west.
The building is owned and maintained by the Town of Santee.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RICHARD REID, T&D Correspondent
- Updated
Orangeburg has been and always will be recognized in the pages of history of the Civil War.
Gen. William T. Sherman and his Union troops marched into Orangeburg near the present-day Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center on Feb. 12, 1865.
While in Orangeburg, his troops burned the courthouse, the jail, some of the stores and bales of cotton. Sherman made his command post at Judge Thomas Glover’s home, which is still located on Whitman Street.
According to “The Writings of Marion Salley,” published in 1970, the area up Goff Avenue was known as “Camp Field” for both Confederate and Union troops at different times during the war.
The First and Fifth South Carolina Volunteers spent time on the “Camp Field” from May 1861 through April 1862.
While encamped, Gen. Johnson Hagood’s regiment marched to the Orangeburg Female College and donated a regimental flag to the ladies of the school.
The Orangeburg Female College was located on the site of the present-day Claflin University. In 1869, the Methodists purchased the land and the buildings of the Orangeburg Female College, thus creating Claflin University.
In February 1865, the Union Troops marched into Orangeburg and ironically camped in the same location as the Confederates did in 1861. How that site was selected is a mystery.
The Union troops were composed of mostly black soldiers with white officers. In a diary of Miss Mary Rowe, she writes: “This dreadful day has come, alas. The streets of our beloved village are thronged with Negro soldiers. At the corner of each street is a darkey, black as the ace of spades (eyes reminding one of an egg in a pot of coffee), as a guard.”
Salley writes, “Years after the withdrawal of the Negro Troops, it was rumored that much money had been buried on this old camping ground, and time and time again native Negroes spaded up parts of the field. Then was spread a report that some of the New York soldiers had returned and they unearthed the money which they had hidden before they left.
“The land, which had previously been acquired by Thomas B. Whaley, was sold by him in 1876 to Robert Copes, afterward the county treasurer, who was robbed and murdered in the 1890s. Mr. Copes sold the old field to Wikes Sawyer, and nearly a half century ago it was purchased, cut into building lots, and sold to the Negroes by Dr. M.G. Salley. For years it was the height of ambition for farm laborers of the community to save enough money to buy a lot and build a home ‘on Brooklyn.’”
Today, the old “Camp Field” is known as “New Brookland.”
Richard Reid is president of the Orangeburg Historical and Genealogical Society. His mission is researching Orangeburg history, with a particular emphasis on the role of African-Americans in that history.
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It was the fall of 1927 when the South Carolina State Agriculture and Mechanical Institute’s student newspaper, The Collegian, conducted a poll of students to determine what mascot they preferred to represent the college.
The nominees were: tiger, bear, wildcat, lion, bulldog and greyhound, said Dr. William Hine, a retired South Carolina State University history professor. Hine has recently written a history of S.C. State.
The bulldog won because of its “fighting tenacity.” And although the institution’s name has changed to South Carolina State University, the mascot has remained.
The university has two Bulldog statues that grace its campus.
One stands sentinel, watching those who enter and exit the campus. Standing four feet tall and weighing 1,200 pounds, the “Big Bulldog on Campus” wears a scowl mean enough to put fear in an Aggie or Wildcat.
The statue was unveiled in August 2003 at the main entrance on M. Maceo Nance Highway.
Sculpted by Steve Zouras of Irmo with the assistance of several people, the large, gray Bulldog took the artist three weeks to complete. He modeled the sculpture after the smaller version located in front of the Donma Administration Building, a landmark that aims to capture the spirit of the university.
Upon the unveiling of the statue, former S.C. State President Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. cited the bulldog’s stability, vigor, strength and courage as virtues the university’s athletic teams, student body and staff are encouraged to display.
The smaller statue was put in place in the early 1980s during the administration of M. Maceo Nance.
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A pure spring of mineral water bubbling from the ground attracted pioneers scattered throughout the western part of Orangeburg County in the 1800s. They formed a community that was aptly called Silver Springs, which grew to become the small town of Neeses.
The desire to give everyone in the rural area clean drinking water led to the organization of the Silver Springs Water District in 1967.
Henry M. “Nick” Chaplin, who was mayor of Neeses for 26 years, set about bringing water service to the people in the western part of Orangeburg County.
He submitted a water services proposal seven times to state officials before it was finally accepted, according to a souvenir book published for the town of Neeses’ Centennial Celebration in 1993.
An election on May 25, 1971, resulted in a 133-0 vote in favor of the creation of a rural community water district.
On Feb. 3, 1972, the S.C. General Assembly approved the act creating the water district, which originally served the towns of Neeses and Livingston. The new water district began service to 117 customers in 1975.
The original 100,000-gallon tank was placed between Neeses and Livingston.
In 2000, Silver Springs became only the second water system in the state to receive a special federal grant of $2.4 million via the U.S. Rural Development Administration. The project has also been funded through the Orangeburg County one-cent capital improvements sales tax.
Silver Springs was serving 570 customers in 2010. The grant meant an increase of another 250 to 300.
The Silver Springs Water District now serves more than 1,000 customers. The district serves areas including Bolentown, Springfield, Livingston, Neeses and North.
The town of Norway is the latest to consider purchasing water from the district.
Silver Springs also has the distinction of being named RDA’s “Water System That Most Exemplifies the Water 2000 Initiative in S.C.” The initiative’s aim: providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water and improved fire protection to citizens.
The district now covers a service area of at least 133 square miles with approximately 260 miles of water main lines and more than 250 fire hydrants, three groundwater wells and a maximum production capability of approximately 1 million gallons per day.
The four elevated storage tanks in Silver Springs Water District also hold a combined capacity of 600,000 gallons.
- Christopher Huff
- Updated
The Orangeburg County Fair was organized on July 1, 1911, when a group of Orangeburg-area citizens met at the county courthouse.
According to the memories of longtime fair Manager Sam Fogle, “People were hungry for the opportunity to gather together, display their wares and enjoy the fellowship at the center of our county.”
Football games, both high school and college, were played at the Orangeburg County Fairgrounds.
According to Fogle’s notes, the first night high school football game was played at the fairgrounds. The late Tim Stroman, who served many years as secretary and treasurer of the association, played on the Orangeburg High School team with Sumter as its opponent.
Big Thursday games featured area college teams, notably USC vs. The Citadel.
The American Legion played all its home games at the fairgrounds until Mirmow Field was built.
This fall will bring the 104th edition of the Orangeburg County Fair.
Several changes and additions have been implemented:
* The Shriners will take on the Kiwanis Steakhouse near the fair’s entrance.
* Quilt and fancy work will be housed in the arena building.
* The field crop area is receiving a makeover.
* Kid Zone, for children under age 4, will have a play area in the arts building.
* Petting zoo.
* Large animal zoo.
* Gem mining.
* NASCAR theme throughout the fair.
The Orangeburg County Fair runs Sept. 29-Oct. 5.
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Edisto Memorial Gardens offers visitors a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life to relax in the beauty of nature.
A small white chapel complements the meditative atmosphere, providing garden visitors a chance to reflect on nature’s God.
The Chapel of Hope was given by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stuckey as a gift to the community.
The couple wished to commemorate the bicentennial of the United States in 1976 by donating the non-denominational chapel to the city.
The building was completed and dedicated in May 1977.
A World War II veteran, Stuckey was a retired Orangeburg businessman who for years operated Stuckey Motor Co. and the Orangeburg News Co.
Stuckey initially wanted to call it the Chapel of Home, but it has always been called the Chapel of Hope instead.
The chapel is a popular place for weddings. It can hold 12 people.
The Orangeburg Parks and Recreation Department maintains the chapel, which operates on seasonal hours. The chapel is currently open on weekdays from around 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Hours will change as the daylight hours shorten in the fall and winter months.
There is no admission charge.
The Parks and Recreation Department asks that it be notified in advance of any formal events so that staff can ensure the chapel is clean and ready. Call 803-533-6020.
- Richard Walker
- Updated
The courthouse in the center of town was on fire, the railroad depot was ordered torched. Several businesses were destroyed in perhaps the most chaotic and frightening night in Orangeburg’s history.
It was Feb. 12, 1865 when Union Gen. William Sherman’s 17th Army Corps, one of four corps sweeping across the Palmetto State, entered Orangeburg after forcing a few hundred defenders from the banks of the Edisto River.
Sherman passed orders to destroy the railroad from Orangeburg to the Congaree River. All cotton was to be burned.
In the chaos, a prominent Orangeburg residence was spared the flames: Judge Glover’s home.
The residence that originally faced Russell Street was the home of Thomas Worth Glover, a lawyer, state legislator and circuit court judge. Along with three others from Orangeburg, Glover was also an original signer of the South Carolina Ordinance of Session in 1860.
Glover was born on Christmas Eve, 1796 in Goose Creek. While a teacher in 1817, he studied law, eventually being named to the Orangeburg bar. He served in the state legislature until 1852, when he was elected a circuit court judge.
It was during his tenure in the legislature that he built the home that now faces Whitman Street. Completed in 1846, the two-story home is of a style called “plantation,” a conservative form of structure along the lines of Federal architecture.
As war clouds spread across the nation in the 1850s, Glover would add his name along with the 168 other delegates to sign the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession on Dec. 20, 1860. Gen. David Jamison, a neighbor, brother-in-law and president of the Secession Convention, later assigned Glover to a committee tasked with writing a new state constitution.
The war saw brilliant victories for the South early on. But the Southern states weren’t prepared for a war of attrition, which brought the conflict to the streets of Orangeburg on a cold February night.
Historians say Glover’s second wife, Louisa D. (Carrere) Wilson, may have been Sherman’s only defeat in Orangeburg. Acquainted with the Union general prior to the war, the lady of the house reminded Sherman he acted like a gentleman when they met in Charleston and she expected him to continue to behave that way.
The Glover home was one of the few that, while sustaining damage, still stood after the invading forces departed.
Judge Glover died in Orangeburg 19 years after that confrontation in his living room between the Union army and his wife. At the time of his death, he was dean of South Carolina College, having been in the legal profession for more than 64 years.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
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ROWESVILLE — Perhaps best known for the nearby Cattle Creek Campground, the town of Rowesville got its start in 1876 when it was incorporated as Rowe’s Pump.
Rowe’s Pump was established when the rail line was laid from Branchville to Orangeburg. A large water tank with steam-driven pumps and a woodshed supplied fuel to the wood-burning locomotives traveling the route.
The town’s name was legally changed to Rowesville in 1889.
Cattle Creek Campground was named to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1983.
Although local tradition had it that Cattle Creek Campground was established in 1786, the National Register nomination form states it’s likely that the campground was not functional until the early 1800s.
The tradition of campmeeting is commonly believed to have been born in Kentucky or Tennessee about 1799-1800, and to have first appeared in South Carolina about 1802, according to the nomination form.
“Minutes of the quarterly meetings of the Orangeburg Circuit of the Methodist Church show that on August 7, 1819, the third quarterly meeting of the circuit was held at Cattle Creek, but give no indication of whether it was considered to be a campmeeting ground at that time; no records of earlier meetings of the circuit are believed to exist,” according to the document.
The nomination form goes on to state that, “The first known reference to a camp ground at Cattle Creek is found in an agreement between George Summers Sr. and the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cattle Creek entered into on 16 July 1833 to donate property for ‘an Encamping Ground, a parcel of the land known as the present encampment and surrounding the land on which the church now stands.’”
Cattle Creek Campground consists of 36 cabins, called “tents,” arranged in a wide semi-circle around an open pavilion structure known as the “stand” or “tabernacle.” At the northwest end of the campmeeting ground is Cattle Creek United Methodist Church. Between the church and the tabernacle is a cemetery.
The campground burned in 1898 and was gradually rebuilt over the next several decades.
Cattle Creek is one of only three Methodist campmeeting grounds remaining in South Carolina. Significant for its association with the early history of Methodism in South Carolina, Cattle Creek Campground is also notable as a surviving example of a social institution important in rural America during the 19th century.
The tents, so named because the first campers and worshippers stayed in cloth tents and lean-tos made from limbs and branches, are built of rough, unpainted lumber, have gable roofs covered with metal or composition shingles, and generally measure about 20 feet by 30 feet. Each tent contains two rooms downstairs with dirt floors and one or two rooms upstairs, which are reached by a small stairway or ladder. All of the tents have porches with shed roofs.
The cooking is done outdoors at the rear of the tent over an open fire. In the center of the campground is the tabernacle, an open shed about 56 feet by 81 feet with a metal, gabled hip roof.
In addition to setting aside a week for worship and spiritual reflection, visitors to Cattle Creek Campground today now also regard campmeeting as a time to relax, talk and share meals with relatives and friends.
- T&D Staff Report
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SPRINGFIELD — Travelers heading into this mall Orangeburg County town on Highway 4 may have spotted a sign beside the road with a little frog on it.
The frog, more than just a symbol of the amphibious life that abounds throughout the rural region, is representative of Springfield’s unique festival that spans more than four decades.
The town is probably best known for its Governor’s Frog Jump, which was held for the first time in 1966.
The festival actually began in Columbia in 1966, when the governor of California asked the governor of South Carolina to send a frog to California to compete in the famous Calaveras County Frog Jump immortalized in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” an 1865 short story by Mark Twain and his first great success as a writer.
In 1968, a Springfield frog named “Buckwheat” won the contest in Columbia and then-Gov. Robert McNair asked Springfield officials if the town wanted to sponsor the festival.
Pat Williams, the son of late Springfield resident Lila Williams who worked for the Governor’s Office, was responsible for bringing the event to his hometown.
A meeting was called at the old Springfield Community Center, and the townspeople and then-Mayor O.K. Furtick were challenged to put on the Frog Jump Festival. They agreed to hold the festival in Springfield.
The state General Assembly then took a vote and designated Springfield as the official home of the Governor’s Frog Jump.
The first Frog Jump as held on Main Street in a vacant lot between stores. Former Mayor Dickie Phillips initiated the purchase of the lot where the Frog Jump is now held. The land was purchased from Alice Bean, daughter of Daniel Bean, one of the town’s founding fathers.
The Frog Jump parade has attracted many state politicians, with the late Sen. Strom Thurmond being a frequent participant who even entered a frog in the competition on occasion.
During the festival’s second year, the International Egg Strike competition was added. Striking eggs had been a tradition ever since the Irish settlers came to Springfield. A homemade conoction called “Frog Juice,” a combination of Kool-Aid and fruit juice, was once a traditional refreshment at the festival.
The event has spawned interest all over the nation and the world. The festival has also become a family reunion of sorts for townspeople.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Orangeburg is home to the oldest skating rink in the state, Jammer’s Skate-N-Fun Center.
Built in 1948, the rink is also one of the oldest in the Southeast.
While on a visit to New York after serving in World War II, James Smoak, the original owner, had the idea to bring the popularity of roller skating to Orangeburg.
He spoke with his father, Jake, and the men opened Lakeview Skating Rink, the third rink to be built in South Carolina.
Subsequent owners transformed the facility from a simple roller skating rink to a complete family fun center offering additional activities, with the business undergoing major renovation over the last decade.
The indoor roller rink and entertainment facility features the original 120-foot by 50-foot maple floor.
The center is open year-round and has a complete pro shop that can make on-site skate repairs as well as assist patrons in finding the right pair of skates for their ability and style of skating.
The center formerly had a jam skating team that competed on the national level.
While roller skating has always been the main attraction, the family facility also offers an indoor “soft play” area that features a 12-foot slide, a bounce room, a rope swing and an obstacle maze. In addition to skeeball, air hockey and basketball, arcade games are featured.
Jammer’s Skate-N-Fun Center offers special hours for day-care centers as well as Christian Skate Night, Saturday Kiddie Klub and Sunday Family Day.
The 9,000-square-foot skate floor is equipped with 16 speakers to provide music, along with a light show that will dazzle the kids.
The facility is available for private rental for large birthday parties or groups and fundraisers.
Jammer’s will host a Back to School Late Skate Party for students in mid-August.
For more information about Jammers or the Back to School Late Skate Party call 803-533-1600.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
- Updated
ELLOREE — Aficionados of all things tea will want to check out one of the most unique attractions in Orangeburg County, J’s Tea-Rific Teapot Museum located in the heart of Elloree.
The museum, which can be found behind the Boland Pharmacy building on Cleveland Street, houses Julian “J” Boland’s collection of more than 4,000 teapots of every size, shape, design and color and from all over the world.
Boland has collected teapots for more than two decades. Many were given to him as gifts, some were bought at flea markets and others were purchased during his trips to other countries.
Part of his collection is displayed on 20 tea carts, each denoting various themes.
A 12-foot wooden Noah’s Ark inside the museum serves as home to animal-themed teapots.
In fact, the entire teapot collection is displayed based on their motifs. Featured are the Vegetable Garden, the Wedding Section, the Christmas section and the Children’s Section, to name a few.
The entrance to the museum is a huge 20-foot wooden blue teapot — perhaps the largest in the world.
Boland describes his prized teapots as “just a whimsical collection.”
To make reservations to view J’s Tea-Rific Teapot Museum, call Sybil Boland at 803-829-2944 or 803-707-2017.
Admission is free.
Contact the writer: 803-531-2222.
- By DALE LINDER-ALTMAN, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Adden Hall, the stately Victorian mansion at 541 Broughton Street, was built about 1900 by F.A. Adden as a gift for his bride, 23-year-old old Harriett Lois Matthews of West Philadelphia.
The 6,000-square-foot house had 13 rooms, hardwood floors and marble fireplaces surrounded by carved oak mantels.
The two young people met in 1896 in New York when Mr. Adden visited family members who lived there. They corresponded for four years before they were married.
Mrs. Adden traveled to Orangeburg by train in 1900, arriving at the depot across from the home her husband had built for her.
It’s been said she laughingly noted that her beautiful house did not have one single closet.
The couple, who had no children, lived together in their home until Mr. Adden’s death in 1936.
Mrs. Adden, who became blind not long after he died, continued to live in the house until her death in 1969. At some point, she was joined by a companion, Mable Turner.
A devout Christian and faithful Southern Methodist, Mrs. Adden contributed to the support of Southern Methodist College, which was located in Aiken at the time.
She learned in 1961 that the college was looking for a new location, and she offered her home and surrounding property.
Her offer was accepted, and the home that had never known the sights and sounds of children growing up, welcomed hundreds of young people over succeeding decades.
Nine of the rooms were used as administrative offices, a library, etc., but Mrs. Adden continued to live in a four-room apartment on the first floor until her death in 1969.
According to those who still remember her, Mrs. Adden became a “mother” to the students who passed through the doors, loaning many of them money for tuition — but she always expected them to repay her.
She sat on the side porch, and though she was blind, she recognized the students by their voices and even the sounds they made when they walked.
For more than 50 years, Adden Hall and the surrounding property — sometimes affectionately called “the marriage mart” by students — has been the happy scene of dozens of weddings, receptions, bridal and baby showers and other happy events.
Today, Adden Hall houses a visitor’s center and administrative and business offices, but it also continues to be the scene of the joyful occasions of the college’s alumni.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- Christopher Huff
- Updated
The history of aviation in Orangeburg began in the 1930s.
In 1935, the city of Orangeburg purchased about 75 acres of land and built an airport that was dedicated in 1937 as Jennings Airport named after Orangeburg Mayor Robert H. Jennings Sr.
Previously, the airport was located where the Orangeburg Mall and Clark Middle School are today.
Shortly after the airport’s opening, Orangeburg jeweler Tom Summers founded the Breakfast Club for pilots throughout the state.
Hundreds of pilots would fly into Orangeburg from across South Carolina to enjoy breakfast and fellowship. It is considered to be the first pilots’ Breakfast Club in America, starting a national trend.
In 1944-1945, the Jennings Airport had more aircraft per capita than any other city in the world, according to a history of Orangeburg Municipal Airport written by one of its first fixed-base operators, T.C. Hadwin.
During World War II, Hawthorne Aviation operated an entry-level flying school only a mile or two south of the airport and used Jennings Field as a practice field.
In the 1950s, the name of Jennings Airport was changed to Orangeburg City and County Airport, but that name was changed to the current Orangeburg Municipal Airport in the 1980s.
Located at the entrance to the terminal is the “The Aviation Memorial and Pilot’s Walk.” The walk was designed, constructed and paid for by local pilots of the Orangeburg Pilots Association. It strives to display aviation history, and honors those associated with aviation.
Also featured at the airport is a memorial which has a time capsule inside and is capped with a granite stone outlined in the shape of South Carolina. The capsule will be opened on Dec. 17, 2053, the 150th anniversary of aviation. It contains clips and other memorabilia of the history of aviation.
The seating area at the facility features photos of those inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame from Orangeburg County — Hadwin, Frank L. Culbertson Jr., T.S. Summers, Hiers Furtick and Carroll Joye.
Celebrities have also visited the airport including Oprah Winfrey, Gov. Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2008, many of the presidential candidates visited. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has also visited the airport.
The airport is currently owned and operated by the City of Orangeburg. It is located two miles south of downtown Orangeburg off the Highway 21 by-pass (Joe Jeffords Highway).
The facility is the home base of a number of corporate and private aircraft.
Two runways, 17/35 (5,400 feet) and 5/23 (4,600 feet) serve both piston and jet aircraft. 100LL and Jet-A Fuel is available.
Satellite weather, wireless internet and use of a courtesy car are available to pilots at no cost.
Numerous improvements have been made to the airport facilities over the years, including new hangars, a new runway and runway lights.
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The iconic Norway Bell Tower has become a landmark in this small western Orangeburg County town.
The structure is often photographed by visitors to Norway.
The bell tower’s story began in 1913 when the Norway Grade School was dedicated. It was one of the first public schools in the town at the time.
The school was destroyed by a fire set by an arsonist in October 1975.
The only thing saved from the blaze was the bell, which now hangs in the bell tower that was built in 1976. The tower was erected to mark the Norway Bicentennial celebration.
The bricks from the Norway Grade School were used in the construction of the bell tower.
A time capsule, which was placed inside the cornerstone of the tower, contains brief histories of Norway churches and organizations. The capsule is to be opened in 2026.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
It was a different era, a time when the world was stretching its legs through the use of the increasingly reliable automobile.
The ever-expanding highways and the increasing number of motorists in America gave rise to motor lodges, where travelers could find lodging away from home.
No-nonsense Harry Truman was in the White House, Hank Williams Sr. was on the wireless and gas prices were holding steady at 39 cents a gallon. Life was a highway for the millions of Rosie the Riveters and G.I. Joes of World War II.
Drivers could fuel their cars at the many full-service gas stations springing up along the roadsides. Tourist attractions sprang up as well as diners and other businesses catering to the thousands driving the road each day.
Today’s installment of “100 Objects: 100 Days” features the iconic symbol of one local restaurant that once catered to the motoring public as well as to locals — the giant coffee pot still perched atop the former Coffee Pot Diner on Bamberg Highway (U.S. 301 south of Orangeburg).
Before they opened the diner in 1950-51, British natives Fred and Emily Griffin had originally planned to open a tearoom. Deciding the busy highway needed a coffee shop instead, the Griffins opened the Coffee Pot Diner. Mrs. Griffin is said to have baked pies each night for the next day’s customers. A traveler could order breakfast and lunch and, of course, plenty of steaming cups of Joe.
Coffee may have been the American public’s beverage of choice for a caffeine fix, but in a nod to her British roots, Mrs. Griffin continued to partake of her afternoon tea at 4 o’clock every day.
The 1950s motored on, and the Griffins greeted their guests from near and far. But trouble was brewing on the horizon for the Coffee Pot Diner and other establishments like it.
In the mid-1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower brought home from World War II the idea of the interstate, a road system designed to move military equipment quickly, based on Germany’s Autobahn. South Carolina was to get three interstates: I-20, I-26 and I-95.
Begun in 1957 and one of the oldest interstates, it was I-95 that would slice through Orangeburg County, parallel to U.S. 301, sounding the death knell for countless motels, gas stations and mom-and-pop diners like the Coffee Pot.
The Coffee Pot poured its last cup in 1979.
The 6-foot-tall coffee pot replica, which has stood as a beacon to travelers for more than 60 years, weighs an estimated 250 pounds. If it could actually brew coffee, it would hold more than 330 gallons of java. At one time, there was a light on its lid to illuminate the night.
The diner and its trademark coffee pot were restored last year after a storm damaged the building and toppled the Paul Bunyan-size percolator.
Many things say Orangeburg County, but mention the giant coffee pot that sits above the diner of the same name and fond memories stir of days when the pace was a little slower.
The roads weren’t as congested then, gas was a whale of a lot cheaper and so, too, was a good strong cup of coffee.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandD for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
The Hawthorne School of Aeronautics was a World War II civilian flying school, contracted by the United States Army Air Forces to conduct primary pilot training for aviation cadets.
The school was in operation from 1941 to 1945 and was under the supervision of the 58th Flying Training Detachment, Eastern Flight Training Center, Army Air Corps Training Command.
Serving as president of Hawthorne was Beverly “Bevo” Howard, who had learned to fly at the age of 16.
The military designation of the Hawthorne school was the 2162nd Army Air Force Base Unit.
In order to conduct the flight training, the school built an airfield, along with buildings and other support structures to include an all-way turf field with four delineated runways, a large aircraft parking ramp, a pair of hangars and a control tower and operations building.
The two hangars from the flying school are now located at the Orangeburg Municipal Airport.
The Hawthorne structures consisted of a group of one- and two-story wooden buildings surrounding an oval-shaped grass area at the northern end of the property, which served as a parade ground.
The Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane was used as the primary trainer for cadets. The flight school also operated several auxiliary airfields in Orangeburg: Jennings, Hagood and Kennedy.
At the end of 1944, training of Free French pilots was transferred from Hargrove Van de Graaft Airport in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Hawthorne. Free France and the Free French Forces were the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War and its military forces that continued to fight against the Axis powers as an Ally after the fall of France.
Hawthorne was inactivated on Sept. 1, 1945. However, it went on to continue operations in Moultrie, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida.
During World War II, Hawthorne trained 5,924 military pilots, including more than 2,000 French Air Force students.
The site of the housing area at the northern end of the former airfield is currently used by The Oaks.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- Dale Linder-Altman
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By DALE LINDER-ALTMAN
T&D Staff Writer
Trinity United Methodist Church has since its founding in 1866 stood for the dignity and rights of people in Orangeburg, across the state and throughout the South.
Its role has been both spiritual and social as it has served the community as the “light of the world,” said Ulysses S. Jarvis Jr., lifelong member of the church.
“We don’t believe church folks ought to hide their lights under a barrel,” Jarvis said. “Christian people should go out and share their wisdom, guidance and love with others.”
Standing up as a leader in the community has sometimes taken courage as it did during the Civil Rights movement of the sixties.
The church served as a meeting place for students to plan strategy for their demonstrations. When they were arrested and released, it
provided them with a peaceful sanctuary and food.
Trinity hosted meetings that were led by Civil Rights leaders like Roy Wilkins, Jesse Jackson, Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s speeches at Claflin and Trinity put new heart into the movement that was losing momentum.
“It brought people together who were a little tentative about participating,” Jarvis said. “People became more willing to hit the streets for equality.”
Trinity has stood out in the community as a leader for civil rights in other areas, too, including the rights of women. It took the lead in recognizing and supporting women as ministers, bishops and spiritual leaders.
Trinity was organized in January 1866 by the Rev. T. Willard Lewis and the Rev. Thomas Phillips. For the first three years, worshippers met in a schoolhouse built by the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The first church building was erected in 1870 on the corner of Amelia Street and Pittam Alley. A larger church building was erected on the same property in 1898.
In 1926, the church sold its property and purchased the land where the current building now stands. For two years, the church’s congregation worshipped in then-Claflin College’s T. Lewis Chapel.
In 1928, ground was broken for a new building, but the church “got caught up in the Great Depression,” and it was not completed until 1944, Jarvis said.
“I faintly remember sitting in folding chairs under a tent or tabernacle, my feet barely touching the sawdust,” he said.
In succeeding years, the church grew, and by the 1960s was a leader, not just in Orangeburg, but across the South.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
- Updated
Patriotism is strong in the Orangeburg County town of Bowman.
For more than 30 years, American Legion Post 64 has flown 100 American flags along the town’s main street to celebrate and observe special occasions including Flag Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the 4th of July. Most recently, the Bowman Masonic Lodge purchased new ones to replace those flags that had started to fade.
The town has had its share of Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star Mothers.
A prominent symbol of the town’s patriotism is the war memorial and its eternal flame that is situated just across from the Bowman Post Office on Main Street (Highway 178).
The granite marker is inscribed with the names of Bowman residents who gave their lives for their country:
World War I
James Edward Easterlin
John Wesley Weathers
John Moorer Livingston
World War II
James Edmund Berry
Thomas Richard Edwards
Leonard Everett Berry
George Arthur Kemmerlin
Benjamin Franklin Knight
Vietnam War
James Allen Johnson
Henry Dennis West III
Jessie Clarence Felder
Funding for the shrine was provided by Post 64 and the Town of Bowman.
Immediately to the left of the monument is a bronze plaque placed in memory of Capt. Richard A. Morris, whose F100 jet crashed just outside the town limits near Kizer Lumber Company on Feb. 19, 1965.
Rather than ejecting and perhaps saving his own life, Capt. Morris remained with his crippled aircraft, fatally injuring him and perhaps saving the lives of hundreds of Bowman residents.
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Orangeburg County and barbecue have shared a long, delicious relationship going back 60 years.
Dukes Barbecue and Sweatman’s Barbecue have continued to please the palates of Orangeburg County residents and visitors across the nation.
Canaan native Earl Dukes Sr. started his restaurant in Orangeburg in 1955 at Chestnut Street and Columbia Road at about the same location where Kentucky Fried Chicken operated a restaurant until recently.
Earl Dukes Sr., who started the restaurant at the urging of his brother, Danny, would later move the business to a small cafe on Whitman Street.
From there, he moved to Cameron in 1970. In order to distinguish his barbecue from other Dukes restaurants, it was named The Original Earl Dukes Barbecue.
Earl Dukes Sr. eventually moved back to Orangeburg in 1983 to the Charleston Highway location. The restaurant closed about 2002.
Upon his retirement in 1984, his son, Earl Dukes Jr., assumed ownership of the restaurant.
From its origins in Orangeburg, Dukes’ barbecue spread across the city, including to its current Whitman Street location, and throughout the state as family members and others saw the success of the Dukes name.
In the middle 1990s, the family had about 20 restaurants statewide. Today, there are about 14 with the Dukes name.
In the early days, all-you-can eat barbecue was $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. The menu consisted of barbecue pork, rice, hash, skins and ribs, sweet pickles and dill pickles, coleslaw, white bread, tea and coffee.
Earl Dukes and other Dukes BBQs have been featured in numerous publications over the years, including South Carolina Farmer, Southern Living, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
At about the same time, Harold “Bub” Sweatman and his wife, Margie, opened a small barbecue place in Holly Hill in 1959.
After closing this location, they only cooked for special gatherings with family and friends.
The couple’s desire to reopen a barbecue restaurant came to fruition when they purchased an old farmhouse and some land.
The barbecue restaurant reopened for business in 1977, and the business is still in the same location.
About three years ago, Sweatman’s Barbecue restaurant was sold to Mark and Lynn Behr.
Today, oak and pecan trees are cut and split for the wood burned in the cooking process.
The whole hogs are cooked 12 to 14 hours each night over hot coals from wood prepared during the week.
Sweatman’s has been featured in several magazines and books over the years, including Southern Living.
Both Dukes and Sweatman’s helped spawn the popularity of barbecue not only in The T&D Region but statewide. A number of other barbecue restaurants call Orangeburg County home, including Antley’s Barbecue in Orangeburg and Lone Star Barbecue in Santee.
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Dr. T. Elliott Wannamaker was the youngest of three sons growing up in the cotton industry.
Wannamaker’s family owned the Orange Cotton Mill, but for the youngest Wannamaker, the cotton industry wasn’t appealing enough.
After graduating from The Citadel, Wannamaker went on to earn his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Cornell University in New York.
In 1937, he began the Wannamaker Chemical Company on what would later become the site of the Albemarle Corporation.
His first products were aniline dyes, which sold successfully. Early in World War II, the government asked him to switch to explosives, particularly one called “Petral.”
Wannamaker sold the company in 1953 to the Ethyl Fuel Corporation.
In 1994, Ethyl spun off the plant in Orangeburg and others as Albemarle Corp.
The Cannon Bridge Road company currently employs about 322 people at its 300-acre site in Orangeburg County, according to the Development Commission website.
The Albemarle plant is the primary U.S. maker of Ibuprofen, the active ingredient in pain relievers such as Motrin, Advil and Nuprin.
The company has received a number of national and state safety and manufacturing awards.
In April, Albemarle signed a definitive agreement to sell certain assets, including the Orangeburg plant, to SI Group, a manufacturer of chemical intermediates, specialty resins and solutions.
The transaction included the Orangeburg plant’s antioxidants, ibuprofen and propofol businesses and assets, along with a plant in Jinshan, China.
The sale came a little more than a year after Albemarle’s announcement that it would invest $65 million in the Orangeburg plant over five years.
The largest expansion included the company’s fire-safety solutions line, where it made flame retardants for use in insulation. It also added products in its Fine Chemistry Services business.
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The award-winning Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center is one of the quaint Orangeburg County town’s most prized treasures.
The museum opened its doors in 2002, and is the culmination of grass-roots efforts by dedicated volunteers. It’s hands-on exhibits have been restored to portray rural life in South Carolina from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s.
The museum is located in what was the old Brandenburg Motor Co. The old Elloree Depot is used as the cultural center to showcase the area’s rich agricultural and religious heritage.
The first-floor Historic Elloree gallery features a collection of stores from 1900 to 1930, which are designed to authentically typify small-town businesses of that era.
The second floor houses an art gallery and other exhibits. A photographic history of the town is available for viewing, along with exhibits detailing the archaeology of the Santee River.
A gift shop carries a selection of books, including “Cotton Fields to Golf Courses — A Pictorial History of Elloree and Santee.” Home decor merchandise and wood crafts can also be found in the shop, along with children’s books and toys.
A 100-year-old plantation cotton gin and the authentically furnished cabin of Elloree’s founder, William J. Snider, are among the museum’s other displays.
The walls of the Farm Wing are lined with old boards from local barns. Most of the artifacts have been donated by the descendants of local farm families.
In 2003, the Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center gained statewide recognition by capturing the 2003 Award of Achievement from the South Carolina Federation of Museums.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
For more information, contact the museum by phone at 803-897-2225.
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“Botanical Gardens Will Some Day Be Famous Beauty Spot.” So read the headline of a newspaper article by C.C. Berry on Aug. 2, 1927, in the early days of Edisto Memorial Gardens.
The gardens were the brainchild of City Councilman John M. Sifly, who was responsible for Orangeburg’s parks and streets.
He, Mayor Robert H. Jennings Sr. and Councilman A.C. Watson voted at a city council meeting on Jan. 16, 1926, to establish the site.
The first area developed was the five acres where the current azalea garden is located.
For the first five or six years, the gardens were known as the Orangeburg Botanical Gardens.
By the mid-1930s, the city fathers realized that the services of a professional horticulturist were needed.
In 1937, horticulturist and landscape designer Andrew Dibble was hired by council to plan and direct the destiny of the gardens. His first goal was to draw up a master plan and design for all future endeavors.
When Dibble began managing the gardens, the only resources he had were four men, a mule and a dump cart.
Shortly thereafter the levee, or dike, along the river was raised to prevent flooding of the gardens. This project was done without the benefit of modern machines.
In 1939, the lake area was developed. More than 1,600 iris bulbs were installed around this lake and water lilies and lotuses were set in specially prepared beds within the lake.
The next development of this master plan was the “Hillside Garden,” which is now the area of Garden Drive.
The gardens, owned and maintained by the City of Orangeburg, have continued to grow over the years.
Today, there are more than 82 beds of roses ranging from miniatures to grandiflora to climbers.
The Orangeburg Festival of Roses, one of the Southeastern Tourism Society’s top 20 events, is held in Orangeburg in early May to celebrate the blooming of the city’s roses.
The gardens have award-winning roses from All-America Rose Selections and some 4,800 plants representing at least 75 labeled varieties of roses are always on display. The site is also one of only 15 official test gardens in the United Sates sanctioned by All-America Rose Selections Inc.
Edisto Memorial Gardens are open seven days a week from dawn to dusk. Admission is free to the public.
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NORTH — Pen Branch Baptist Church near the town of North got its start in 1839 as Gethsemane Meeting House — a mere brush arbor.
According to the church history, William Knotts of the Lexington District sold six acres of land for $6 an acre on Dec. 17, 1838, to be deeded to the Gethsemane Meeting House. The trustees were listed as David Dannelly, John Hooker, Walter Knight, Charles Robinson and Henry Sturkie.
The current church building is the third or fourth one built on the tract of land. Speculations are that the original church buildings either burned or were torn down to make way for the present structure, which was built about 1880.
The church eventually became Pen Branch Baptist, but it’s not known for certain why. Some say the name came from turkey pens that were located on the branch nearby. Others believe the name stemmed from the mule pens built on the branch when the original railroad was being built. Still others say the church got its name from the hog pens in the area.
Pen Branch was part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later became the Methodist Episcopal Church, South after the Civil War. The last full-time pastor of the church was the Rev. Luke Belvin, whose tenure ended about 1919. With no pastor, the congregation left to attend churches in Woodford and North. Later, several families in the area tried to revive Pen Branch as a Southern Methodist church, but the renewed services lasted just a few months.
Pen Branch remained idle until a homecoming service was held there on May 4, 2008. Homecoming services have been held at the church very year since then, and members of Pen Branch’s board of trustees and volunteers have done a great deal of work on the building and the property over the years.
The Pen Branch Cemetery, which also dates back to 1838, is the final resting place of soldiers of every war since the Civil War, and one area marked as “Unknown” is believed to contain the bodies of Civil War soldiers, slaves and people who could not afford a burial. It is also said that a railroad construction worker who came from outside the area died on the job and was buried in the Pen Branch Cemetery.
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A mural from renowned Columbia muralist Ralph Waldrop has infused life into an old landmark for more than a decade.
The project began with the restoration of the exterior of the old Bank of Cope, built in 1918.
The landmark is located on property in the heart of Cope and is owned by Jo Helen Riley, Fletcher Riley and the late Helen Vallentine. As part of their revitalization work within the town, the trio decided to give the old bank building a makeover during the summer of 1999.
After admiring the mural in downtown Orangeburg, Mrs. Riley chose Waldrop to put the finishing touches on the bank. Waldrop, a painter of more than 400 murals throughout the country, said the Bank of Cope project was “a breeze” compared to his last job.
That job had taken Waldrop to Lakeland, Ga., where he painted 1920-era murals on every exterior wall in the town, which is about twice the size of Cope.
The mural Waldrop created for the Bank of Cope was painted on portable panels that were permanently affixed to the building.
The figures depicted in the mural are some well-known members of the Cope community, who are now deceased: Mrs. Alberta B. Cope, daughter-in-law of Cope founder J. Martin Cope; J.I. Vallentine, one of the founders of the Bank of Cope; Wash “Punk” Ryant Sr., a longtime Cope resident; Robert Vallentine and a dog named Ace.
The founders and first directors of the Bank of Cope were F.A. Adden and T.C. Bryant of Orangeburg and J.I. Vallentine, E.E. Ritter, E.R. Boltin, W.H. Zeigler and M.J. Thomas of Cope.
The bank served the Cope section of Orangeburg County for 15 years. On March 8, 1933, a banking holiday was declared, and all banks across the nation were closed to stop the widespread money panic. The next day, Congress passed the Banking Act, which allowed banks with enough money to reopen in March 13. The Bank of Cope was one of the few banks in this part of South Carolina to reopen.
The city of Orangeburg, however, was left without a bank. Seeing the need for banking services for the larger community, the Bank of Cope’s property was loaded on a truck under the cover of night and opened the next day as the Bank of Cope in Orangeburg. It later became the Bank of Orangeburg.
- BY KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D STAFF WRITER
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Williams Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1873 with the Rev. Dave Christie serving as its first pastor.
In 1877, trustees Emily Williams, Richard Howard and Irwin Mintz purchased for $500 the small lot, where the current structure is located, on what was then Market Street before Glover Street was laid out.
A small frame for the church, which stood for nearly 30 years, was built.
In 1909, additional land was purchased that allowed the congregation to build an addition and a parsonage.
“The Chapel” is an elegant essay in Gothic Revival architecture. Its picturesque massing and distinctive detailing attest to the talents of its architect, Miller F. Whittaker, who prepared plans for the building in 1915.
Whittaker was the director of the Department of Mechanical Arts at South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) and was also the first African American architect practicing in South Carolina.
Construction of the building began about 1915. The cornerstone was laid about 1919, but the building was not completed until about 1925 due to financial difficulties.
The one-story brick church features two towers on the facade with pyramidal metal shingle roofs and corbeled battlements, Gothic arched stained glass windows, louvered Gothic vents and decorative brickwork. The front doors give access to a two-story narthex. Staircases on each side lead to the nave and balcony. Rose windows are displayed at the front and rear of the interior.
Williams Chapel has served as a resident place of worship for three South Carolina State University presidents: Dr. Miller F. Whittaker, Dr. M. Maceo Nance Jr. and Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. AME Bishop the Rev. Richard A. Hildebrand can also be found on the membership roster.
David Daniels, a ministerial student at Allen University and former supply pastor of the church after the death of the Rev. Chappelle M. Davis in 1978, later became an AME bishop.
Four former pastors of Williams Chapel have become presiding elders in the 7th Episcopal District: the Rev. Dr. William Smith (1978-1980), Marion District in the Northeast Conference; the Rev. Dr. Allen Parrott (1980-1991), Kingstree District in the Palmetto Conference; the Rev. Lorenza Baker (1991-1994), Orangeburg District in the Central Conference; and the Rev. Dr. Juenarrl Keith (2004-2006), Mount Pleasant District in the Palmetto Conference.
The church’s current pastor of nearly eight years is the Rev. Dr. Caesar Richburg.
Williams Chapel AME Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
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For almost 300 years, life in Orangeburg has centered around the black waters of the North Edisto River.
The General Assembly created the Orangeburgh Township along the river in 1730, and 220 German-Swiss settlers arrived there in 1735, making their homes near its banks. They found the river to be a ready supply of water and a means of getting their crops to market in Charleston.
Today, the river continues to provide the city with a plentiful water supply.
The North Edisto flows through the 175-acre Edisto Memorial Gardens and serves as a resource for recreation and other activities.
A 2,600-foot boardwalk allows visitors to stroll along the river and neighboring swamp, enjoying quiet reflection in the scenic setting.
Some local folks remember taking swimming lessons in the river and attending events at the old Pavilion where the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center now stands.
Before Europeans settled near the Edisto River, the Natchez-Kusso, or Edisto Indians, lived on the banks of the river and roamed the nearby swamps. It’s said these Native Americans used the bluff overlooking the river as a trading post.
According to Hugo Ackerman, author of “A Brief History of Orangeburg,” the Indians in the Orangeburgh District at that time were friendly, and they and their allies, including the Cherokee, would camp along the banks of the North Edisto on their way to Charlestown to trade.
There are several different versions of how the settlers arrived in the Orangeburg area.
Dr. Gene Atkinson, local dentist and historian, said he and other researchers believe the settlers followed Indian trails from Charleston to settle along the banks of the Edisto.
However, the Charleston Gazette reported the settlers were traveling up the Edisto at government expense with a year’s supply of provisions. Each head of a household was to get a lot and 50 acres of land in the township for each member of his household.
Edisto means “black,” referring to its dark water. The black water gets its color from the tannic acid of decaying leaves, branches and roots of the hardwood trees surrounding it.
William Gilmore Sims said in The Times and Democrat in 1891 that the river took its name from the Indian word “Audusta.”
Made up of two forks that begin in Saluda and Edgefield counties, the Edisto is the longest free-flowing black water river in the United States. The waterway meanders for 250 miles across South Carolina, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Edisto Beach. The river is one of three that make up the ACE Basin, one of the largest estuarine systems on the East Coast.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
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“Ben Hur” played silently and “Beau Geste” followed.
The year was 1927, and the Carolinian Theater was brand new.
Its seats, sound and lighting were of the highest caliber, making the facility the envy of other theaters in the area.
Over the years, the Carolinian remained a prime location for movies and theatrical productions in Orangeburg — and continues that tradition today as Stevenson Auditorium.
The history of Stevenson Auditorium began more than 80 years ago when the Young Men’s Business League of Orangeburg decided the city needed a new municipal building and auditorium.
A referendum was held on Aug. 17, 1926, for the sale of $175,000 in municipal bonds to fund the project. It passed, and the money was approved on May 4, 1927.
After seven months, the new municipal building, with the Carolinian Theater, was completed.
Country comedienne Minnie Pearl, cowboy Red Barry and the Dean Hudson Orchestra all performed in the theater.
The name was later changed from the Carolinian to Stevenson Auditorium in honor of the former city administrator, Robert Stevenson.
Stevenson Auditorium has traditionally been an event venue for the Orangeburg community. The auditorium since been used for dance recital, plays and concerts.
In the late 1990s, an effort was made to restore the auditorium. The only sprucing up the building had prior to the renovation was in 1972 when it was repainted and rewired and air conditioning units were installed and the seats were painted and recovered.
The Stevenson Renovation Committee was formed and worked to raise about $300,000 from grants and contributions to restore the building, including the dressing rooms and restrooms.
Local businesses and industries as well as the City of Orangeburg, the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities, the Junior Service League of Orangeburg and the Horne Foundation contributed to the renovation efforts.
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The lone Palmetto tree in the median of U.S. Highway 301 a few miles north of Orangeburg stands as a memorial — a tribute to the late Sen. Marshall Williams.
“My husband was a true statesman so I felt the state tree, the Palmetto tree, would be the perfect monument to him,” Mrs. Marshall (Margaret) Williams said of her desire to plant the tree across from the front door of her home in honor of her late husband.
Sen. Williams served the public for 49 years — six years in the state House of Representatives and 43 years in the state Senate.
Williams was the longest serving state senator in the nation when he died in December 1995.
Williams’ son, Orangeburg attorney Charles Williams, had given two Palmetto trees to the late Clara Evans, a lady who lived on the Williams’ property and cooked for the family for more than 40 years.
The trees had special meaning to the Williams family and for this reason, Mrs. Williams had one of them transplanted.
Mrs. Williams is well known for her many tree-planting projects.
One of the more significant projects was when Mrs. Williams, at the age of 70, raised $25,000 for the Yoshino cherry trees that stand in Edisto Memorial Gardens and throughout the city, also in memory of her husband, Marshall, and daughter, Mary Ashley (Gardner).
She has also worked throughout the years with city and county officials to have Bradford pear and crepe myrtle trees planted in Edisto Memorial Gardens and along major thoroughfares in the area.
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History lives at 200 Whaley St. in Orangeburg.
Mirmow Field was first built in 1948 and named after Eddie Mirmow, who spearheaded the community effort for Orangeburg to have the city-owned baseball stadium.
Initially, Orangeburg Post 4 fielded an American Legion team for a couple of seasons before the outbreak of the war. With the onset of global fighting, the team went on hiatus.
After the war, Mirmow was the person who re-established the American Legion baseball program in Orangeburg, serving as the athletic director for many years.
The success of the 1946-1947 Post 4 teams, along with some added interest from semi-pro and minor league ball clubs, sparked the idea within the community that Orangeburg needed a quality baseball field. That idea became a reality when much-needed revenue for a field became available after the sale of land that was once home to Hawthorne Field.
A lot between Rowe and Whaley streets was purchased with the funds, construction of then-Orangeburg City Engineer Alec Brown’s design began, and a new field was born.
Mirmow Field, made from cement blocks, was considered a marvel of modern design at the time.
Among the features the park offers are the flagpole and two light poles that can be found in the field of play. The flagpole stands by the center field wall while one light pole is located in front of the left field wall.
Mirmow Field is enclosed by its own version of the “Green Monster.” The green outfield wall surrounds the entire stadium.
There was a time when regular crowds of more than 1,000 fans would attend the park to catch a few innings of baseball with the boys of summer.
In 1966, Mirmow Field had the distinction of being selected to host the American Legion baseball World Series for the entire United States.
The field also hosted a semi-professional baseball team for a short time and was the spring training home of the New York Yankees’ Double-A minor league team for several years.
Mirmow Field has also graced the big screen in a major motion picture, when the production crew and actors for the 1997 film “Major League III” came to Orangeburg to film several scenes.
The ball park has undergone renovations, including a new scoreboard, lighting repairs, a new roof and the leveling of the infield.
The stadium has had its share of talented players to traverse its base paths over the years including a number of Orangeburg-area legends who went on to play baseball in the major leagues. Nathaniel Snell, Bill Spiers (Astros), Mookie Wilson (Mets and Blue Jays), the late Mike Sharperson (Dodgers), Herm Winningham (Reds) and Jimmy Ferry all called Mirmow Field home before heading off to pro careers.
Today, the field is primarily used for American Legion baseball, and attendance numbers are well below the 1,000 the park once saw.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
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In the late 1880s, the city of London had a string of murders that were attributed to a character who became known as Jack the Ripper. At about the same time, Orangeburg had a “fiend” going around at night setting fires to city structures, according to newspaper articles of the time.
During this period across America, volunteer firefighting organizations were emerging to become the forerunners of today’s municipal fire departments. Orangeburg was no exception, eventually boasting four independent fire troupes.
Also spreading across the country was the recognition of the service that firefighters provided by combatting fires as an organized group as opposed to the former fire bucket brigades. Larger cities such as New York were dedicating monuments to these innovative and bold individuals who fought to save life and property.
In 1902, a local community improvement group, the Young Men’s Business League, purchased the fireman’s statute that is being featured on Day 30 of The Times and Democrat’s “100 Days — 100 Objects* series. Called a firefighter fountain, the Orangeburg version was, in essence, a deluxe model that sported drinking fountains for both passersby and horses. The base was hollow so it could hold up to 500 pounds of ice that kept the drinking water cool.
Like most of those made during that period, the statue depicts a firefighter holding a small child, which some historians say represents the strong aiding the helpless. Some in Orangebug began calling the statue the “Fire Laddie,” perhaps giving it the name a volunteer firefighter was called in the early 1900s, as referenced in J. Frank Kernan’s book, “Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York and Brooklyn.”
Local historians are attempting to trace the origins of the fireman’s statue, but very similar models were made by J.W. Fiske Iron Works in New York.
When it arrived in Orangeburg, the statue was originally placed in front of the First Baptist Church on Russell Street, where a former volunteer firefighting organization, the Young Americans, had their fire house.
In the late 1930s, however, the fireman, who stood in the middle of what were then driving lanes, was struck several times by motorists. He was completely toppled at least once.
The statue was eventually moved to a spot between Orangeburg City Hall and what is now the Orangeburg County Administrative Center on Middleton Street, formerly Fire Station Number 1.
That move came in the late 1940s, but it wasn’t long before the fireman statue was moved once again, this time to his current location at the corner of Middleton and Fischer streets.
As was the case in the Jack the Ripper murders, the Orangeburg arsonist, labeled a fiend by media of the day, was never arrested.
Nevertheless, for the past 112 years, a fireman has been watching over this city day and night as a reminder that there’s an organization ever at the ready to fight fire, accidental or intentional.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
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VANCE — A rural church cemetery in Vance is the final resting place of Eddie Sweat, longtime groom of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
Sweat, who died at age 58 of leukemia in 1998, grew up on the outskirts of Vance and was hired by trainer Lucien Laurin when Sweat was 16.
Atop Sweat’s grave in the Rock Hill AME Church Cemetery in Vance is a plastic toy horse with small silk flowers. There is also a trophy, topped with a horse and jockey, bearing the inscription: “In Memory of Mr. Eddie Sweat, Secretariat’s Beloved Groom.”
Sweat was the sixth of nine children born to David and Mary Sweat.
Actor Nelsan Ellis played Sweat in Walt Disney Pictures’ 2010 movie “Secretariat.”
In an interview with The T&D around the time of the movie’s world premiere, Sweat’s oldest sister, Bertha Lee Walker of Florida, said her brother “worked with horses ever since he was 13 years old, until he died. … He was good with horses from when he was a child.”
Walker also talked about one of Sweat’s trademarks: wearing colorful plaid pants.
“We used to laugh at him when he wore those pants. But he would say, ‘I don’t care about your laughing because I know I’m going to win. They’re my pants, and I’m going to wear them,’ ” Walker said.
Between Holly Hill and Vance, not far from the Rock Hill AME Church Cemetery, is the Holly Hill Training Center, which was originally founded as the Branchdale Racetrack.
Laurin owned the track for many years. He hired Sweat for various duties there.
Local lore has it that Secretariat was trained at the track near Holly Hill, but those who worked at the track or lived nearby say that likely wasn’t the case.
A life-sized tribute to Secretariat, in the form of a bronze sculpture, welcomes visitors to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.
The commissioned bronze statue was dedicated on April 8, 2006. It features Secretariat immediately after his Kentucky Derby victory on May 5, 1973, at Churchill Downs. Jockey Ron Turcotte is seated on Secretariat and Sweat is leading the champion horse.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- Dale Linder-Altman
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While it stands alone today on Neeses Highway near the Pine Hill community, the Great Branch Rosenwald Teacherage was once part of a thriving school complex that included a school building, a cannery, a creosote pit and a shop.
The teacherage had three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen and provided housing for teachers who lived too far away to commute every day.
Built in 1924-25 at a cost of $2,650, the complex was the focal point of the community until the school closed in 1954.
Orangeburg School District Four owned the teacherage until 1961, when it was deeded to the Great Branch community.
The Great Branch Rosenwald School burned in an arson-related fire in 1960. The other buildings were torn down, and the teacherage fell into disrepair.
The structure’s foundation rotted away, the roof was seriously damaged, the walls were in disrepair and the ceiling was gone. The only part of the building that remained in good condition was the hardwood flooring.
Then about eight years ago, members of the community, school alumni, the National Trust and the Lowe’s Foundation agreed to partner to renovate the teacherage and turn it into a community center.
The structure was jacked up, the old brick sills were removed and new ones were put in place.
The roof was replaced with a $50,000 donation from the Lowe’s Foundation. Work, including major repairs on the walls, was done, and the restoration was completed by the fall of 2009.
The Great Branch School was part of the Rosenwald initiative, which was organized by educator and scientist Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, co-owner of Sears and Roebuck.
The initiative was designed to educate black children in the post-Civil War South. The Rosenwald Foundation contributed $300 for each school, with the rest of the cost being funded by the community, the state and local schools.
While some 500 Rosenwald Schools were built in South Carolina, there were only eight teacherages. The Great Branch Teacherage is one of only two that still exist in the state.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- Dionne Gleaton
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A string of four refurbished country stores from a bygone era have been brought back to life as part of an antique village on Santee State Park Road.
Santee real estate agent Patrick “Pat” Williams calls his vintage community of old stores “Lone Star” after the nearby Calhoun County village from which two of the four buildings came.
The buildings provide a place where tourists and area residents can enjoy the replicas, good food and good times in an early 1900s setting.
Williams purchased the two buildings, which were owned by the O.K. Zeagler family of Lone Star, nearly 20 years ago. The stores were moved in 2000 to the antique village site in Santee.
One of the buildings in Williams’ antique lineup is what was called “The Green Store.” The old tin-roofed building, which had peeling paint and no electrical wiring, was a general store in the Lone Star community that was restored to its original use. The back of the building now includes a restaurant/buffet line and kitchen.
While some of the antiques such as old-pot bellied stoves have been used for the operation, others are for display or purchase. The store also features old cracker jars, meat scales and cheese cutters.
Another building featured in the village served as the old Lone Star Post Office, which came with a vintage Coca-Cola sign of an engineer sipping a Coke on its side. The old white building was also where the movie “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” was filmed.
The old Shuler Store, which was located 4 miles below Santee on U.S. 301 South, is also showcased. It serves as a dining hall and is connected to the old general store by a breezeway.
The Old Dantzler Store, which sat on U.S. 15 South of Santee, is also included in the Santee village. It is also connected by a breezeway and used as a social hall for activities, including parties and civic club meetings. A small kitchen and a door leading into a courtyard are among its amenities.
An old-style smokehouse, with old meat hooks from which meat was hung to be cured, was part of the Old Dantzler Store and serves as its backdrop.
Williams’ family has been sharing their own good times in two old stores he moved to his farm and converted into a hunting and fishing cabin and a bunkhouse.
“Those two stores really got me excited about the possibilities of going ahead with this project,” he said. “I just have a love for the old stores; it’s part of the dying rural heritage.”
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
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T&D Staff Report
Looking down the Russell Street pedestrian alleyway between 5th Avenue Fashions and the business that was formerly Sophisticated and Glamorous Fashions, the eye is treated to a rainbow of colorfully painted houses.
The mural of brightly colored homes — reds, hot pinks, yellows, blues and greens — with painted balconies, windows and doors could be dubbed Orangeburg’s own “Rainbow Row” after the homes in Charleston’s historic downtown.
The six-month painting project was done about seven years ago by Richard Smoak, who had done set design work for the Orangeburg Part-Time Players. Smoak received help from Matt Quay, an OPTP performer.
Smoak said the project was in an effort to attract more people to downtown Orangeburg.
The idea to help spruce up downtown was the brainchild of the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association.
About 80 gallons of paint were used to create the mural.
Smoak has also been at the forefront of the Bluebird Theatre Restoration Committee, and he designed Orangeburg’s New Year’s millennium lighted ball.
- T&D Staff Report
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White House United Methodist Church, located on U.S. 301, is believed to be the oldest Methodist church in Orangeburg County.
The church, founded in 1788, was named to the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior Parks Division in 1974. White House UMC will celebrate its 226th anniversary this October.
The structure that presently houses the White House congregation was built in 1850. The interior of the sanctuary is structurally the same as it was in 1850, and the pews and altar rail are part of the original structure. A fellowship hall was added in 1957.
In 1952, Arnold Murray, the last Confederate veteran in South Carolina, was laid to rest in the church cemetery.
White House United Methodist Church is one of three churches on the Bowman Charge of the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The church has preserved numerous record books, minutes of meetings and miscellaneous historical documents in the archives collection of the Historic White House Commission. Included in the church archives is a sermon notation made Dec. 24, 1801 by Bishop Francis Asbury, a United Methodist pioneer and frequent visitor to White House, in his journal on 2 Peter 3:18: “We should have grace planted or sown in our souls.”
Asbury and other notable ministers visited the church to preach and often ministered from the stump of an oak tree to overflow crowds.
William Capers, who served the church in 1812, initially studied law, but eventually became the first native South Carolinian to be elected to the episcopacy.
William May Wightman, who later became a bishop, served the congregation in 1829 at the age of 20.
Those ministers planted seeds of leadership in the congregation of White House United Methodist Church during its early period that are still evident today.
- T&D Staff Report
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Late Orangeburg Korean War veteran Edward “Victor” Fenton III wrote a letter to the editor in the Times and Democrat in November 1998 expressing concerns about the lack of a visible and adequate veterans memorial in Orangeburg.
Eleven years later, city leaders and the community celebrated the dedication of Orangeburg Veterans Memorial Park located on Riverside Drive across the street from the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce building.
The memorial features a 25-foot obelisk, six granite sections representing the branches of service and granite plaques identifying the wars in which the United States has been engaged.
The park also has nine flags representing the United States, the state of South Carolina, the six branches of service and the POW/MIAs. Featured are six granite naming panels recognizing those individuals from Orangeburg County who died serving the country in times of war.
Earlier this year, a 10-space parking lot was added at the park to help enhance accessibility for handicapped visitors.
The park was constructed using $375,000 in penny tax revenues — $250,000 from the city and $125,000 from the county.
O’Cain Construction worked on the project, and West Summers was its architect.
The public has contributed through the purchase of memorial bricks, which are also a part of the memorial.
The initial project was trimmed to reduce costs, including the removal of a reflecting pool.
In addition, the height of the obelisk was reduced from about 34 feet to 29 feet. Carolina Granite and Marble performed the work on the obelisk and the granite.
- T&D Staff Report
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The sign for the Orangeburg Cemetery leads visitors to a site where they can trace the rich history of African-American citizens in Orangeburg.
Before its restoration in the 1990s, the cemetery looked like a “no man’s land.”
Located at Windsor and Bull streets, the cemetery was created in April 1889 after several leading black citizens saw the need for a black cemetery in the town.
Included among those buried at the cemetery is Johnson C. Whittaker, one of the first black men to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1876. The story of Whittaker’s wrongful court-martial was profiled in the Showtime cable network movie “Assault at West Point.”\In July 1995, after 115 years, former President Bill Clinton posthumously commissioned Whittaker as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Whittaker died in 1931.
Just below Whittaker’s massive tombstone are the graves of his sons, John Whittaker, who was a pioneer engineer and Army captain, and Miller F. Whittaker, who was also a second lieutenant in the Army.
Miller Whittaker was the third president of S.C. State, serving from 1932 to 1949. Not far away is the grave of S.C. State’s second president, Robert Shaw Wilkinson, the face behind Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.
In addition, several early black business owners are buried at the cemetery. John Maxwell was the proprietor of a famed supermarket at the end of Russell Street near what is now known as Railroad Corner at Magnolia and Russell streets. Also buried at the cemetery is Dr. Marion Fordham, who operated his own drug store at the lower end of Russell. He was a relative of J.H. Fordham, one of the early citizens who purchased the property and established the cemetery.
Near the entrance of the Orangeburg Cemetery on the left and shrouded by the shade of cedar trees are some of the earliest burial plots. Resting on the hill is the grave of Nelson Cornelson Nix. When S.C. State opened its doors for the first time after separating from Claflin, the bell was rung by his watch. The former Nix Elementary School was named in honor of the dean.
Many of the gravestones in the cemetery are decades old, but the oldest identified marker is for a week-old baby named Wilhelmina Levy, who was buried in her family plot in 1893, just four years after the cemetery was chartered. The marker stands prominently among the other stones with an angel perched atop it.
The 110-year-old cemetery was refurbished and cleaned up in 1984 by the Orangeburg Cemetery Committee, which was co-chaired by the late Geraldyne Zimmerman.
After soliciting funds from people who had relatives buried at the site, the committee convinced the City of Orangeburg to claim ownership of the cemetery in 1994.
The project received recognition and awards from the Readers Digest Foundation, Keep America Beautiful and the Colgate Palmolive Inc. Community Service Foundation. The cemetery is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the City of Orangeburg Parks and Recreation Department maintains the property.
This story has been changed to reflect that Johnson C. Whittaker died in 1931. We apologize for the error.
- T&D Staff Report
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The Great Depression in the early 1930s led many financial institutions to close their doors.
Seven men were determined to beat the odds during that difficult time. In the year 1934, they formed First National Bank.
Robert Lide, an Orangeburg attorney, and businessmen Wallace C. Bethea, D.A. Gardner, W.L. Glover, E.V. Mirmow, Dwight Moseley and Dr. C.A. Mobley founded the bank, pledging a minimum stock purchase of $1,000. Together they raised $62,500 through the sale of stock. They borrowed a matching amount from the federal government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
The bank’s Russell Street location was constructed in 1920 for Edisto National Bank, but it went bankrupt during the Great Depression along with most other banks in the city. First National Bank occupied the building in 1934. It later moved to more spacious quarters, but left behind its iconic sign.
From its start with six employees, the bank had deposits of $1.1 million and profits of $1,395 the first year.
By its 40th anniversary in 1974, SCBT had 120 employees and deposits of $56.3 million.
First National continued to expand and, in 2002, moved its headquarters to Columbia and changed its name to SCBT.
On June 30 of this year, the bank saw another milestone, changing its name to South State Bank to indicate its continued expansion throughout the Southeast.
The bank did business as SCBT in South Carolina, as NCBT in North Carolina, as Community Bank & Trust in North Georgia and as The Savannah Bank in Savannah, Ga. The bank’s fifth brand, First Federal, located in coastal South Carolina and Wilmington, N.C., will be branded South State Bank on July 21.
Customers now have access to 135 banking locations in three states – North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The building itself has also seen a new beginning.
The Palmetto Development Group, a Columbia nonprofit organization, is using it to house groups involved in small business development. The building is now known as the Palmetto Enterprise Center.
PDG, with aid from a USDA Rural Development grant, received support from the City of Orangeburg and Orangeburg County to open the business incubator. PDG is leasing the building from the city.
The center opened earlier this year after some renovations, including the installation of a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, improvements to the wiring and bathrooms, repairs to the floors and roof, and removal of asbestos tiles.
The center is currently assisting small businesses and a start-up business and will soon be providing small loans to help small businesses.
The center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- T&D Staff Report
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When the aliens finally land to stretch their legs, they’re going to find a place ready for them in Bowman — the UFO Welcome Center.
The two-story structure, located just off Charleston Highway, is a silver-painted design based on the “flying saucers” of the 1950s.
The structure, about 16 feet tall and 39 feet in diameter, is built of lumber held together with wood screws and bolts so that it will weather hurricanes and tornados.
The UFO Welcome Center has, in many ways, become an unofficial landmark for the town of Bowman.
One-time Bowman mayoral candidate Jody Pendarvis decided to build the UFO in 1995 after coming across lumber that was left over after his grandmother’s store was torn down to make room for a BP gas station.
About eight tons of plywood and boards went into the project.
At first, it was going to be Jody’s UFO #1, but the postmaster suggested Pendarvis name it the UFO Welcome Center.
Pendarvis has said the design of the Bowman UFO is inspired.
“I’ve never seen a UFO built, but I like to mow my grass in circles,” he said.
The UFO has all the amenities of a terrestrial home: a small kitchen with a “replicator” (microwave), a satellite system, a VCR and a radio.
Pendarvis has publicly stated he wanted to be an ambassador for extraterrestrials.
To make the center more accommodating to the extraterrestrials, a door was placed on the top of it.
The center was originally scheduled to open on Columbus Day in 1996, but its opening was delayed due to some structural concerns. Four years later, the welcome center was again scheduled to open to the public. However, it was deemed not to be compliant with building codes and unsafe.
Ultimately, Pendarvis hopes the UFO will fly. The body has room for five engines.
“This UFO Welcome Center is here to welcome UFO’s,” Pendarvis has said, adding that he hopes the visitors will consider landing in Bowman rather than Washington, D.C., where they’d probably be taken prisoner.
Though Pendarvis has been silent on whether or not aliens have visited the UFO Welcome Center, the center has received notice from a number of local, state and national media outlets.
It has appeared on the Comedy Central Daily Show a number of times and on the Roseanne Barr talk show as well as others.
Church missionaries have said they have run into people in foreign lands who saw Pendarvis and his UFO Welcome Center on Japanese television.
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T&D Staff Report
The exact date of its construction is lost in history.
Some accounts put its origin in 1735; others, between 1764 and 1775.
But all agree it was built prior to the Revolutionary War, making Middlepen Plantation, the Donald Bruce house, the oldest home in Orangeburg County.
Situated on a plot of land about two miles outside of Orangeburg on U.S. 301 North, the house is made of virgin long leaf pine with timbers a foot wide, according to newspaper accounts filed at the Orangeburg County Historical Society.
In fact, the house was originally built on land just a few blocks from the society’s Middleton Street location, rising in the center of “Orangeburgh” at the corner of Windsor and Bull streets. The two-story house featured a basement cellar and “ample piazza,” pegged construction, hand-wrought nails and handmade hardware.
Constructed of pine, the Bruce house has wide flush boards on the front and clapboards on other sides. The house was listed in the National Historic Register on Dec. 1, 1978.
The home’s namesake, Donald Bruce, was a Scotsman who came to the area from Charleston with his daughter and second wife in the mid-1760s. He was a justice of the peace and justice for the governor for Orangeburgh District in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, Bruce served as a representative in the General Assembly. He lived in the home until his death in 1795.
During the Revolutionary War in 1779, the home was used by Gov. John Rutledge to carry out his plans for a “great military company” in the area. Two years later, it served as headquarters for Lord Francis Rawdon, commander of the British forces. Bullet holes in the hidden stairway are said to have been placed there when British soldiers invaded the house.
In 1837, the home’s new owner, Daniel Larey, moved it to its present location on U.S. 301 North. The house was likely rolled the four miles on logs and driven by horses.
Just before the Civil War, the house changed hands again.
The home and its surrounding 1,200 acres, were purchased by Benjamin F. Simmons of Charleston. He is said to have named the place “Middlepen Plantation” after the stream that runs behind it, called Middlepen Branch — named so because the estate was once the middle corral for cattle drives headed for Charleston.
During the war, stragglers from Sherman’s army are said to have robbed the smokehouse and killed the poultry on the property, but they failed to find the family’s silver, which had been hidden in Four Holes Swamp.
Middlepen Plantation was inherited by Charlotte “Lottie” Simmons Wolfe from her father, and passed on to her son, the late Col. Russell Wolfe and his wife.
In 1937, the Donald Bruce house was moved back from the road 100 or so feet to allow for a flower garden.
It was restored as a historic showcase and featured many antiques, including one of Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephones, the first sewing machine made in Orangeburg County and saddle bags belonging to Gen. Francis Marion.
Over the years, the property declined due in large part to damage from vandals.
The house is also significant as an example of 18th century vernacular architecture.
- T&D Staff Report
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An Orangeburg County landmark on U.S. 301 South has become a part of the skyline.
The 525-foot stack rising above the tree tops from the South Carolina Electric and Gas Cope Generating Station, the utility company’s newest coal-fired plant, is unmistakable.
Instead of smoke, the stack emits condensation from the plant’s cooling system. The Cope Generating Station draws water for operations from a deep aquifer in the area and routinely uses 4.5 million gallons of water a day for its operations.
Plant construction began in 1992. The station was ready for operation before its May 1996 deadline, officially coming online Jan. 15, 1996.
The $411 million project came in about $34 million under budget.
At the peak of its construction, the plant employed about 750 and paid a combined $65 million in wages. Today the plant employs about 73 people and pays approximately $7.2 million in property taxes annually.
The facility, which sits on 3,200 acres, was designed so that only half an acre of the 1,700 acres of wetlands would be disturbed. Nearly 400 acres of wetlands along the South Fork of the Edisto River were included in a conservation easement to the Congaree Land Trust as a hardwood and cypress preserve.
The South Fork of the Edisto River is used as a backup water supply. The amount of water drawn from the river, when needed, is about 4 percent of its normal river flow, and the river’s required minimum flow is maintained at all times.
The Cope Station generates 430 megawatts of electricity by burning about 160 tons of coal per hour. At full load, the plant can produce enough power in one hour to supply the average electric needs of 430 residential customers for one month.
The facility consistently ranks in the top 20 plants for efficiency, according to Electric Light & Power magazine.
The plant was designed and built with a dry scrubber to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The scrubber eliminates more than 95 percent of SO2. A co-benefit is that approximately 60-90 percent of mercury emissions are eliminated.
The Cope Station was also equipped with baghouses that remove 99 percent of fly ash from the combustion process. The boiler also had low-NOx burners installed in its initial construction.
But even the most efficient plants require preventative maintenance. Since 2008, SCE&G has installed more than $600 million in environmental equipment, reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury.
Selective catalytic reduction equipment officially came online in 2008 to reduce nitrous oxide gases even further. The total cost was more than $69 million, and will reduce NOx emissions by more than 70 percent.
SCE&G is a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 661,000 customers in South Carolina.
- Christopher Huff
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It was 238 years ago today. After more than a year of open hostilities, the Continental Congress signed what would become known as the Declaration of Independence. The proclamation would unleash the full might of the most feared military force of its time — the British army and navy.
When the British forces opened their Southern campaign four years later, Charles Towne would fall after a three-month siege. The King’s military then moved inland, setting up outposts in several locations in South Carolina’s Midlands, including Orangeburgh.
Today’s Independence Day “100 days: 100 Objects” entry — the stone marker on Broughton Street, commemorates the town’s role in the war.
Charles Towne was successfully defended from a combined British naval and land forces that attacked a small fort made of palmetto logs on Sullivan’s Island under Col. William Moultrie. Those spongy palmetto logs are said to have absorbed the British naval fire while the American artillery did considerable damage to the oak-sided British ships.
The British returned with a larger force in 1780. After a three-month siege by land and naval forces, South Carolina’s largest city and its 5,000 Colonial troops under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln were captured. The surrender was the largest of an American military force until the Civil War 80 years later.
With its capture, Charles Towne became the base from which the British would launch raids and supply a chain of outposts set up through the state.
One of those outposts was the town of Orangeburgh. Due to the area being populated by large numbers of those both loyal to the Crown and those opposed, the town changed hands often.
The stone marker at the corner of Broughton and Henley streets indicates the approximate location of the town’s original courthouse and jail, which were used by the British for their Orangeburgh outpost.
Almost a year later to the day, Charles Towne was surrendered. Gen. Thomas Sumter brought 350 colonists to bear upon the British-held outpost. Considering the strength of the British forces, Sumter waited until his artillery could be brought forward.
After Orangeburgh was secured, Sumter moved to assist forces with Gen. Francis Marion at Fort Motte. The British re-captured the town a month later.
The taking and re-taking of Orangeburgh in the waning years of the Revolutionary War wasn’t a Bunker Hill or Valley Forge. It’s not on maps of the time as a strategic stronghold.
But strategically, it was one of several cat-and-mouse, hit-and-run engagements that would lead up to the full-scale Battle at Eutaw Springs in September. That confrontation in the eastern part of the county, in turn, would eventually be marked as the end of British outposts in the state.
The war didn’t start here and it certainly didn’t end here. But a little-known marker at the corner of Broughton and Henley streets is a reminder of a time when the idea of independence grew here.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow Walker on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
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EUTAWVILLE — “Small towns are their own gifts,” said the Rev. Tom Hendrickson, pastor of the Church of the Epiphany.
The history of the Church of the Epiphany in Eutaw Village (later named Eutawville) begins with the establishment in 1804 of Rocks Church near Rocks Plantation on the old Santee River Road.
As Eutaw Village grew, people felt the need for a church that was conveniently located. In 1849, the present structure, once referred to as The Village Chapel-of-Ease, was built.
The original building had a slave gallery. It was later removed and a small fenced area was provided for the few blacks who wanted to attend services.
Rocks Church became the parish church of Upper-St. John’s parish in 1864. Upper-St. John’s was first settled chiefly by the English, but as the French Huguenot families who settled along lower Santee began to accumulate wealth and increase in number, they moved up the river in search of new lands and better health conditions.
The current chapel was enlarged and improved during this time.
A great change came between 1938-1942 when the Santee Cooper Project left Rocks Church and its old cemetery on an island in Lake Marion.
Due to constant vandalism, the church was torn down in 1954 and a monument was erected on the site.
Epiphany Chapel was consecrated on Jan. 30, 1949, and is now the Parish Church of Upper-St. John’s.
In the early ‘80s, an auxiliary building, “The Vestry,” was added.
Every first Saturday in September, the church hosts a commemorative re-enactment of the Battle of Eutaw Springs.
Average attendance on Sunday is just over 60 with some parishioners from Summerville still calling the church “home.”
Hendrickson said, “Many were raised in the area and moved away, but the church is a treasure.”
“One of the gifts of the Christian faith is that there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free,” he said. “It’s the blood of Christ that covers us, and unless people get that in their heart, things will not change.”
The church is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
Service times are Sundays at 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
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The seven-story Hotel Eutaw on Russell Street was considered one of the most modern and best-equipped hotels in a community Orangeburg’s size when it opened for business in 1927.
When complete, the $300,000 hotel was a “skyscraper” of seven stories with chandeliers, terrazzo floors, marble, polished carved wood and spacious rooms.
For several years, the hotel operated as part of a chain of hotels on a lease basis, but the operation was unsatisfactory to stockholders.
In 1929, the stock market collapsed, sending the nation into the Great Depression. By 1934, ownership of the hotel had transferred to a group of Orangeburg business people.
For decades, the hotel was renowned for its dining facilities and as a space for wedding receptions and other occasions.
In its earliest days, the hotel was the site of either a suicide pact between a couple successfully carried out or a murder-suicide. Authorities were never able to find out.
The hotel’s busiest time of year was the Orangeburg County Fair week.
Cars gradually replaced trains as the preferred mode of travel and U.S. 301 diverted traffic from Russell Street to John C. Calhoun Drive. Newer motels grew up along the streamlined federal highway route, offering more parking and more first-floor guest rooms than the Hotel Eutaw could provide.
The T&D was published from the hotel’s lobby and dining room for nearly a month in late 1972 following a devastating fire at its physical plant.
In 1984, the hotel was renovated and renamed the Russell Street Inn. A bank foreclosed against the hotel’s then-owner in 1987. New owners took over the hotel in 1990, but it closed again in 1992.
South Carolina State University used the former Hotel Eutaw briefly for student housing in the early 1990s, and real estate agents tried for years to persuade the institution’s foundation to buy the property.
In 1997, Regency Development Associates Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., stepped forward with a $1.3 million plan to divide the building into 32 apartments for senior citizens. City Council endorsed the project and provided $10,000. However, anticipated state grant money was not forthcoming.
Around 2005, the Claflin University Community Development Corp. also looked at purchasing the former hotel. The university did some engineering studies to see if it could be turned into low-income housing, but the project was not deemed feasible.
Columbia attorney Robert Lewis purchased the 28,000-square-foot building in January 2007 with the intention of transforming it into university housing.
The $1.6 million renovation of the building began in June 2008 and included plaster repair and painting, as well as the installation of updated plumbing, electrical, security, air-conditioning, fire suppression and sprinkler systems.
In 2009, Claflin University leased space for students from property management company Red Curb Investments. The university is preparing to open a new dorm on campus, but the company continues to offer off-campus housing to students.
In addition to student housing, the building also has a bridal shop and a men’s clothing store.
A retailer is also being sought for the adjacent, 6,000-square-foot former Goodyear building.
- Dionne Gleaton
- Updated
SPRINGFIELD — Crumbling ceilings and a water-filled basement were among what was left of an architectural treasure that has since been lovingly transformed into a multi-purpose facility serving the people of the Springfield community.
The old Springfield High School has been rehabilitated to do what is was designed to do more than 80 years ago — enhance lives and serve the community. In 2008, an eight-year restoration project came to fruition with the opening of the visitor’s welcome center.
From 1929 to 1994, the Brodie Street building was locally known as the high school. Closed for educational service, the building sat deteriorating for the next six years. The Town of Springfield came to possess the property in 2000 when Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four deeded the structure to the municipality. Town was given the go-ahead to refurbish, rejuvenate and restore the facility.
Under the supervision of the state Department of Archives and History, the building was returned to its original state as designed by architect James Urquhart. In addition to private donations, state agencies — the Department of Commerce; Archives and History; Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the Department of Transportation — provide grant funding for the project. These agencies have audited the process and spending practices related to the restoration, and Springfield citizens have volunteered to help see the project to fruition.
Springfield resident Sylvia Hiers served as chairperson of a School Restoration and Use Board, which began the work to save the building from destruction through abandonment.
With seating for more than 400, the school’s auditorium and stage have been restored to their former appearance, including the balcony that was original to the building design.
In addition to a visitor’s welcome center, the building also functions as a community center and a museum with a memorabilia shop and African and Native American centers, along with a genealogy room.
The Springfield Branch Library has also opened in the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a site on the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor.
The South Carolina Heritage Corridor Region III held its annual Showcase and Dinner at the former Springfield High School in 2009 to highlight the beautifully renovated school as a site that many people had not known about.
The rehabilitation of the facility has benefited from the Orangeburg County penny sales tax, which has generated millions of dollars for more than 100 community-enhancement and economic development projects.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Richard Walker
- Updated
Born in England, Leslie was attempting to launch a vaudeville career when he brought his fledging act to Orangeburg, according to several sources.
In the 1920s, Orangeburg was keeping up with the times. Acts from all over, including those such as Leslie’s vaudeville act, were brought in. The city had no less than five moving picture theaters that also served as venues for stage acts.
There were the Star Theater, the Reliance, the Carolina, the Palmetto and today’s “100 Days — 100 Objects” entry: the BlueBird Theatre.
The Bluebird (original spelling) Theatre first opened as the city’s third theater in 1916 — in time to establish itself at the dawn of the “Golden Age of Hollywood” that lasted from the silent motion pictures of the late 1920s to the classics of the 1960s.
During the late 1920s, the movie industry was about to take a leap forward from the movies with no audio to a new format called “talkies” — movies that actually had sound.
Around the time of the transition from silent films to talkies, the Bluebird proudly advertised it offered “Big pictures for little prices,” according to South Carolina Movie Theaters. A movie-goer could see Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Italian heartthrob Rudolph Valentino.
Just a few years later, in the talkie age that began in earnest in the 1930s, more stars emerged, including Shirley Temple, Mae West and a budding actor named Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne.
By the mid-1930s, however, while the Duke’s star was climbing, the Bluebird’s star dimmed to the point where the theater was closed. Newspaper stories of the time no longer mentioned the theater after 1935. Its location later became the home of Williams Music.
A block or two away, the Edisto, a new theater with a 500-seat capacity, opened in November 1941. It would be owned by the same family for the next two decades until it was leased by another company.
A late 1950s advertisement in The Times and Democrat pictured an Eskimo beside the words “air conditioned.” The ad was promoting a horror flick titled “The Colossus of New York!”
But after about 40 years of operation, the Edisto’s screen went dark as well. It was used as a storage facility for another 15 years or so.
Then in 1996, the Edisto’s stage found new life under a phoenix of a name — a riff on the 1916 theater’s name — the BlueBird Theatre.
The Orangeburg Part-Time Players have since brought entertainment back to the former theater under that earlier name that introduced the community to big-screen romance, comedy, westerns and even fledging stage acts such as Leslie’s.
When he performed In Orangeburg in 1924, no one had heard of Leslie, the 21-year-old performer who would return to the Garden City for the last time for another performance two years later. Leslie went on to bigger stages, performing for the USO, starring in movies and becoming one of America’s most beloved comedians of all time.
Most knew Leslie Townes Hope by his shorter stage name: Bob Hope.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Dale Linder-Altman
- Updated
After more than 70 years, Edisto Memorial Garden’s Chinese water wheel still stands, a silent sentinel watching as children play and sweethearts stroll along the dike that holds back the black river water.
The wheel has seen generations of local folks and visitors come and go as the seasons passed.
Each season surrounds the wheel with its own special beauty.
In the summer, overhanging mossy limbs create a quiet oasis that gives passersby a spot to sit and meditate as they watch the wheel’s slow, rhythmic turning and listen to the peaceful sound of the water pouring from its buckets.
The red, yellow and brown leaves of fall give way to the stark, bare beauty of winter, which surrenders to the green of spring.
Throughout the never-ending cycle, the wheel continues its rotation, a tribute to Andrew Dibble, the city’s first superintendent of parks and recreation.
In early 1941, Dibble was at home recovering from a case of the flu and pondering how he could supply water in an aesthetic way to the newly built pond in what is now the Rose Garden.
While reading the National Geographic, he saw a photograph of a beautiful Chinese water wheel and read the accompanying story about how the Chinese used waterwheels with bamboo buckets attached to irrigate their rice paddies.
Dibble decided that he could successfully adapt the wheel to provide an unending supply of fresh water for the pond and also create a beautiful and peaceful corner for visitors.
Dibble called on a local wheelwright, Durham Bozard, who quickly built the wheel. In September 1941, it was installed in its familiar spot in the river.
Over the years, the wheel has been a popular attraction, both to locals and tourists.
With routine maintenance, the Orangeburg monument withstood the elements well until June 2012, when a large tree fell on it, damaging its paddles and center steel shaft.
The city’s service department removed the water wheel from the river, repaired it and put it back in place. The repairs cost about $500 and rental of the crane to move the 4,000 structure cost another $500. The wheel, which measures about 12 feet wide and 24 feet long, had to be taken out of the river and replaced in two sections.
By mid-September, the water wheel had been repaired and once again stood in its rightful place in the Edisto River, resting on pontoons so that the entire structure rises and falls with the river.
Though water is now pumped into the gardens’ ponds from the river, a switching mechanism and pipes remain in place should the faithful water wheel be needed again.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Called a quaint little village of a thousand inhabitants, Orangeburg was targeted by Union Gen. William T. Sherman during his 1865 campaign through South Carolina. The city was important enough for Sherman to make it a strategic target.
“This place was simply important as its occupation would sever the communications between Charleston and Columbia,” Sherman wrote in his memoirs.
Having completed his “March to the Sea,” Sherman turned his 60,000 troops toward the Palmetto State. Consisting of four corps, the right wing was made up of the 15th and 17th Army Corps while the left wing consisted of the 14th and 20th Army Corps.
It would be the right wing’s 17th Army Corps that would sweep up to the banks of the Edisto River where sits today’s “100 Objects in 100 Days” entry -- the historical marker erected in 1962 reflecting on the defense of Orangeburg.
The plaque reads: “Occupying Rifle Pits and manning a small battery in defense of the Edisto River Bridge, at this point less than six hundred Confederates temporarily halted the advance of the right wing of the Federal Army commanded by Gen. W.T. Sherman. On Feb. 12, 1865, the defenders were outflanked by a much larger force and compelled to withdraw and entrain for Columbia, South Carolina.”
Confederate defenders attempted to delay Sherman’s advance long enough for the remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to reform in South Carolina.
Pocotaligo, Whippy Swamp, River’s Bridge, Cannon’s Bridge, Binnicker’s Bridge are local sites that loaned their names to places where the state was defended. Finally it was Orangeburg’s turn.
Sherman said that when his troops reached the city, they were halted in the swamps across the river from what is today the water treatment plant. The original road leading into Orangeburg is across the river from the Fine Arts Center.
When Sherman arrived, a battery of artillery was exchanging shots with the Confederates on top of the hill across the river. Rather than attempt to storm the Confederate position, federal troops were sent down river to cross the Edisto. The move outflanked the stubborn Confederates and Orangeburg was entered.
During the overnight occupation, many public and some private buildings were burned, including the depot and courthouse as well as “a good deal of cotton,” Sherman wrote.
Orangeburg wasn’t a Richmond or even a Charleston when comparing strategic importance. There were no movies made or songs sung that remember a time when large opposing forces fought on the banks of the Edisto.
There’s simply a marker by the river’s side that seems to plead silently for all who were there: “Remember us.”
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Richard Walker
- Updated
Many years ago, a young couple visited a gravesite. It was the site where a police officer killed in the line of duty had been laid to rest under the shade of pine trees. When asked why they came, the girl simply said, “He was my friend.”
Those words are now the inscription on a monument erected in the fallen officer’s honor. The monument is located on Memorial Plaza in downtown Orangeburg.
On the monument is a depiction of a child handing a police officer a single flower and the simple inscription: “Because he is my friend.”
Today’s entry of “100 Objects in 100 Days” is the monument erected in honor of police Sgt. T.C. “Tommy” Harrison.
Harrison was killed in the line of duty on Jan. 15, 1993, when an Alabama prison escapee was being questioned at Belk’s in the Prince of Orange Mall. The escapee fired six shots point blank. Harrison died shortly after.
The Orangeburg officer was inducted into the S.C. Law Enforcement Officer’s Hall of Fame. In 2012, Harrison’s wife, Shaye, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, giving those two law enforcement officers the distinction as the state’s only married couple inducted into the law enforcement Hall of Fame.
The monument on Memorial Plaza was brought about as the Eagle Scout project of Tris Waystack, then a 14-year-old member of Boy Scout Troop 45, the locally organized People Against Crime movement and Harrison’s family.
Coincidentally, the plaza itself is the former site of the city’s justice. The courthouse built in 1875 after Union troops destroyed the former facility was located on the plaza square until it was torn down in 1928. The Confederate memorial statue remained, however.
Cleared and landscaped, the lot at that time was turned into what is now called Memorial Plaza, or simply “the square.” The plaza was once home to the “Lady Fountain” before it was temporarily moved into storage. The fountain was later placed where it still sits today at the entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens.
There are also four cannons on Memorial Plaza, two of which are Civil War Union Parrott guns, which are aimed south down Russell Street. Dr. Gene Atkinson’s work, “Images of Orangeburg,” indicates an absence of the guns in early 1940s photographs, suggesting they were mounted on the plaza soon thereafter. They show up in early 1950s pictures.
Legend has it the two remaining cannons, which are facing west on Memorial Plaza, were used to drive British Regulars from their barricade at the city jail in May 1781.
On the Harrison monument, an officer is depicted in a kneeling position, accepting a flower from a little girl. A young boy looks on. What few know is the little girl is Harrison’s sister-in-law; the boy, his own son. The officer was a fellow policeman with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.
Below the officer and children is the simple inscription: “Because he is my friend.”
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com. Follow Walker on Twitter at @rwalkertandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
HOLLY HILL — Helen Simmons can remember walking to the historic Holly Hill Depot as a young child with members of Holly Hill Methodist Church’s Sunday school class to catch the passenger train to Pregnall for picnics.
She recalled the depot, located on the town’s main street, being a “bustling place for farmers to sell their produce to northerners.”
Simmons has been a volunteer serving in several capacities with the Tri-County Regional Chamber of Commerce for more than 15 years and currently works as the town’s tourism coordinator.
“The depot holds a lot of memories for those born and raised in the area and at present, it serves as a welcoming center and entertaining venue for some,” she said.
The Holly Hill Depot is an official site along South Carolina’s National Heritage Corridor Region 3 (Site #35). It was built in 1921 on the site of two previous train depots dating back to 1886.
The railroad defined the location of the town’s business section, and it was responsible for the town’s growth and official founding in 1887.
Today, the beautifully restored depot serves as the eastern Orangeburg County office of the Tri-County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Holly Hill Visitor and Information Center, a mini-museum and as the community center.
“Holly Hill has a lot to offer ... from good places to worship, good places to shop, good restaurants and great people,” Simmons said.
Holly Hill and the surrounding areas offer Southern charm and hospitality that can’t be found everywhere, she added.
Referred to by some as the “biggest little town in South Carolina,” Holly Hill was built around a grove of holly trees. The last trees from the grove, estimated to be about 98 years old, were removed in 1957.
The Holly Hill Depot is located at 8603 Old State Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Long before the 911 emergency system, there was another way to call for help. An area resident spotting a fire simply pulled out their handgun or shotgun and blasted away three times. In the air, preferably. Anyone hearing the pre-determined alarm would then ring the fire bell.
The bell ringer was paid $1 for the trouble.
It may seem crude but it was effective for its day, which was more than 100 years ago. It called out any or all of the four fire companies scattered about Orangeburg at the time.
Eventually the volunteer fire companies consolidated and become a fire department, moving into today’s entry of “100 Objects in 100 Days” — the original Orangeburg Fire Department headquarters building located on Middleton Street.
Odd as it may seem today, there hasn’t always been a fire department in every community. There were efforts to come up with a strategy to fight blazes after the Great London Fire of 1666 wiped out a large portion of the city. Historians say fire companies were formed on a very small scale and a volunteer basis in many places, including Boston in 1678.
Edinburgh, Scotland claims to have formed the first municipal fire department in 1824. Thus the fire department was officially born.
Similar to the concerns after London’s Great Fire, Orangeburg gained a fire-fighting organization after an 1854 blaze wiped out the downtown business district. The following year, the Young Americans volunteer fire company was formed.
Before the turn of the century, three more companies were formed: the Elliott Hook and Ladder Company, East End Reel Company and the Phoenix Hose Company, an African-American fire department.
The Young Americans fire company was located in a building no longer in existence. It was located on the site of the median in front of First Baptist Church.
The Phoenix Hose Company was located in a Treadwell Street building that no longer stands. The Elliott Hook and Ladder Company was housed in what is today a Russell Street business just north of the First Baptist Church. Records show the names of two horses that pulled for the Elliott group were named Tom and Fly.
The East End Reel Company is believed to have reeled their hoses at railroad corner — today the junction of Magnolia, Russell and Boulevard streets.
In 1920-21, the city formed its first municipal fire department. The improvement period of 1927-28 saw the construction of the county courthouse, city hall and the original fire department headquarters building.
Today the building houses City Council Chambers. The original fireman’s pole was moved to the new Department of Public Safety building in 2006.
But for nearly 80 years, whether the alarm was a blast of a shotgun or a more modern 911 call, the 1927 building later known as Station Number 1 served to keep Orangeburg safe.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Richard Walker
- Updated
With a king for a father-in-law and a grandfather who also served as king, it’s not hard to see how a prince could have a town named after him — even if it is 4,000 miles away.
Born Willem Karel Hendrik Friso in Holland in 1711, historians know him best as William IV of the Netherlands, or more simply the Prince of Orange — the namesake of Orangeburg and today’s entry for “100 Objects in 100 Days.”
Born six weeks after his father’s death, William succeeded to the post of prince under the regency of his mother until he was 20. When he was just 9, he was named a knight of the Order of the Garter, a highly prestigious honor recognizing chivalry.
Three years after his regency ended, William married the eldest daughter of King George II of England. William and Anne were married at St. James Palace in London.
William was related to William III, the King of England who ruled along with his wife, Mary. The latter two are the namesakes of the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
But back to our prince: In 1704, an Indian trader set up a post on the dark banks of the Edisto River in the Carolina colony. Thirty years later, that trading post would be formed into a community when a couple hundred Swiss, German and Dutch settlers set up shop on the Edisto. It was said to have been chosen because the ground was fertile and the game plentiful.
But there was still no name for the trading post on the Edisto. So what better way to commemorate a Dutch prince’s wedding of a year earlier than to name the community after him?
Painted by North artist Coan Culler, a portrait of William IV — the Prince of Orange — hangs appropriately enough at the Orangeburg Fine Arts Center, itself resting on the banks of the Edisto River near the location where historians say the original settlement was formed.
The Fine Arts Center itself is the site of a swimming hole that became so popular, a wooden bathhouse constructed in the 1920s was replaced with today’s cement and block building.
The building that houses the Fine Arts Center today was completed in 1951 — exactly 200 years after the prince’s death at the age of 40. But since 1998, it’s also where the prince’s portrait faces the river that transported some European settlers to a village they would give his name.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com. Follow Walker on Twitter at @rwalkertandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Dionne Gleaton
- Updated
Vallentine’s Gin and Store in the quaint Orangeburg County town of Cope offers visitors a step back in time when the county played a major role in helping the nation produce more than half of the world’s demand for cotton.
In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, forever changing the clothing industry. Before his invention, cotton cloth was extremely expensive and difficult to make. Then along came the cotton gin, a machine that quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from the seeds, a job formerly performed by hand.
One hundred and 18 years later, J.I. Vallentine built his own cotton gin in Cope in 1911, putting his family into a business that has continued to thrive for more than a century.
In 1937. his son, the late Robert Vallentine, took over operation of the gin, which has since become a joint family venture.
If they’re around at the right time, visitors can see the gin in full operation as the raw cotton is sucked into the gin for processing, then cleaned and packed. Cotton bales, weighing approximately 480 pounds each, are stacked for delivery to various processing plants.
Vallentine’s Gin isn’t the only relic in operation. A unique feature on the premises is Vallentine’s General Store, which was built in 1911 along with the gin. The store offers a peek into the past through its showcase of memorabilia from the 1930s and 1940s. One area in the store is set aside for cotton souvenirs, including T-shirts, cups, dolls, etc.
When it was built in 1911, the store sold everything from horse collars to knitting needles.
Vallentine’s Gin and Store is one of Orangeburg County’s Discovery Sites on the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. Stretching 17 counties and 320 miles across the state, the SCNHC is committed to promoting and preserving the cultural, natural and historic resources of South Carolina.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Dionne Gleaton
- Updated
The “Pink Palace” on St. John Street in Orangeburg has a lively history and still stands as one of the rare examples of Gothic castellated architecture in South Carolina.
The fortress-like style is uniquely suited to the building’s former primary function as a jail, but the old landmark has been used for more than that.
James M. Guthrie III and John Townsend Sifly purchased the old Orangeburg County jail for $10,000 from the Orangeburg Arts Council, which bought the building in 1984.
Designed along the lines of the English prisons of the day by British architect Jonathan Lucas, the Pink Palace was completed in 1860 after approximately three years of construction. The castle-like structure served as a prison until 1865, when the Union troops of Gen. William T. Sherman burned it. The main foundation, however, stood firm despite extensive damage, allowing it to be completely restored after the Civil War.
Lucas, who by then was married to a woman from Cordova and living in Orangeburg, supervised the renovation of the building. From that time until 1976, it housed an assortment of prisoners. When it was a prison, hard-core criminals lived behind its thick walls. After it became the Orangeburg County jail, it housed only lesser offenders. By the early 1920s, electricity and water had been added at the jail.
It was during the 1950s that the jail got its famed nickname. It was then that late Sen. Marshall Williams’ wife, Margaret, used her influence to have the building painted her favorite color — pink. Williams and her garden club saw to the planting of the two oak trees that still shade the property. Felons soon began to joke about their reservations at the “pink palace.”
The jail became a landmark in the area and was actually entered into the National Historic Register in 1973. In honor of the recognition, the jail was given a massive cleaning, and the entire interior of the building was hosed and scrubbed down.
When the county vacated the Pink Palace in 1976 when the Law Enforcement Complex was completed, the building was vacant for the first time in 116 years. The cost of repairing the facility became cost prohibitive for the county. When Orangeburg City Council approached the county about using the building for a museum, the county transferred the title to the city for only a dollar, and the jail was later painted beige.
By 1989, the city council was forced to lease portions of the building to nonprofit groups and rent out parking spaces in the surrounding lot to help cover the museum’s daily operating expenses. Guthrie and Sifly purchased the building and surrounding property from the Arts Council in 1995 without having any definite plans for its use. The remaining property, in use as a parking lot, was sold to First National Bank.
Sifly said he and Guthrie just had an interest in preserving what had become a part of Orangeburg’s history.
“The building itself is in good shape structurally. Hopefully, we’ll find some use for it that’s self-sustaining. It is such an unusual structure,” Sifly said.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Martha Rose Brown
- Updated
The Revolutionary War’s Battle of Eutaw Springs proved to be one of the bloodiest of the entire war, leaving 500 American soldiers and 700 British troops dead on the battlefield.
Holly Hill native Dr. Robert Hart, a lecturer in the history department at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, said the Battle of Eutaw Springs began about 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, 1781, and “raged for nearly four hours.”
“It involved some of the most intense fighting of the entire war, much of it including bayonet charges and hand-to-hand combat,” he said.
Dr. Jim Piecuch, a researcher and professor of Southern history at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, said commanders of both armies claimed victory at Eutaw Springs.
“In a tactical sense, the British won; but in the long-term, big strategic sense, the Americans won,” Piecuch said.
The British strategy “totally unraveled” at Eutaw Springs, he said.
A portion of the Eutaw Springs battlefield, located on Lake Marion, is designated as a historic site and is open to the public year-round.
Among the top questions posed by visitors and locals to the site is if actual fighting took place at the area identified as the “battlefield.”
“The (battlefield) site itself is where the brick house was. The initial phase of the battle was fought farther west of the site, and the second phase was fought to the east,” Piecuch said.
Some of the retreating British soldiers sought refuge at the brick house near Eutaw Creek, Eutaw Creek, Eutaw Springs, the Santee River and other waterways are now submerged water systems under Lake Marion.
Prior to Lake Marion’s creation about 1939, the backwoods consisted of many swamps. Knowing the way through the terrain took someone who was familiar with the area. For the Americans, Gen. Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion had extensive first-hand knowledge of the swamplands.
Hart said the Battle of Eutaw Springs resulted in the “culmination of a campaign in which the American insurgents relied heavily on an intimate knowledge of the landscape and the vast swamps along the Santee River.”
Marion was among the heroic officers who fought in the Battle of Eutaw Springs; others were William Washington, Andrew Pickens, Nathanael Greene, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and Wade Hampton.
The battle resulted in the death of British Major John Marjoribanks. There’s a marker honoring him at Eutaw Springs.
The anniversary commemorating the Battle of Eutaw Springs is celebrated annually at the site by organizations such as the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Children of the American Revolution. The annual events are open to the public.
To visit the Eutaw Springs Battlefield, drive just a few miles east of Eutawville on Old Number Six Highway. The battlefield is located just a few yards away from Bell’s Marina.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Greeting motorists on the Interstate 95 bridge connecting Orangeburg and Clarendon counties across Lake Marion is an iconic billboard featuring a larger-than-life striped bass and a slogan of “not quite actual size.”
Although the billboard sits on a mere portion of the former Highway 301 bridge, which served as a causeway over Lake Marion from about 1947 to 1987, it seems to connect the past and present in ways that “swim” just below the surface.
In a blog entry, Kevin F. Langston of Santee Cooper noted, “When the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project was completed in 1942, biologists believed the striped bass trapped by the impoundment of the Santee Cooper Lakes would simply die off because stripers are a fish that migrate from saltwater to freshwater rivers where they spawn and complete their lifecycle.”
Langston further states, “In fact, the striped bass thrived after they were trapped, and the Santee Cooper Lakes eventually would garner a national reputation for the stripers’ abundance and size.”
Anglers caught record-breaking sizes and quantities of striped bass from the Santee Cooper Lake System, much to the astonishment of biologists, Langston wrote.
By 1972, the General Assembly designated the striped bass as South Carolina’s official state fish.
The billboard promotes Santee Cooper Country.
One of the older concrete bridges remains intact and stretches over Lake Marion. It is accessible only for foot traffic and is open to those who enjoy a scenic walk across the lake or who wish to fish from it – in designated areas only.
And who knows, maybe one day a record-setting striped bass may bite the bait on a fisherman’s line … and the slogan will change to “pretty near actual size.”
Just be sure to check with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources for guidelines and restrictions about striped bass fishing before reeling in the big one.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
BRANCHVILLE — It’s said that a large, old oak tree, fried chicken, an iron horse and a fork in the road are the factors that contributed to this installment of “100 objects in 100 days.”
Settlers first came to this area of Orangeburg County around 1734 when native Dutch and Germans moved inland from Charleston to form a village at the branch in the road leading to Fort Monroe (present-day Augusta) and Granby (Cayce).
That fork in the road was said to be at a large oak tree that long gone.
Fast forward 99 years to 1833 and the steam-powered iron horse not only arrived in the settlement from Charleston but was extended on to Hamburg. Several accounts have it that a tavern owner was asked to move his establishment to the nearby depot to meet and greet weary train travelers.
Five years later, another fork was built to reach Orangeburg and St. Matthews, then called Lewisville, which created the world’s first railroad junction.
The railroad only came to the village known simply as “the branch” after several disasters had struck at the track’s origins in Charleston. The little engine that could was delivered to Charleston in late 1830. Within weeks, it suffered broken wooden spokes on a test run and was later destroyed when it an engineer shut the steam release valve causing the boiler to explode.
Undaunted, company officials extended the rail line to reach the Augusta area with the Best Friend’s successors, the appropriately named Phoenix, and later the West Point and South Carolina.
But the 15-hour trip from Charleston to the Augusta area required stops for water for the engine and food for the passengers.
In comes Philip Chartrand, owner of the Branch Inn and tavern, which accounts have it had the best fried chicken around – especially if you haven’t eaten in seven hours. The result was that when the steam engine polished the rails at the branch, a forerunner of KFC was waiting to feed hungry faces near the train depot.
At the insistence of the railroad company, the establishment named The Branch Inn should put up a different, newer sign to reflect the railroad’s presence. They wanted the tavern sign to now say “Branchville.”
The depot structure itself was nearly destroyed in 1995 by fire. But the 1870s structure was rebuilt, the museum and restaurant – said to have served presidents – re-opened in 2000.
Today’s “100 days” entry: the world’s oldest railroad junction, Branchville, created by a fork in the path by the big oak tree, fueled by good ol’ Southern fried chicken.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By DIONNE GLEATON, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
Just 3 miles east of the town of North, Orangeburg County boasts a 2,400-acre airfield that has been touted as a critical link in the tactical mission training of C-17 cargo planes.
The primary airstrip of the North Auxiliary Airfield is now more visible from the road since the property’s trees have been thinned out. Travelers along U.S. 178 get a pretty good glimpse of it.
Situated 95 miles northwest of Charleston Air Force Base, the airfield is owned by the U.S. Air Force. It is used primarily for C-17 Globemaster III training by the 437th Airlift Wing and its Air Force Reserve “associate” unit, the 315th Airlift Wing, at Charleston AFB.
Additional “bare base” operations are also conducted by the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire Air National Guard Station.
The 437th Civil Engineering Squadron of the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB provides a detachment to maintain and operate the airfield. The only permanently assigned personnel are approximately 12 USAF firefighters and one civilian grounds keeper. The fire department at the base operates two P-23 aircraft rescue fire-fighting vehicles, one P-10 rescue truck, one P-26 water tanker, a P-15 fire truck — the largest fire truck in the world — and other support vehicles.
Established during World War II as a dispersal site for Air Force personnel, the land for the then-North Army Airfield was purchased between 1942 and 1945. The field was built by the U.S. Army Air Force. The original dirt runway was constructed in April 1943 and used by Hughes Aircraft Co. for testing, as well as being a satellite airfield of Columbia Army Air base, supporting B-25 Mitchell medium bomber training for Air Force III Air Support Command.
Training was accomplished by 74th Station Complement Squadron, which also maintained the facility.
After World War II, a 12,000-foot runway and a 3,000-foot assault runway were built. North Airfield (later North Auxiliary Airfield, Northfield Air Base) has been under the jurisdiction of Fort Jackson, Shaw AFB and the Department of Energy. On Oct. 1, 1979, Charleston AFB assumed real property jurisdiction, control and accountability over the facility.
Combat Control Teams from Pope AFB, North Carolina, provide air traffic control for aircraft landings and air drops, and aerial delivery personnel from Joint Base Charleston provide recovery of air-dropped pallets.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter at @DionneTandD.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
- Updated
The bronze “Lady Fountain” that greets visitors at the main entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens has a unique and colorful history.
The city of Orangeburg purchased the statue around 1928, when a new courthouse was built at Amelia and Sunnyside streets and the old courthouse on the town square was razed.
Former City Councilman John M. Sifly, a lifelong bachelor, went to New York to purchase it.
Sifly, whose responsibility was Orangeburg’s parks and streets, was also instrumental in founding Edisto Memorial Gardens, where the statue would find its permanent home.
Initially, however, the statue was set in place in downtown and Sifly was ribbed by some Orangeburg citizens who called it “Mr. Sifly’s Ladies.”
Due to the partially clothed nature of the ladies depicted in the statue, comments arose about the indecency.
When the statue was put in place, it had two goldfish pools – one on each side – and several swan statues.
The swan statues were actually fountains that spewed water from their mouths into the goldfish pools.
Around 1948 or so, the statue was removed from the town square and placed in storage.
It was not to stay there.
City leaders decided to reinstall it with a different base as the focal point for the Russell Street entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens, the award-winning gardens owned and operated by the city of Orangeburg.
It was installed around 1950 or 1951, but not officially dedicated until 1959.
On the base of the fountain are the names of local soldiers who died in World War II and the Korean War. After the conclusion of the Vietnam War, names of local soldiers who lost their lives during that conflict were added.
In 1992, it was refurbished to the look it has today.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545 Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- Gene Zaleski
- Updated
Immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a patriotic fervor spread like wildfire over the United States.
The song “God Bless America” and the American flag took center stage for many as means to let the world know this country would not back down under trial and turmoil. There were hopes of a brighter day.
For South Carolina Department of Transportation employee Robert Smoak and his maintenance crew of seven, keeping the patriotic spirit and hope alive took on a whole new meaning through the creation of “smiley face” indicating the state’s slogan, “Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places” along with a 52-foot-by-75-foot U.S. flag. Both were formed out of rocks.
The first of its kind in the state, the smiley face and the flag, located near U.S. 601 and Interstate 26, were part of a two-year thought process related to the DOT’s Colorful Spaces beautification program around 2000.
The site was chosen for its visibility and flow of traffic.
“We have had people all over the U.S. call about that thing,” Smoak said, noting the display has put Orangeburg County on the map. He said people see it and remember Orangeburg County is the place where the unique landscaping exists.
“It is one of a kind. When they come through, it is eye-catching.”
Smoak said the events of Sept. 11 had a profound influence on the design and the idea of the display.
“It was still so fresh in our minds,” he said. “We were basically brainstorming and we took paper home and drew up a rough sketch to it and tried to improve it as we built it. The traffic was crazy over the American flag. You would not be out there five minutes before somebody would come out blowing their horn.”
Every maintenance office in the state participated in the beautification program by completing a colorful landscaping project in their respective counties.
The projects included both tree and flower plantings along state-maintained highways, but where the flag was placed there was no water available.
“People from other counties have tried to replicate it, but I don’t think they have the elevation,” Smoak said. “That hill was just right for the elevation.”
A few months after the project was complete, changes were made over concerns the design was not in keeping with proper flag etiquette.
Proper use and display of the U.S. flag prohibits making changes to the design.
The changes involved removing the outline of South Carolina and other symbols representing the state from within the flag and replacing them with stripes.
By Dec. 15, 2001, crews found themselves busily grading and backfilling the landscape in preparation for the placement of the nearly 36 tons of stone and 28 gallons of red, white, blue, and for the smiley face, yellow paint.
Smoak said his crew utilized traditional landscaping techniques, along with some innovation to form the flag.
For the stripes and the rest of the flag, steel molds were constructed to prevent the rock from shifting.
The “smiley face” and related artwork were moved to the other side of I-26 across from the flag.
Contribution of materials for the original work, as well as knowledge, was received from sources such as Waters Edge Rentals, Sherwin-Williams, Sunshine Recycling, Fogle Brothers Construction Co. and SuperSod.
Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551.
- Martha Rose Brown
- Updated
We’re beginning a special journey with a smile – specifically the one on Interstate 26 eastbound at Highway 601 – and from there we’re making 100 stops throughout the 1,100 square miles of Orangeburg County.
It’s called, “Orangeburg: 100 objects, 100 days” and The Times and Democrat along with its readers will serve as tour guides, so to speak.
The journey begins Monday and continues on the 99 days to follow in the pages of The Times and Democrat and online at TheTandD.com, where the series that defines the county through the stories of 100 objects will include a building collection of photos and a matching game that you can play on your desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
Among the objects to be included, for example, are those that make a splash, such as the waterwheel in the Edisto River at the Edisto Memorial Gardens and the county’s aquatics center on St. Matthews Road.
And while a billboard-sized striped bass, with its famously printed disclaimer “not quite actual size,” greets visitors on Interstate 95 southbound into Santee Cooper Country and Lake Marion’s famous fishing, Orangeburg County isn’t limited to its many waterways.
Taking to the sky, just outside of the town of North, a casual passerby may not realize there are 2,400 acres of land that make up the North Auxiliary Airfield and are owned by the U.S. Air Force. The base is used primarily for C-17 Globemaster III training by the 437th Airlift Wing and its Air Force Reserve “Associate” unit, the 315th Airlift Wing, at Charleston Air Force Base.
And prior to airplanes soaring throughout Orangeburg County, the world’s oldest railroad junction came to be in 1838 in the town of Branchville, one of the county’s 17 municipalities.
Despite progress, there have been difficult times. During times of war, Orangeburg County suffered, persevered and prevailed.
Throughout the county, homesteads and farmlands turned into battlefields and skirmish sites.
The former Orangeburg County Jail, also known as the Pink Palace, sits within the Orangeburg city limits on St. John Street. It was built in 1860 and in the last months of the Civil War in 1865, Union troops caused extensive damage to the jail’s interior. Repairs were made and the jail continued to be used to house and execute some inmates, according to historic records.
Just outside of Eutawville is a site dedicated to the Battle of Eutaw Springs on Sept. 8, 1781, one that historians describe among the “bloodiest” in America’s fight for independence from Great Britain.
Those who led South Carolina troops in battle were none other than Gen. Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and Gen. Andrew Pickens.
And Orangeburg County continues to capture the picturesque Americana landscape of family-owned and operated small-town shops that have lasted for decades.
Valletine’s cotton gin and old country store, in the town of Cope, give visitors a real glimpse into a vintage country store where merchandise from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s is displayed. The cotton gin, adjacent to the store, remains in operation, usually from September through December.
Also in the western portion of Orangeburg County is the town of Springfield, home of the Governor’s Annual Frog Jump and the historic Springfield High School.
But these are just a few samples of what readers may expect to read about in the coming 100 issues of The Times and Democrat and at TheTandD.com.
Orangeburg County offers a variety of unique objects, whether they’re objects that have etched a place in history or are new on the horizon of the county’s future, The Times and Democrat wants to hear from readers about objects that make Orangeburg County unique.
While The T&D is using a draft list of objects to go along with the series, the list is flexible and needs contributions from T&D readers.
If there’s a place, object or site that seems like a good match to go on the list of “Orangeburg: 100 objects, 100 days,” please submit suggestions online or by phone (using email, phone or Twitter below) or by writing to P.O. Drawer 1766, Orangeburg, S.C. 29116.
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- T&D Staff Report
Through blizzards and fires, The Times and Democrat has not missed a day of publication in its 133-year history.
The newspaper’s commitment to providing news to the area was recognized during its 125th anniversary celebration in 2006.
To help mark the paper’s success, Charleston native Dana Coleman shared his talents by painting the mural that graces the Broughton Street wall of The T&D’s building.
The T&D was first published in September 1881 as the result of a merger of two newspapers: The Times and The Democrat. The mural shows the newspaper’s history from its founding to the present.
One portion of the mural shows the fire of 1972 that gutted the newspaper. Despite the fire, The T&D still managed to get the paper out. During the transition period, the paper was printed out of Sumter and Rock Hill.
The new press arrived seven days after the fire. Within 30 days, the pressroom had been rebuilt around it.
The far right of the mural is a display about the newspaper’s online presence and a laptop computer with the year 2006 on the screen. Both are a tribute to the newspaper’s technological advancements.
During the anniversary celebration, partygoers enjoyed entertainment by South Carolina State University’s Drum Line, the Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School Marching Band, the Jarvis Brothers, the Orangeburg Part-Time Players, the SCSU Gospel Choir and the Claflin Jazz Ensemble. The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Color Guard presented the colors.
Following the singing of “Happy Birthday,” the crowd witnessed the unveiling of the mural on the Broughton Street side of The T&D.
- T&D Staff Report
The Edisto Memorial Gardens Rose Garden has received international and national acclaim as one of nine test gardens in the nation.
For the past 63 years, the Gardens have featured a number of unique and rare roses — from the green rose first discovered in China 271 years ago to a micro mini-rose called Cinderella.
However, the diversity of Edisto Memorial Gardens, which is situated on the Edisto River, is perhaps best embodied in a special hybridized rose, fittingly named the “Edisto.”
The Edisto Rose, the only rose in the gardens named after the Orangeburg landmark, received the 2008 American Rose Society Award of Excellence.
The “red blend” mini-flora rose was hybridized by Michael Williams of Cross Hill, South Carolina. Unlike most hybrids, the color of the rose actually gets brighter in the heat.
The blooms of the Edisto are reddish-fuchsia with yellow-white reverse. The yellow on the outside of the petals intensifies as the weather gets hotter.
The rose can reach about four feet tall and four feet wide. It blooms from the end of April until the last frost.
In the home landscape, the Edisto is best used as an accent plant in a spot where it will receive six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. As with other roses, a well-drained soil suits it best.
Currently, Edisto Memorial Gardens displays some 4,800 rose plants representing at least 120 labeled varieties.
For nearly 40 years, Edisto Memorial Gardens was one of only 23 test gardens sanctioned by All-America Rose Selections Inc. until they ended operations in 2012. In 2012, American Garden Rose Selections was formed to continue testing roses, and Edisto Memorial Gardens is now one of nine test gardens in the United States.
- T&D Staff Report
The Holcim (US) Holly Hill cement plant opened in 1966, ready to supply much-needed cement to the Southeast.
Prior to the opening of the plant, Home Branch, a tributary of Four Hole Swamp, ran through what is now the company’s quarry.
Holcim’s existing diversion canal re-routed Home Branch around the quarry in the late 1970s and early 1980s in order to divert water away from the mining operations.
Currently, a new stream channel through the middle of the quarry is being designed in an effort to protect it from potential flooding.
The on-site natural resources at the Holly Hill plant contribute to its production.
The quarry on the 3,700-acre property, a multiple bench limestone mine, holds more than 70 percent of the raw materials needed for making cement.
Material is quarried by bucket wheel excavator, conveyed to a belt wagon, crushed, transferred to a belt conveyor system and stockpiled in a storage facility.
The limestone is combined with other materials and used at the mine site to produce cement that is sold in bulk and bag for use in the construction industry.
Sedimentary textures and fossils indicate the limestone that is mined at the Holly Hill plant is in the Eocene Santee Formation, which was formed in a shallow marine and lagoonal environment.
Holcim’s Holly Hill cement plant has grown along with demand. The first shipment left the plant in May 1966. In 1972, a second kiln was added; a third kiln was added in 2001. In December 2001, the name of the plant at the time — Holnam — was changed to Holcim.
In 2003, a single dry-process kiln replaced the plant’s two wet-process kilns, boosting production to about 2 million metric tons of cement per year — nearly six times the plant’s original output.
The Holly Hill plant currently employs 188 people.
Parent company Holcim Ltd. is considered one of the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of cement and mineral components. Holcim (US) has approximately 1,800 employees and operates 12 manufacturing plants and more than 50 distribution facilities in the United States.
- Christopher Huff
The Regional Medical Center has served Orangeburg and the surrounding community for more than 30 years.
In the early part of the 1900s, no such luxury existed in Orangeburg.
The first sustainable hospital was established in 1919 on Glover Street by Dr. Charles A. Mobley, a young surgeon who came to Orangeburg from Rock Hill.
The need for health care and the growth of Orangeburg soon strained the Glover Street facility.
The Tri-County Hospital Association was formed and a board of trustees was appointed on Jan. 1, 1934. Plans began for construction of a new hospital.
An application was made to the federal Public Works Administration, and a loan of $120,000 to be repaid over 30 years was received as well as a $108,900 grant.
On Jan. 15, 1936, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new hospital on Carolina Avenue. The entire construction cost was about $171,300.
The Tri-County Hospital building opened Aug. 15, 1937, with 82 employees and 100 beds.
The newspaper story about the grand opening carried the headline “Public Invited to Inspect Handsome New 125 Bed Plant, Many Visitors Expected.”
Approximately 3,000 people from Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties toured the hospital during the grand opening. Both Bamberg and Calhoun counties contributed funds for indigent patient costs.
The hospital was made of brick and concrete, thus being “fireproof.” The facility featured automatic elevators, electrical lighting, tile and terrazzo flooring and institutional equipment and furnishings. The overall investment was about $250,000.
The accommodations included private, semi-private rooms and four- and six-person ward configurations.
The hospital was equipped with two major and two minor operating rooms for surgical procedures. It also had an x-ray department, a clinical laboratory and an obstetrical department with its own nursery and delivery room. It also had a cafeteria and a food preparation department. There were two dining rooms for the nursing staff and the medical staff, as well as a larger cafeteria for patients’ families and visitors.
The operating rooms, the delivery room and the newborn nursery were air conditioned.
The success of the hospital was recognized in 1941, when the hospital’s medical staff commissioned portraits to be painted of the two men who were most responsible for establishing the facility: Dr. Charles A. Mobley and W. Eugene Atkinson.
The portraits still hang today at the Regional Medical Center.
The $26 million RMC opened May 17, 1981 on St. Matthews Road, and the first 128 patients were transferred from Carolina Avenue to the new facility on May 30, 1981.
Shortly after its closure, the old hospital became the home of the county health department. Today, it continues to house the Department of Health and Environmental Control divisions, including public health and environmental health.
- T&D Staff Report
City history books don’t tell much about the daily lives of early 1900s citizens, but a glimpse reveals Orangeburg residents have always liked to swim.
Records indicate a cry for a public pool grew, and in the early 1920s, city leaders acted.
By the summer of 1921, the parking lot near what is today Edisto Memorial Gardens held a 50-foot by 100-foot concrete swimming pool. It sat above the ground with a long, covered pavilion on the street side.
That pool is long gone. But the desire for a public swimming option arose again and, in May 2006, Orangeburg County Council announced plans to construct a public swimming center and gymnasium.
The Orangeburg County Aquatic Center was born.
In August 2008, council unanimously accepted a $554,800 architectural bid by Charleston-based LS3P Associates toward the development of the aquatic center on a 3-acre site on St. Matthews Road. In April 2009, council accepted the $8.996 million low bid for the project.
Ground was broken in the middle of 2009 and the park opened in May 2010.
The water park includes plunge pools, tube slides, zero-depth entry, children’s activity pools, picnic areas, concessions, full sun and shade areas.
Adjacent to the outdoor pool there is an indoor, year-round pool facility complete with a hydrotherapy pool, swimming classroom space, lockers and administrative offices.
The Orangeburg YMCA is operating the Aquatic Center under contract with Orangeburg County, the facility’s owner.
The use of the Aquatic Center and the water park is covered by the membership fee. Non-members pay a separate fee on a daily basis to use the facility.
The Aquatic Center was funded with about $4 million from the 1 percent capital project sales tax and about $2 million was used from the county’s $9 million general obligation bond issuance.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
Theodore Kohn was 10 when he emigrated from Furth, Germany to Orangeburg in 1850 with his parents and brother. He was among the first Jewish immigrants to Orangeburg.
In the decades that unfolded, Kohn proved to be a key to the city’s success.
A downtown building still bears his name. It was where he founded a mercantile business in 1867 and operated it into the 1900s.
Kohn also served in the Edisto Rifles during the Civil War and was awarded the Cross of Honor for his service to the Confederate Army. He suffered an injury to his arm during the war that affected the use of that arm for the rest of his life.
He died at age 62, but not without leaving a legacy in the city that he called his home.
Kohn served as an alderman for the City of Orangeburg, was a founding member of the Edisto Bank and a major force behind the creation of Orangeburg’s public schools.
He’s often regarded in historical writings about Orangeburg as the “father of Orangeburg graded schools.”
He served on the school board of trustees up until his resignation shortly before an illness to which he succumbed.
In 1885, Kohn became president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society. The following year, the Hebrew Benevolent Society purchased land for a cemetery within Sunnyside Cemetery.
The people of Orangeburg respected Kohn’s contributions to the city to such a degree that every business in the city closed during his funeral service in June 1902.
Orangeburg became home to several settlers and generations of Jewish residents and business owners.
Harry N. Marcus was the mayor of his hometown of Eutawville from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Marcus was a World War II veteran, Mason, Shriner and owner of Marcus Department Store in the small, eastern Orangeburg County town.
Irving Benjamin, who owned a department store in Bowman, served for three decades on town council.
Joseph J. Miller of Elloree had no living relatives when he died. The merchant left his savings to four Elloree churches, Orangeburg’s Temple Sinai, Charleston’s Britih Sholom Beth Israel, Savannah Hebrew Day School and other charities.
Orangeburg’s beloved Mirmow Field was named to honor Edward V. Mirmow (Mirmowitz) Sr., who was born in New York City to Russian immigrants and moved with his family to Orangeburg in 1901. Mirmow lettered in football and baseball at the University of South Carolina and remained a loyal Gamecocks fan for the rest of his life.
After World War II ended, Mirmow started the Orangeburg Indian Boosters Club which supported high school sports and organized the city’s American Legion Post 4 baseball program.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
Now that school is back in session, here’s a pop quiz about Orangeburg County:
A) Jamison is a small community located on U.S. Highway 601 between Orangeburg and St. Matthews.
B) The area was named in honor of Gen. David F. Jamison, who served as president of the Secession Convention, and was one of the founders of The Citadel.
C) The region was home for the Jamison School.
If you chose all of the above, you are 100 percent correct.
The Jamison School educated many students before it was closed and later moved to Orangeburg.
A wooden auditorium tucked between the old fire department building and the old Nate’s Bait and Grocery Store is all that remains to remind people of the area’s importance in education.
The school, as well as a building referred to as the teacherage, which served as a home for the school’s teachers, originally faced the woods on the Old Stage Road. The road closed when U.S. 601 was built.
Most recently, the wooden building served as a place where residents could cast their votes during elections.
However, today all the building holds is the memories of the students fortunate enough to have attended its classes.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
NEESES — Located in the western portion of Orangeburg County is the town of Neeses.
Originally known as Silver Springs from its earliest settlement until Sept. 29, 1898, the name was changed to honor John W. Neese, who sold the right-of-way to the South Bound Railroad in 1891.
Situated in the heart of town on U.S. Highway 321 is the Neeses United Methodist Church, which is celebrating its centennial. On Aug. 20, 1914, the church was organized with a charter membership of 40.
In 1989, Friends of the late L.C. Bonnette erected a bell tower in his memory. The structure stands in the church’s front yard and houses the bell that was originally located in the church narthex -- often serving as a photo-op for passing motorists.
Other sites of interest include the Neeses Farm Museum (which is currently closed for repairs), Giant Flea Market and Thunder Valley Raceway.
- T&D Staff Report
Oliver Cromwell Dawson served for many years as a professor, athletic director, coach and administrator at South Carolina State College.
But it was his prowess as the college’s head football coach that earned Dawson recognition when S.C. State’s current football stadium was named after him in 1984.
As the school’s head football coach in 1947, Dawson led the team to an undefeated season, which propelled it into the national championship for black colleges and universities.
A Georgia native, Dawson coached five sports at S.C. State from 1935-1976 and won championships in four of them. He also served as athletics director and initiated the school’s Health and Physical Education program.
With segregation the law of the land in South Carolina, Dawson’s record in eight seasons (World War II halted football from 1943-45) was 30-29-7, but in 1947, he led the Bulldogs to a 6-0-2 season and the Black National Championship game.
In 1974, Dawson became the first black inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 1983 he became a charter member of the South Carolina State College Athletic Hall of Fame.
Dawson died in February 1989 at the age of 78.
The football stadium opened in 1955 and has undergone several upgrades and renovations over the years.
Semi-permanent seats were added in 1972 to increase capacity to 10,000. Additional renovations included increasing the seating to 15,000 and remodeling the press box.
In 1994, a $4.5 million refurbishment project at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium raised the seating capacity to its present level of 22,000. The refurbishment entailed resodding the playing field, adding extra restrooms and again remodeling the press box.
In 2006, S.C. State installed synthetic turf to replace the natural grass in the stadium at a cost of $552,000 and added a $427,000 state-of-the-art scoreboard.
The stadium, situated on Buckley Street on the campus of SCSU, currently hosts men’s football and women’s soccer. It has witnessed much success. The Bulldogs won Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 2005. The Bulldogs claimed Black National Titles in 1976, 1981 and 1994 and earned NCAA Division 1-AA berths in 1981 and 1982.
- Christopher Huff
From the old tree that granddad planted to acres of orchards, pecan trees are plentiful in Orangeburg County.
The planting of pecans in the county began in the late 1880s to early 1890s.
By the turn of the century, large groves appeared throughout all sections of the county.
A century ago, there were already three pecan nurseries in Orangeburg County.
The leading varieties of pecans in Orangeburg County over the past 100 years have been Mobile, Van Deman, Schley, Stuart and Frotscher.
The “Stuart” is a favorite and is considered the most common cultivars of pecans in the Southeastern United States.
The “Stuart” was discovered in 1880 in Mississippi.
A Stuart pecan tree takes eight to 10 years to begin producing nuts.
In the city of Orangeburg, there are two main pecan shelling businesses: Orangeburg Pecan Company and the “Nut House” at Orangeburg Milling Company.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- Richard Walker
“Riding along in my automobile, my baby beside me at the wheel. I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile, my curiosity running wild. Cruising and playing the radio, with no particular place to go.” — Chuck Berry.
There was a time when cruising along and playing the radio was the place to be. It was a time that morphed from poodle skirts to teenyboppers on to bouffants and the Beatles.
If you couldn’t afford the just-released Split-T window Corvette as the place to steal a kiss, Dad’s family sedan would do just fine. And that could have been just like today’s “100 Objects” entry — the car perched atop the poles outside of Elloree on U.S. 301.
The now-rusted tank of a car is a 1953 Chevrolet Belair Deluxe that appears to have at one time been painted a flashy yellow.
A novelty, the “cars on a pole craze” seems to have taken hold in the 1970s across the country, typically to advertise a car repair shop or dealership. Orangeburg County’s “Flying Car” seems to have been used for that purpose as well, first advertising a garage, then a car lot and finally a country store — all operated by a family from Elloree.
The Flying ‘53 Chevrolet was the first year for what Chevrolet called its “210” series, a line of autos so designated to follow a growing trend of naming models with numbers. The body styles offered the motorists seeking a premium vehicle included a convertible, a Sport Coupe hardtop, two doors or four, and the ultimate family model, the station wagon.
Elloree’s Flying Car is a four-door model that most likely boasted a light blue body paint with a dark blue top. All models came with an in-line 6-cylinder engine that produced at their maximum a whopping 125 horsepower — about as much as today’s economy cars. A “Powerglide” automatic transmission was optional.
It might not have had the power of the Corvette, but few cars did. Still, the 1953 Deluxe was once the queen of the highways.
Today, the Flying Car has been cruising the air for more than 40 years. An eye-catcher for those who pass, it doesn’t take much to imagine the windows down, six cylinders powering the two-speed automatic transmission and the teenyboppers in Dad’s cruiser cruising down the highway with no particular place to go.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow Walker on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
A silo stands near the No. 1 tee at Hillcrest Golf Club. It and the clubhouse, the shell of a farm’s barn, serve as reminders of the days before the land was used for recreation.
Before construction of the $450,000 golf course in the early 1970s, the 200-acre site off St. Matthews Road was a South Carolina State University experimental dairy farm.
The site’s terrain — the property is located on one of the highest points in the greater Orangeburg area — proved an attractive opportunity for development.
Seeing the potential, then-South Carolina State College President Dr. M. Maceo Nance Jr. and Orangeburg City Administrator Bob Stevenson worked together to bring the partnership to life with the goal of uniting Orangeburg’s people in the spirit of recreation and entertainment.
The recreational complex, with the golf course as a centerpiece, was born.
Once the Hillcrest idea was approved, Orangeburg City Council applied for matching federal funds.
Gov. John West and U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond helped Orangeburg get about $320,000 through the Economic Development Administration.
S.C. State agreed to lease the property to the city for $1 a year for 50 years, with both the university and city council appointing members to the governing Hillcrest Golf Commission.
West hit the first ball at the new golf course on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 1973.
The 18-hole course was designed and constructed by Russell Breeden.
Open year-round, this par 72 course measures 6,722 yards in length.
There have been improvements at the course over the years, including the addition of an automated sprinkler system and on-course restroom facilities. The club hosts lessons and tournaments including the annual Orangeburg Festival of Roses Tournament in April and the South Carolina State University Intercollegiate Tournament.
It is also a 1994 U.S.G.A. Sectional Qualifying course for the U.S. Amateur Championship.
The course, located on 1280 State A&M Road, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.
- T&D Staff Report
Initially formed by the hand of man, Lake Marion has evolved into a paradise for wildlife.
Lake Marion, South Carolina’s largest lake, was formed in November 1941 during the construction of the Santee Dam as part of state-owned utility Santee Cooper’s Hydroelectric and Navigation Project.
The project was initiated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program during the Great Depression.
The reservoir was constructed to provide hydroelectric power to rural South Carolina and to provide needed jobs for the depression-ravaged state.
Covering about 110,600 acres, the lake is located within the coastal plain and is bordered by Orangeburg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Berkeley and Sumter counties. The lake’s headwaters extend upstream almost to the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree rivers, where seasonally flooded, forested wetlands form the wildlife-rich Sparkleberry Swamp.
Lake Marion is fed by many tributaries, including Wyboo Creek and the Santee River, and also by numerous springs including Eutaw Springs. The lake is named for the American Revolutionary War General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion. His former home of Pond Bluff was one of the properties flooded when the lake was created.
The completion of the project was moved ahead as the result of World War II, and Lake Marion Dam was closed before the clearing of Lake Marion was completed. As a result, thousands upon thousands of stumps, dead tree trunks and live cypress trees are found in the lake.
These have served as fish habitats for nearly all fish species, especially crappie, bream and catfish.
Native aquatic vegetation is also present along the gently-sloping shorelines and backwater sloughs, providing habitat for fish including largemouth bass, pickerel and bream.
The state fishing record for largemouth bass (16.2 pounds) was set at Lake Marion.
Other fish that abound in its waters are striped bass, white perch, white bass, shellcrackers and chain (Jack). Deer, foxes, squirrels, turtles, doves, turkeys, alligators and various species of ducks, hawks, eagles, egrets and ospreys also call Lake Marion home.
Public access is provided via several public boat ramps as well as at Santee State Park and Santee National Wildlife Refuge on the northern shore of the lake. Of the total 13,000 acres that make up Santee National Wildlife Refuge, only 4,400 acres are owned, with the remaining acreage being managed under a lease agreement with the South Carolina Public Service Authority (aka Santee Cooper). The refuge manages 10 conservation easements on private lands, totalling 458 acres, in Bamberg, Barnwell, Clarendon and Orangeburg counties.
Interstate 95 crosses Lake Marion near the town of Santee.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
CORDOVA -- Kurt Von Graff, owner of Dry Swamp Airport, has said the property was all farmland when he purchased it in 2003, but now it’s an airport and has been for the past decade.
Von Graff, a retired construction worker from New Jersey, gradually made major adjustments and improvements to the private airport that was on the farmland he purchased from Lawrence Whitaker.
The runway measures 2,900 feet and is made of grass.
The airport is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration and is open to the public.
Von Graff said he’s also working on an aircraft museum for the site.
He said 11 planes are based there and that he has quite a few pilots stop at the only airport in Cordova to fuel up throughout the year.
Von Graff is also a licensed commercial pilot and certified maintenance mechanic.
He’s grateful to his neighbors and to visitors to the airport – whether they arrive there by driving or flying.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
T&D Staff Report
A man dressed in an 1860 Citadel uniform stands tall in Orangeburg’s Memorial Plaza.
In June 1887, a group of 21 Orangeburg County women formed the Orangeburg Confederate Monument Association with the intent of erecting a monument to the soldiers of the Confederacy from Orangeburg County who had died.
The ladies raised $7,000 over a seven-year period to construct the monument.
On Oct. 18, 1893, several thousand people gathered on the plaza to view the unveiling of the 33-foot-tall Confederate Monument modeled after Capt. John Palmer.
Palmer fought in the war as a member of the Hampton Legion. His distinguished looks as a Southern gentleman were considered a perfect model for the soldier on the monument.
The design was an original concept by the women of the CMA. Theo Markwalter of Augusta, Georgia, was contracted to do the work. The monument was built from granite purchased in Winnsboro. Palmer’s image was molded and cast by Markwalter in a small town in Massachusetts.
The Confederate Monument stood in front of Courthouse Square until it was moved to the center of Memorial Plaza.
Palmer had local connections. He was a great-uncle of Miss Ellen Chaplin, who served as superintendent of education for Orangeburg County in the 1960s and 1970s.
- Martha Rose Brown
The Elloree Training Center, home of the annual Elloree Trials horse racing event each year, got its start in 1939 when the land was purchased for the purpose of building a race track.
On July 25, 1940, Palmetto Racing Park Inc., as it was called then, officially opened with lancing tournaments and horse races, drawing a crowd of thousands.
Gambling was legal at the time but was halted in 1947 when the late Strom Thurmond was elected governor of South Carolina.
Horse racing at the track halted, and Palmetto Racing Park fell silent.
In 1960, Phil Utman, a thoroughbred owner/trainer from Iowa, purchased the facility and revitalized it as Utman Training Center.
Utman’s dream to revive horse racing at the track also spread to local Elloree leaders and civic organizations who arranged for the first Elloree Trials in 1962. The event has been going strong ever since.
Utman Training Center eventually became Pine Hill Farm when it was sold to William Meaut, a Virginian, but it wasn’t long before Franklin “Goree” Smith purchased it.
Smith has owned the facility that became Elloree Training Center since 1976.
The late Chris Antley of Elloree, a nationally known jockey, competed in several races at Elloree Training Center.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545.
- Martha Rose Brown
The expansive Four Hole Swamp crosses through a major portion of Orangeburg County as well as portions of Calhoun, Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
Folklore has it that the name of “Four Hole” was given to the swamp because the water in it originates in “four” holes, or large pits, that bubble up from natural springs.
Other stories of its origin say the swamp merely has four deeper spots in it, thus “four hole.”
One of the deeper portions is known as Goodbys Hole.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service describes Four Hole Swamp as originating in the Atlantic Southern Loam Plains and draining nearly 653 square miles, or roughly 418,000 acres.
Significant tributaries to Four Hole Swamp include Cowcastle Creek and Dean Swamp.
Some of the early land grants to Orangeburgh District settlers were in the headwaters of Four Hole Swamp, at and below what is now the intersection of Belleville Road and U.S. Highway 176.
Margaret Waters of the Orangeburgh German Swiss Genealogical Society has worked to identify early settlers. Among the properties dating 1735-1738 were grants to Peter Faure, Joshua Lockwood, Anna Maria Till, John Myer and Jacob Bruck.
Slightly later grants went to Melchior Smith, Margaret Tenison, Jacob Heagler, Catherine Miller and Michael Smith. Of these people, John Myer and John Heagler were founders of lasting Orangeburg families.
Others like Jacob Lockwood were coastal residents who applied for land and quickly sold it. By the time of the 1790 census, the following resided along Four Hole Swamp: Daniel Kemmerley (Kemmerlin), Frederick Keller, Barbara Mourer (Moorer), Margaret Zimmerman, John Zimmerman, John Rush and William Whetstone.
All of these are familiar names, and in some cases, descendants of the founding families still live in the area.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
NORTH — The dome which sits atop North United Methodist Church is a unique, ornate symbol which dates back to 1917.
The first Methodist church to be built in North was at the present location of 8301 Salley Road. The wooden rectangular building, complete with a tall steeple and bell, was built in 1896. The present brick sanctuary which includes many beautiful stained-glass windows and a very unique dome was built in 1917.
The dome includes stained-glass windows on each of its six sides, along with a large stained-glass display on its bottom. Lights were added to the dome in the 1990s to illuminate the stained-glass windows at night.
For the church, the dome serves as a permanent symbol of God’s love shinning forth into the world, a beacon for everyone to come and experience the love and hope found in Jesus.
- Martha Rose Brown
Thousands upon thousands of these “objects” are visible from one end of Orangeburg County to the other in the late summer each year.
Cotton was not extensively grown in Orangeburg County until 1802.
Within decades, cotton production increased rapidly and by 1850 it was the most important crop in the county.
In the late 1790s, Capt. Peter Gaillard purchased lands in Upper St. John’s Parish, which was considered Charleston County at the time, but is now Orangeburg County.
He initially sought to plant crops for consumption, but soon after the invention of the cotton gin in 1794, Gaillard planted cotton.
He’s credited with being the first planter in the region to successfully produce cotton.
On the lands that Gaillard purchased, he soon built a home: The Rocks Plantation in 1803, just outside of Eutawville.
To this day, The Rocks Plantation continues to farm cotton and is likely the oldest consistently operating farm in Orangeburg County.
About 100 years ago, there were 129,053 acres of cotton planted in Orangeburg County.
The Farm Service Agency reported 35,331 acres of cotton were planted in Orangeburg County in 2013, with an average yield of 700 pounds per acre.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
One landmark on Old Edisto Drive has continued to stand — or in this case, wave — proudly from its 50-foot perch.
A large Old Glory welcomes visitors to the Dodge’s Chicken Store and as it has for at least 30 years, says owner Henry Dodge.
The store at 1801 Old Edisto Drive was formerly known as the Saving Station. Dodge purchased it about 30 years ago and, like other stores in the Dodge’s Store chain, he thought a large the flag would be a nice addition to the business.
“We think it is a nice reminder of the legacy of this country this day and any day,” Dodge said. “When we put it up, we got a lot of recognition. People are used to it now. It is not as novel as it was back then, but we enjoy the use of it.”
Dodge is not sure of the size of the current flag, but he says it has been reduced in size from a previous flag that used to don the pole.
“The wind tears them up and flags that size are about $500 to $600 each,” Dodge said
Dodge said a lot more people used to see the flag back in the day.
“We have been in Orangeburg a long time,” he said. “That was the big highway from Florida to New York. The bypass took a lot of it, but we are proud to be there.”
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
More than 230 years ago, the birthing pains of a young nation were felt in fierce fighting between American Patriots and British forces.
Orangeburg was in the midst of it as the colonies fought their way toward independence from Great Britain.
Positioned in Orangeburg’s Memorial Plaza are two cannons that are believed to have played vital roles in the Revolutionary War.
Capt. Henry Felder, a native of Switzerland who had an unwavering love for his new country and a devotion to liberty, risked everything — including his own life — to answer the call to defend America.
Felder, who married and had seven sons, was a patriot to the core.
He fought in the Indian War and also served as the foreman of the Orangeburgh Grand Jury.
He subsequently formed a militia to fight for freedom from England. The devotion he and his family demonstrated to the cause of liberty resulted in tragic personal losses for them. Felder’s homestead was burned twice by Tories.
It is speculated that Felder acquired approximately four cannons during his lifetime, but the two displayed today in Memorial Plaza in downtown Orangeburg were his pride and joy.
Under the command of General Thomas Sumter, Felder’s Militia Company — including seven of his sons — guided Sumter’s troops by way of Belleview Road, down Russell Street and into Orangeburgh village.
They fired cannons along the way and defeated the British militia in order to gain control of the Orangeburgh post.
In 1781, Felder would succumb to the wounds he suffered in artillery fire by British Tories as he defended his home of Orangeburgh.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
Ebenezer Baptist Church, its white peaked arches stretching toward heaven, dominates the landscape of the small town of Cordova.
The sanctuary has served as a home for the local Southern Baptist Church since 1926.
The building is reminiscent of the Gothic style with tall, slender, peaked windows lining each side of it and on both sides of the front door.
The name Ebenezer, which means “stone of help,” came from 1 Samuel 7:12. Following an Israelite victory over the Philistines, Samuel set up a stone to commemorate the occasion and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Hitherto the Lord has helped us.”
A history of the church reports that it was constructed on land donated by Mrs. Henry Gibson during the pastorate of the Rev. M.O. Owens. It was valued at $29,000 and had a seating capacity of 350.
Bricks made on the spot were used in construction of the building. At some time, they were painted white and remain so today.
In 1942, the Rev. J.M. Lane challenged church members to pay off the building’s indebtedness. Offerings covering the full sum were received on two consecutive Sundays.
Over the years, Ebenezer has had a strong working relationship with the local public school system. In 1943, the local school burned, and classes were held in the church for the next year and a half.
Almost 20 years later, the school system returned the favor.
In 1962, the church building was declared unsafe and services were held in the school while extensive repairs were made.
The familiar building in Cordova is the third home of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
A building constructed in 1831 was located at the site of the church cemetery about a mile and half from the current site. It was “constituted with nineteen members” and was pastored by John Hallman, according to the “History of Ebenezer Baptist Church 1831-1986.”
At some point, this building was pulled down to make room for another structure.
This second building, known as the “Old Church,” was a one-room frame building. The men sat on one side of the aisle and the women on the other. Curtains were used to divide off Sunday school rooms.
The “Old Church” was torn down and the lumber was used to build a home for Fred Smoak, whose house had been destroyed by fire.
- Martha Rose Brown
Just a few feet away from the Aiken County line in Orangeburg County stands a granite marker erected more than 90 years ago by the Jeremiah Jones Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The marker is located on Ninety-Six Road, also known as John Nunn Highway, outside the North town limits.
On Feb. 28, 1917, the DAR organized a local chapter and named it in honor of Jeremiah Jones, a Revolutionary War patriot whose homestead was located nearby.
About five years later, the local chapter placed the granite marker beside Old Ninety-Six Road.
Sen. James F. Byrnes delivered the formal address at the marker’s dedication.
Jones was born on Dec. 27, 1759, and he was about 22 when he enlisted in the Army while residing in the Orangeburgh District in 1781.
He initially served under Capt. John Stanfield and was under the leadership of Capt. James Farr when he was involved in the battles of Lynches Creek.
Jones also served under Colonels Wade and Sumter, then under Capt. Andrew Dubose and ultimately under General Francis Marion.
The Ninety-Six Road is also known as the Old Indian Trail because it was the main route connecting Cherokee villages in the Upstate with the English settlement of Charles Towne (Charleston) on the coast.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- BY KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
Branchville commemorates its place in history as the home of the World’s Oldest Railroad Junction each September by presenting its Raylrode Daze Festivul.
Tom Jennings grew up in the quaint town that spans an area of a little more than three miles.
Throughout his life, many things have been special to him, particularly his friends and family. For 46 years, the Raylrode Daze Festivul has continued to offer those special people in Jennings’ life a chance to gather and celebrate the history that’s backdrop is “built on our little town within a town.”
As Jennings remembers the story, Branch Junction was built in the early 1970s by local men as a backdrop for the popular gunfights staged for the festival. In the first festival in 1969, as a form of entertainment, a group of local men decided to do a mock robbery of the town’s bank. As the villains came out of the bank, they were met by the sheriff and his deputies. An old-time western shoot-out ensued.
“Of course, no one was hurt, but the crowds really seemed to enjoy the show. It was then decided that a place that depicted an old western town, as well as a softer place to land when shot, was needed. Therefore, Branch Junction was born,” Jennings said.
As the festival grew, so did Branch Junction. Each year a few more buildings were added. Eventually, a Grand Hotel complete with a stage for entertainment was added, along with a blacksmith shop that was mostly used for storage, giving Branch Junction the appearance of an old western town.
“I remember there being a jail, bank, several stores, sheriff’s office, saloon and funeral parlor. In earlier years, the stage was a four-wheel farm trailer,” Jennings said.
As the years passed, the buildings would require maintenance and occasionally, some had to be torn down and rebuilt. During Hurricane Hugo, the top of the stage was blown off, but the festival went on.
In 2007, the blacksmith shop and the saloon were destroyed by fire. Some items used for the festival were also lost, along with many of the photographs from past festivals.
The in 2008, a devastating tornado ripped through Branchville, demolishing Branch Junction.
“It was very upsetting to see the twisted wood and bent tin that was once our beloved Branch Junction,” Jennings said. “Only a few structures remained, and it was uncertain as to what the future of Branch Junction would be.”
Many townspeople began working to secure funding to rebuild the venue. Funds from grants through the county and state were obtained, and a new Branch Junction rose from the ashes and was ready for the 40th annual festival that September.
Today, Branch Junction consists of eight buildings that are rented to festival vendors to sell their wares during Raylrode Daze.
One building serves as the arts and crafts and concessions space, a jail, a sheriff’s office, a funeral parlor and a saloon.
The stage in Branch Junction showcases festival entertainers each year.
Can Can dancers perform several times each day during the event, along with singers, dancers and bands. The popular shoot-outs are still performed by the Branch Junction Gunfighters.
“Branch Junction is what makes Raylrode Daze so special,” Jennings said. “It’s what sets us apart from other festivals. Festival-goers bring their chairs to sit under the porches and enjoy the entertainment as well as reminiscence with old acquaintances that they may have not seen since last year’s festival.”
Contact the writer:kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-555. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis. Also contributing to this article was Tom Jennings, president of the Raylrode Daze Festivul.
- Martha Rose Brown
A building that once served as a school for the Native American population in the area still stands today on Bayview Street just outside of Holly Hill.
Currently known as the White Oak School, the old single-story wooden structure, along with its chimneys, was built in the late 1800s by Frederick Connor. Connor owned and operated Connor Plantation about two miles away.
Early school and state records actually refer to the school as “Crane Pond School,” but the leaders and members of the Santee Indian Organization, headquartered at 432 Bayview Street, have worked over the years to maintain the school’s name as “White Oak.”
For several years, the Santee Indian Organization, a state-recognized tribe, was housed in the former school.
Family records show that Frederick Connor’s daughter-in-law, Mary Elizabeth “Bessie” Murray Connor, began teaching at the Native American school in 1899, earning a salary of $6 a week. She was also provided a horse and buggy to travel from the family homestead to the school and back each day.
The school served students in first through eighth grades.
During the decades of segregation when laws mandated that whites and blacks attend separate public schools, such was the case for the Native Americans.
When Orangeburg County’s schools began to integrate during the early to mid-1960s, the building ceased to function as a public school.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
Six years ago, Neeses couple Tim and Sherri Adams lost their daughter in a car accident.
They decided a place of remembrance was needed for all families who have lost a child.
The Adams’ efforts led to the development of the Angel of Hope Garden, a statue hewn of stone as permanent as the parents’ love for their child.
The Angel of Hope Garden, which opened in December 2009, features a 4-foot-tall Angel of Hope statue atop a granite base, the Wall of Love and the Walk of Love.
The Adams lost their 11-year-old daughter, Amber, in a car crash in May 2008.
They provided the start-up money and helped form the citizens’ committee that raised the entire $45,000 needed for the project. City staff installed irrigation, lighting and landscaping as well as the Wall of Love, the Walk of Love and other walkways.
A local brick mason and monument company donated their skills and labor.
When the work was completed, it became the first Angel of Hope Garden in the state and the 100th in the world.
In 2011, the garden was recognized by the Municipal Association of South Carolina by winning the Municipal Achievement Award.
Since 1994, Angels of Hope statues have been located around the U.S. and in Canada. The first was dedicated in Salt Lake City by Richard Paul Evans, author of the New York Times best-seller “The Christmas Box.”
In the fictional story he wrote for his two daughters, Evans referenced an angel monument that actually did exist in a Salt Lake City cemetery until it was destroyed by a flood. In response to the demand from grieving parents who lost children, Evans commissioned the creation of the first Angel of Hope.
- T&D Staff Report
An Orangeburg livestock auction market is one the city’s best-kept secrets.
Orangeburg Stockyards Inc. on Whaley Street, which dates back to the pre-World War II era, continues to operate today.
Originally called the Farmers’ Livestock Market, the market underwent a number of name changes before becoming Orangeburg Stockyards in the 1950s.
Owned by Four Holes resident Steve Nash since 1990, the market auctions off cattle, hogs and goats.
The operation houses air-conditioned, roofed-in pens on about 1.5 acres. The animals are kept well fed for the traditional hour-long Wednesday auctions.
Each animal has barn space reserved for it, and the livestock is listed by weight and breed.
Buyers typically arrive as early as 7:30 a.m. on Wednesdays to participate in the 11 a.m. auction. The market starts receiving livestock on Tuesdays in preparation for the auction.
On average, Orangeburg Stockyards Inc. sells nearly 550 head of cattle a week, about 200 to 250 hogs and almost 50 goats. Sellers typically get paid immediately when their animal is picked up.
Whaley Street became the hub of the early Orangeburg livestock industry.
The Orangeburg Packing Plant opened on Whaley in 1918, and the plant is believed to have been the first place where meat was ever shipped from the state.
The packing plant closed during the Great Depression in the 1930s and reopened following the Depression before permanently going out of business in 1969.
- T&D Staff Report
It took years of planning and effort, but in 2011 Orangeburg County Fire District firefighters were able to begin practicing in their own fire training tower/burn facility.
The $778,000 tower became operational in June 2011, with a grand opening in the fall of 2011.
The 40-foot drill tower/burn facility is located at the fire complex headquarters on U.S. Highway 301 near the intersection with Interstate 26. The building is about 25 feet wide and 75 feet long. The tower is about 40 feet wide and stands five stories.
The training facility allows firefighters to hone their skills fighting various types of blazes within a controlled environment.
The multipurpose facility is used for search and rescue training and live fire burns. Additional props are put in place, allowing firefighters to jump off the building and train in removing roof structures in the event of a fire.
Three years after its opening, the tower has helped train about 400 firefighters from across the state as well as officers from agencies such as the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division.
Orangeburg County Fire System Coordinator Gene Ball said the fire tower has helped lower Insurance Services Office ratings for the county.
Insurance companies rate fire departments and communities on their fire service infrastructure development. Lower ISO ratings for fire departments typically mean lower insurance premiums for the homeowners they serve.
The structure also allows firefighters to receive training closer to home.
“It is being utilized regularly,” Ball said.
- Dionne Gleaton
A monument on South Carolina State University’s campus serves as a lasting tribute to the three students who died in the incident that became known as the “Orangeburg Massacre.”
Samuel Hammond, a freshman football player from Florida; Henry Smith, a sophomore from Marion, and Delano Middleton, a 17-year-old whose mother worked at the college, were killed on Feb. 8, 1968.
On that night, S.C. Highway Patrol troopers opened fire on a crowd of protesters following three nights of escalating racial tension over efforts to desegregate the All-Star Triangle Bowl. There were 28 other people who were injured.
A year after the incident, the Smith-Hammond-Middleton monument was erected honoring those who died. Each year on the anniversary, S.C. State holds a memorial service in honor of the three students. A torch is lit at the monument as part of the ceremony.
In 2003, then-S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford formally apologized for the incident.
“I think it’s appropriate to tell the African-American community in South Carolina that we don’t just regret what happened in Orangeburg 35 years ago — we apologize for it,” Sanford said in a statement.
A building on campus is also named for Smith, Hammond and Middleton.
It was following the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the event that Middleton’s friend and classmate Sam Haynes noticed that Middleton’s middle initial was incorrectly engraved in the monument as “B.” While Middleton was affectionately known as “Bump” by family and friends, his middle name was actually Herman.
The monument was corrected in 2013, with S.C. State President Thomas J. Elzey thanking then-Mayor Paul Miller and the city for following through with the work to correct the monument.
- T&D Staff Report
Visitors and students since 2007 have been welcomed to Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College by a semi-circle fountain located in front of the Student and Community Life Center.
The fountain was presented to the college by the OCtech Foundation in honor of its 30th anniversary, according to Executive Director Faith McCurry.
“We wanted to create a landmark on campus visible from Highway 601 that presented an inviting presence and provided a place for students to go and relax,” she said.
“It’s a welcoming point in the middle of campus for visitors and new students and is visible day and night. It’s lit at night,” McCurry said.
The fountain has been part of numerous community celebrations.
Several years ago, the water in the fountain was colored pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Week. Some years before that, it was dyed green in observance of St. Patrick’s Day.
This May, visitors to the campus may have been surprised to see the fountain filled with yellow rubber ducks. Each duck represented a $20 donation to a scholarship drive, McCurry said.
The fountain was designed and constructed by Hay Hill Services.
“It was very important to the Foundation that local people be involved in the construction and design of the fountain,” McCurry said.
A local firm also landscaped the area around the fountain, she said.
- T&D Staff Report
A machine standing approximately 9 feet tall by nearly 15 feet long and weighing more than 25,000 pounds is an essential tool used in treating cancerous tumors at the H. Filmore Mabry Center for Cancer Care at the Regional Medical Center.
With the completion of the expansion of the Mabry Center in the summer of 2013, RMC continues to offer access to the most advanced radiation therapy. A new $2.9 million Trilogy linear accelerator by Varian Medical Systems was part of the expansion.
The equipment generates high energy X-rays by using microwave energy to accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light. As the electrons reach maximum speed, they collide with a metal target to release photons (or X-rays). The accelerator rotates around the patient to deliver the radiation treatments from nearly any angle.
The linear accelerator is outfitted with an important accessory called a multi-leaf collimator. This device, which has 120 computer-controlled mechanical “leaves” or “fingers,” is used to shape the beam of radiation so that it conforms to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor.
RMC’s $8 million expansion of the Mabry Center also features new medical and radiation oncology space, including additional exam rooms, technology and replacement of the heating and cooling system.
The Mabry Center was expanded to better accommodate the care and treatment needs of patients and to help keep patients in Orangeburg and slow the out-migration of patients. An out-migration of approximately 14 percent has been cited.
Located at 1161 Cook Road, Orangeburg, the Mabry Center was built in 1992 to treat 400 patients a year. In 2012, more than 1,000 patients were treated and more than 5,000 radiation treatments were performed.
Along with the second linear accelerator, which was added to handle increasing patient volumes for radiation, the 9,696-square-foot addition to the Mabry Center for Cancer Care has also allowed for patient, family and support areas.
The RMC paid for the project using a portion of a $25 million borrowing package. The multi-phase project was done without interrupting patient care.
For more information about the Mabry Center for Cancer Care at RMC, call 803-395-4600, toll free in S.C. at 800-476-3377, ext. 4600 or visit www.trmchealth.org.
- T&D Staff Report
Four years ago, Holly Hill and Orangeburg County officials held a public hearing to discuss plans to renovate the vacant former Holly Hill Middle School.
The plans called for transforming the structure into a multi-purpose building providing both county and city services.
Earlier this year, the fruits their labor were realized when the new $4 million intergovernmental complex, located at 8423 Old State Road, opened to the public.
The building houses Holly Hill Town Hall and the Holly Hill Police Department as well as the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Home Health Services and clinicians.
The Holly Hill Branch of the Orangeburg County Library operates in the facility five days a week.
The balance of the project, approximately $3 million, was funded through grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other funding came from county’s capital projects penny sales tax monies.
In the mid-1920s, Holly Hill High School was located at the site. Eventually, with modifications and renovations through the years, it became Holly Hill Middle School.
The school closed in 2004 after the district’s two high schools merged into one — Lake Marion High School — and the middle school students and staff relocated to the former Holly Hill High School campus.
Orangeburg County purchased the building from Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three for $10 in 2007.
The building has received recognition on the state level, earning honorable mention this month in the J. Mitchell Graham Memorial Award presentation. The South Carolina Association of Counties presents the award annually to recognize counties that address community challenges, implement operational improvements or enhance their citizens’ quality of life in a unique way.
- T&D Staff Report
“Serving 100,000 Radio Families Covering Ten Lower Central South Carolina Counties.”
Although the station can no longer be found on the dial, the message is broadcast on the exterior of the building that once housed Orangeburg’s WTND Radio.
The building, which is located on Memorial Plaza, was home to the radio station from the late 1940s to the late 1970s.
J. Izlar Sims, son of then-Times and Democrat owner James L. Sims, is credited with putting the radio station on the air. It was owned and operated by The T&D and the Dixie Home Building.
Izlar Sims was also credited with bringing the first talking picture to Orangeburg in the late 1920s.
WTND aired an unusual play-by-play account of afternoon games of both the National and American Leagues.
The announcers of the particular network carried by WTND were not allowed to broadcast from where the game was being played. Instead, the announcers were situated in studios where the actions of the game would be transmitted over teletype.
Surrounded with a variety of sound effect instruments, all the sounds that would be heard from the game would be focused into the announcer’s mike. There was no way the listener could tell the background noise from the real thing.
The building was built in 1909 by W.C. Wolfe as a 100-room hotel. At five stories high, the hotel was the second-tallest building in the state at the time. It had electric lights, an electric elevator and fans.
A 1941 fire destroyed the two upper floors of the hotel.
At the time, the first floor was occupied by the law office of Julian S. Wolfe, the Hutto and Haddock Barber Shop and Walker & Bowman.
The building has also housed Sears and a Belk-Hudson thrift store. It later housed E-Mart, which closed in January 2005.
The building was purchased in February 2006 with plans to make it the headquarters of a church ministry. In 2010, the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety put a notice on the building deeming it unsafe to enter.
Today, the roof of the entire building has collapsed. The building has been condemned by the city.
- T&D Staff Report
The three-story building in the heart of Norway towers above everything around it. It has also been called the tallest building between Columbia and Savannah, and Orangeburg and Aiken.
The building at the corner of Norway Road and U.S. Highway 321 was built in 1926 for use as a bank by B.B. Williams, who also helped build Norway’s Willow Swamp Baptist Church. Williams was the grandfather of the late state Senate President Pro Tem Marshall B. Williams.
The building has vaults on the main floor and in the basement, apartments on the second floor and the third floor was added for the Masons.
When the building was used as a bank, an elevator transport system would drop money bags from the bank’s first floor vault to its cellar vault.
The building, which has 16-foot ceilings, has had a number of uses over the years.
The second-floor apartments were often used by newly married couples.
It was rented out for some time as warehouse space, but has also housed a cotton brokerage, a fertilizer business and doctors’ and dentists’ offices.
The last bank in the building was the former South Carolina Bank and Trust and the last business was Norway Insurance Company. The building is now used for storage.
Danny Covington, the current owner, says he has not been able to confirm if the building is the tallest for miles and miles but says it is 52 feet tall.
- T&D Staff Report
The roar of engines has been heard at Orangeburg Drag Strip since its construction and opening in 1961.
At that time, there was no timing equipment. Everything was started by a man getting out in front of the cars and dropping his hands. Then, off to the races they went!
There was no guard rail to protect spectators from the cars back then. The original track featured racing over a quarter-mile, with another quarter-mile of stopping distance.
In 1972, brothers Zane, Tommy and Jimmy DeWitt purchased the track from original owners T.J. Ashe, Ezel Hutto and Nick Davis.
The DeWitt brothers installed guard rails and brought in timing equipment that was built in Leesville. It was a black box that sat in the tower; a calculator was used to subtract the difference from each car’s dial in.
During this time, racing took off with cars getting faster running the quarter-mile in the high 10-second range.
The track saw the likes of the DeWitts, Houston Platt, Zeigler Chevrolet, the Brickles at Orangeburg Auto, Buddy Boozer, Sonny Tindal and the Smiths of North.
The DeWitts started what is now called “grudge racing.” A driver would pay $1 to get in and another $1 to run his car.
Don Garrick purchased Orangeburg Drag Strip from the DeWitt brothers in 1982. Garrick continued with the Thursday night racing, along with Sunday bracket racing. He also started running motorcycle events.
Garrick sold the track to Charles and Johnny Dowey. The Doweys tore up the old asphalt and converted the track to all concrete for better traction.
In 2001, Jimmy and Zane DeWitt re-purchased the track and continued to feature similar races for the next five years.
In 2006, the current owner, Buddy Boozer, purchased the track with the intention of refurbishing it.
With the help of the Doweys and their heavy equipment, the track was completely torn up as well as the buildings on the site.
The only exception was the tower, which the Doweys had installed from a prison they had demolished in Columbia.
A new racing surface, concrete guard rails and a shut-down area were put in place.
New timing equipment, scoreboards, a cafe and restrooms have since been added.
Today, the track is home to Pro Modified drag racing, bracket racing, grudge racing, junior dragsters and bike racing.
Orangeburg Drag Strip is located at 194 Dragstrip Road in Neeses.
- T&D Staff Report
During the 1940s, legendary boxer Joe Louis forever helped to raise the profile of African-American athletes in the realm of sports. A decade later, the late Arthur Rose began his quest to play a similar role for African-American artists on Claflin University’s campus in Orangeburg.
Rose, a 1950 graduate of Claflin and the university’s first art major, was known as the “dean of black artists in South Carolina.” He served as chairman of Claflin’s art department from 1952-1976, making the university’s art department among the best in the state. Claflin was the only institution in the state where African-Americans could get a degree in art until the mid-sixties.
In December 1999, the former Lee Library building at Claflin was named the Arthur Rose Museum. The library had formerly served as Rose’s art studio.
Claflin graduate William Wilson Cooke was the architect who supervised the building’s construction by students in 1898.
Students fired the bricks in kilns dug on the campus. The library was named after Priscilla E. Lee Bennett, who provided the construction funds.
For his design, Cooke used a unique multi-sided, T-shaped plan and characterized the building’s exterior with red brickwork, terra cotta medallions and window details.
In 2005, the project received the South Carolina Historic Preservation Award from the Office of the Governor, the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
The museum is not the only historic building on Claflin’s campus.
Tingley Hall, the main administration building, was named in honor of Malvena Tingley of Providence, R.I., whose husband, Herbert, donated the money for its construction in 1908. Cooke also designed Tingley Hall, which contained 14 classrooms and an assembly hall.
Originally used for the institution’s English and pedagogical department, Tingley Hall has served as Claflin’s administrative building since a fire destroyed the main campus building in 1913.
Today, Tingley Hall houses the Office of the President as well as the provost, human resources, finance, public relations, IT, institutional development, auditor and other offices that function as the collective heartbeat of the university.
The building was renovated and upgraded about 11 years ago. Tingley’s copper-clad cupola is Claflin University’s most-recognized symbol. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Minister’s Hall was constructed in 1919 and was used as the college dining hall until the fall of 1964. It is the third oldest building on campus. Minister’s’ Hall is now home to the performing arts center and the Ernest A. Finney Jr. Library, named in honor of the Claflin graduate and South Carolina’s first African-American chief justice.
While it was being used as a storage facility, Minister’s Hall caught fire in 1994. The fire damaged the interior of the building and prompted several people to call for the structure to be demolished.
University officials opted instead to restore the building to its original integrity.
- T&D Staff Report
A federally supported facility occupying approximately 250 acres, the Orangeburg National Fish Hatchery has been described as a well-kept secret in the community.
As one of two federally supported hatcheries in South Carolina — the other being on Wadmalaw Island — the fish hatchery has played a vital role in preserving the state’s aquatic life and one of its largest recreational activities: fishing.
The hatchery has two units. The main station is located on Lakeview Street just outside the city limits of Orangeburg, while the substation is on Cannon Bridge Road south of Orangeburg.
The hatchery is a warm-water fish hatchery, where fish are reared in approximately 27 earthen ponds in temperatures ranging from 60 degrees to 85 degrees.
The hatchery produces a variety of freshwater fish, including striped bass, redbreast sunfish, bluegill sunfish and shortnosed sturgeon. They are stocked in reservoirs, lakes and coastal streams across the Southeast, according to the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service’s website.
Federal funding has helped with structural issues at the hatchery, which completed an extensive renovation project on the dam at its Cannon Bridge Road substation in the early 2000s, along with the construction of an underground culvert at its main station on Stonewall Jackson Boulevard to assist with drainage for the area’s watershed.
To help enlighten the public on the importance of preservation and conservation, the Fish Hatchery sponsors tours and special fishing days for kids, senior citizens and those with special needs.
For more information on the various programs at the Orangeburg Fish Hatchery, call 803-534-4828.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
Step inside the doors of one of Orangeburg’s oldest businesses and all your senses will be tested by everything from the savory aroma of freshly popped popcorn, to the creaking plank flooring beneath your feet, to the vast variety of merchandise, including a framed picture of the Last Supper, sewing notions, dry goods, BB guns and a Radio Flyer wagon.
No wonder for years it was called “Orangeburg’s favorite store”.
Welcome to Ferse’s 5&10.
The store was founded by T.B. Ferse Sr. in 1906. The gentleman was actually a farmer who sold produce at the corner of Broughton and Russell streets and later went into the retail business.
In 1985, the store was about to go out of business as its competition, like Woods and Kress, did years before.
However, that same year Roy Chandler purchased it from its previous owners, Santee Wholesale.
Chandler was no stranger to the dime store business, having worked for S.H. Kress for 30 years.
His reputation was such that on a particular Saturday morning he received a phone call from a Mr. Sam Walton, who offered him a position with his company.
Chandler turned down the offer.
According to the Russell Street businessman, the term 5&10 was coined by Sam Kress in 1896 when he opened his first store in Mephis, Tenn.
In those days, the store was split in half. Everything on one side was five cents, while the other side contained 10 cent items.
To this day, the Orangeburg business sells a few items at the 5 and 10 cent price points.
The locals enjoy the daily specials that the inside diner serves — from the post roast to Friday’ fish.
It also provides a variety of services that have helped Ferse’s 5&10 survive the dollar stores as well as the big box stores.
And while you are cruising the aisles, treat yourself to an Icee — it’s the only store in town that still serves the brand.
And you might just possibly find that hard-to-find item that has eluded you for years.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
The small town of Woodford boasts of a big way to save energy.
In 2011, dozens of solar panels were installed on the roof of the Woodford Community Center. The addition of the panels has essentially reduced the town’s utility bill to zero.
The solar panels were installed by Sunstore Solar Energy Solutions of Greenville. They work by converting sunlight into energy to operate the community center.
Any unused power is sold back to South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.
With a population of about 185, the town applied for a federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant of approximately $45,000 to make all of the improvements.
The life expectancy of the solar panels is more than 50 years, and the investment in the panels will pay for itself in 20 years.
While Woodford still has to purchase electricity from SCE&G, the panels have significantly reduced the town’s utility bill.
n Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
When Interstate 95 was constructed through South Carolina in 1967, it ran from the North Carolina state line into U.S. Highway 301 in the town of Santee.
The U.S. 301/I-95 interchange was the southern terminus of the interstate, leading to the current non-traditional Texas diamond-shaped interchange.
U.S. Highway 301 served as a major thoroughfare for travelers on the East Coast until I-95 was complete.
I-95 and I-26 meet in eastern Orangeburg County — a symbol of the county’s strength in the area of transportation.
About 17 years ago, state Sens. John Matthews and Brad Hutto wanted to tap into the potential of the interstate and highway network as an ideal place for economic development.
In the early 2000s, the county started promoting the area formed by the interstates and U.S. 301 as the “Global Logistics Triangle,” which it eventually trademarked.
With the widening of the Panama Canal expected to bring larger ships into the Port of Charleston, the area is seen as ripe for distribution centers, light manufacturing and other transportation-related businesses.
In addition to the interstates, two rail lines pass through the triangle. The triangle also has the needed utilities and infrastructure for economic development.
Seeing the potential for growth, the South Carolina Department of Transportation plans to make improvements to the I-95-U.S. 301 interchange, including modifying it from a partial-access interchange to a full-access interchange. The $41 million upgrade aims to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic generated by the Jafza Magna Park, a planned industrial mega-site.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
A renovated two-room schoolhouse in the Santee Town Hall complex once served generations of students at its original location of Parler, a couple of miles from Santee towards Elloree along Old Number Six Highway.
Back in 1995, the Santee Development Association led efforts to move the old boarded-up schoolhouse from its setting in Parler to 176 Brooks Boulevard, where it is in use today.
The school dates back to the late 1800s, measures 2,100 square feet and is crafted from heart pine.
Now, fully renovated with its original hardwood floors salvaged and broken windows replaced, it serves as Santee Cultural Arts and Visitors Center.
U.S. Congressman James Clyburn has a representative in the building a few hours during the week to serve the public.
Outside of the renovated schoolhouse is a bell, which is original to the building when it was in Parler.
The Old Parler Schoolhouse is also a point of interest on the S.C. Heritage Corridor that crosses the state from east to west.
The building is owned and maintained by the Town of Santee.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RICHARD REID, T&D Correspondent
Orangeburg has been and always will be recognized in the pages of history of the Civil War.
Gen. William T. Sherman and his Union troops marched into Orangeburg near the present-day Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center on Feb. 12, 1865.
While in Orangeburg, his troops burned the courthouse, the jail, some of the stores and bales of cotton. Sherman made his command post at Judge Thomas Glover’s home, which is still located on Whitman Street.
According to “The Writings of Marion Salley,” published in 1970, the area up Goff Avenue was known as “Camp Field” for both Confederate and Union troops at different times during the war.
The First and Fifth South Carolina Volunteers spent time on the “Camp Field” from May 1861 through April 1862.
While encamped, Gen. Johnson Hagood’s regiment marched to the Orangeburg Female College and donated a regimental flag to the ladies of the school.
The Orangeburg Female College was located on the site of the present-day Claflin University. In 1869, the Methodists purchased the land and the buildings of the Orangeburg Female College, thus creating Claflin University.
In February 1865, the Union Troops marched into Orangeburg and ironically camped in the same location as the Confederates did in 1861. How that site was selected is a mystery.
The Union troops were composed of mostly black soldiers with white officers. In a diary of Miss Mary Rowe, she writes: “This dreadful day has come, alas. The streets of our beloved village are thronged with Negro soldiers. At the corner of each street is a darkey, black as the ace of spades (eyes reminding one of an egg in a pot of coffee), as a guard.”
Salley writes, “Years after the withdrawal of the Negro Troops, it was rumored that much money had been buried on this old camping ground, and time and time again native Negroes spaded up parts of the field. Then was spread a report that some of the New York soldiers had returned and they unearthed the money which they had hidden before they left.
“The land, which had previously been acquired by Thomas B. Whaley, was sold by him in 1876 to Robert Copes, afterward the county treasurer, who was robbed and murdered in the 1890s. Mr. Copes sold the old field to Wikes Sawyer, and nearly a half century ago it was purchased, cut into building lots, and sold to the Negroes by Dr. M.G. Salley. For years it was the height of ambition for farm laborers of the community to save enough money to buy a lot and build a home ‘on Brooklyn.’”
Today, the old “Camp Field” is known as “New Brookland.”
Richard Reid is president of the Orangeburg Historical and Genealogical Society. His mission is researching Orangeburg history, with a particular emphasis on the role of African-Americans in that history.
- T&D Staff Report
It was the fall of 1927 when the South Carolina State Agriculture and Mechanical Institute’s student newspaper, The Collegian, conducted a poll of students to determine what mascot they preferred to represent the college.
The nominees were: tiger, bear, wildcat, lion, bulldog and greyhound, said Dr. William Hine, a retired South Carolina State University history professor. Hine has recently written a history of S.C. State.
The bulldog won because of its “fighting tenacity.” And although the institution’s name has changed to South Carolina State University, the mascot has remained.
The university has two Bulldog statues that grace its campus.
One stands sentinel, watching those who enter and exit the campus. Standing four feet tall and weighing 1,200 pounds, the “Big Bulldog on Campus” wears a scowl mean enough to put fear in an Aggie or Wildcat.
The statue was unveiled in August 2003 at the main entrance on M. Maceo Nance Highway.
Sculpted by Steve Zouras of Irmo with the assistance of several people, the large, gray Bulldog took the artist three weeks to complete. He modeled the sculpture after the smaller version located in front of the Donma Administration Building, a landmark that aims to capture the spirit of the university.
Upon the unveiling of the statue, former S.C. State President Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. cited the bulldog’s stability, vigor, strength and courage as virtues the university’s athletic teams, student body and staff are encouraged to display.
The smaller statue was put in place in the early 1980s during the administration of M. Maceo Nance.
- T&D Staff Report
A pure spring of mineral water bubbling from the ground attracted pioneers scattered throughout the western part of Orangeburg County in the 1800s. They formed a community that was aptly called Silver Springs, which grew to become the small town of Neeses.
The desire to give everyone in the rural area clean drinking water led to the organization of the Silver Springs Water District in 1967.
Henry M. “Nick” Chaplin, who was mayor of Neeses for 26 years, set about bringing water service to the people in the western part of Orangeburg County.
He submitted a water services proposal seven times to state officials before it was finally accepted, according to a souvenir book published for the town of Neeses’ Centennial Celebration in 1993.
An election on May 25, 1971, resulted in a 133-0 vote in favor of the creation of a rural community water district.
On Feb. 3, 1972, the S.C. General Assembly approved the act creating the water district, which originally served the towns of Neeses and Livingston. The new water district began service to 117 customers in 1975.
The original 100,000-gallon tank was placed between Neeses and Livingston.
In 2000, Silver Springs became only the second water system in the state to receive a special federal grant of $2.4 million via the U.S. Rural Development Administration. The project has also been funded through the Orangeburg County one-cent capital improvements sales tax.
Silver Springs was serving 570 customers in 2010. The grant meant an increase of another 250 to 300.
The Silver Springs Water District now serves more than 1,000 customers. The district serves areas including Bolentown, Springfield, Livingston, Neeses and North.
The town of Norway is the latest to consider purchasing water from the district.
Silver Springs also has the distinction of being named RDA’s “Water System That Most Exemplifies the Water 2000 Initiative in S.C.” The initiative’s aim: providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water and improved fire protection to citizens.
The district now covers a service area of at least 133 square miles with approximately 260 miles of water main lines and more than 250 fire hydrants, three groundwater wells and a maximum production capability of approximately 1 million gallons per day.
The four elevated storage tanks in Silver Springs Water District also hold a combined capacity of 600,000 gallons.
- Christopher Huff
The Orangeburg County Fair was organized on July 1, 1911, when a group of Orangeburg-area citizens met at the county courthouse.
According to the memories of longtime fair Manager Sam Fogle, “People were hungry for the opportunity to gather together, display their wares and enjoy the fellowship at the center of our county.”
Football games, both high school and college, were played at the Orangeburg County Fairgrounds.
According to Fogle’s notes, the first night high school football game was played at the fairgrounds. The late Tim Stroman, who served many years as secretary and treasurer of the association, played on the Orangeburg High School team with Sumter as its opponent.
Big Thursday games featured area college teams, notably USC vs. The Citadel.
The American Legion played all its home games at the fairgrounds until Mirmow Field was built.
This fall will bring the 104th edition of the Orangeburg County Fair.
Several changes and additions have been implemented:
* The Shriners will take on the Kiwanis Steakhouse near the fair’s entrance.
* Quilt and fancy work will be housed in the arena building.
* The field crop area is receiving a makeover.
* Kid Zone, for children under age 4, will have a play area in the arts building.
* Petting zoo.
* Large animal zoo.
* Gem mining.
* NASCAR theme throughout the fair.
The Orangeburg County Fair runs Sept. 29-Oct. 5.
- T&D Staff Report
Edisto Memorial Gardens offers visitors a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life to relax in the beauty of nature.
A small white chapel complements the meditative atmosphere, providing garden visitors a chance to reflect on nature’s God.
The Chapel of Hope was given by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stuckey as a gift to the community.
The couple wished to commemorate the bicentennial of the United States in 1976 by donating the non-denominational chapel to the city.
The building was completed and dedicated in May 1977.
A World War II veteran, Stuckey was a retired Orangeburg businessman who for years operated Stuckey Motor Co. and the Orangeburg News Co.
Stuckey initially wanted to call it the Chapel of Home, but it has always been called the Chapel of Hope instead.
The chapel is a popular place for weddings. It can hold 12 people.
The Orangeburg Parks and Recreation Department maintains the chapel, which operates on seasonal hours. The chapel is currently open on weekdays from around 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Hours will change as the daylight hours shorten in the fall and winter months.
There is no admission charge.
The Parks and Recreation Department asks that it be notified in advance of any formal events so that staff can ensure the chapel is clean and ready. Call 803-533-6020.
- Richard Walker
The courthouse in the center of town was on fire, the railroad depot was ordered torched. Several businesses were destroyed in perhaps the most chaotic and frightening night in Orangeburg’s history.
It was Feb. 12, 1865 when Union Gen. William Sherman’s 17th Army Corps, one of four corps sweeping across the Palmetto State, entered Orangeburg after forcing a few hundred defenders from the banks of the Edisto River.
Sherman passed orders to destroy the railroad from Orangeburg to the Congaree River. All cotton was to be burned.
In the chaos, a prominent Orangeburg residence was spared the flames: Judge Glover’s home.
The residence that originally faced Russell Street was the home of Thomas Worth Glover, a lawyer, state legislator and circuit court judge. Along with three others from Orangeburg, Glover was also an original signer of the South Carolina Ordinance of Session in 1860.
Glover was born on Christmas Eve, 1796 in Goose Creek. While a teacher in 1817, he studied law, eventually being named to the Orangeburg bar. He served in the state legislature until 1852, when he was elected a circuit court judge.
It was during his tenure in the legislature that he built the home that now faces Whitman Street. Completed in 1846, the two-story home is of a style called “plantation,” a conservative form of structure along the lines of Federal architecture.
As war clouds spread across the nation in the 1850s, Glover would add his name along with the 168 other delegates to sign the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession on Dec. 20, 1860. Gen. David Jamison, a neighbor, brother-in-law and president of the Secession Convention, later assigned Glover to a committee tasked with writing a new state constitution.
The war saw brilliant victories for the South early on. But the Southern states weren’t prepared for a war of attrition, which brought the conflict to the streets of Orangeburg on a cold February night.
Historians say Glover’s second wife, Louisa D. (Carrere) Wilson, may have been Sherman’s only defeat in Orangeburg. Acquainted with the Union general prior to the war, the lady of the house reminded Sherman he acted like a gentleman when they met in Charleston and she expected him to continue to behave that way.
The Glover home was one of the few that, while sustaining damage, still stood after the invading forces departed.
Judge Glover died in Orangeburg 19 years after that confrontation in his living room between the Union army and his wife. At the time of his death, he was dean of South Carolina College, having been in the legal profession for more than 64 years.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- T&D Staff Report
ROWESVILLE — Perhaps best known for the nearby Cattle Creek Campground, the town of Rowesville got its start in 1876 when it was incorporated as Rowe’s Pump.
Rowe’s Pump was established when the rail line was laid from Branchville to Orangeburg. A large water tank with steam-driven pumps and a woodshed supplied fuel to the wood-burning locomotives traveling the route.
The town’s name was legally changed to Rowesville in 1889.
Cattle Creek Campground was named to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1983.
Although local tradition had it that Cattle Creek Campground was established in 1786, the National Register nomination form states it’s likely that the campground was not functional until the early 1800s.
The tradition of campmeeting is commonly believed to have been born in Kentucky or Tennessee about 1799-1800, and to have first appeared in South Carolina about 1802, according to the nomination form.
“Minutes of the quarterly meetings of the Orangeburg Circuit of the Methodist Church show that on August 7, 1819, the third quarterly meeting of the circuit was held at Cattle Creek, but give no indication of whether it was considered to be a campmeeting ground at that time; no records of earlier meetings of the circuit are believed to exist,” according to the document.
The nomination form goes on to state that, “The first known reference to a camp ground at Cattle Creek is found in an agreement between George Summers Sr. and the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cattle Creek entered into on 16 July 1833 to donate property for ‘an Encamping Ground, a parcel of the land known as the present encampment and surrounding the land on which the church now stands.’”
Cattle Creek Campground consists of 36 cabins, called “tents,” arranged in a wide semi-circle around an open pavilion structure known as the “stand” or “tabernacle.” At the northwest end of the campmeeting ground is Cattle Creek United Methodist Church. Between the church and the tabernacle is a cemetery.
The campground burned in 1898 and was gradually rebuilt over the next several decades.
Cattle Creek is one of only three Methodist campmeeting grounds remaining in South Carolina. Significant for its association with the early history of Methodism in South Carolina, Cattle Creek Campground is also notable as a surviving example of a social institution important in rural America during the 19th century.
The tents, so named because the first campers and worshippers stayed in cloth tents and lean-tos made from limbs and branches, are built of rough, unpainted lumber, have gable roofs covered with metal or composition shingles, and generally measure about 20 feet by 30 feet. Each tent contains two rooms downstairs with dirt floors and one or two rooms upstairs, which are reached by a small stairway or ladder. All of the tents have porches with shed roofs.
The cooking is done outdoors at the rear of the tent over an open fire. In the center of the campground is the tabernacle, an open shed about 56 feet by 81 feet with a metal, gabled hip roof.
In addition to setting aside a week for worship and spiritual reflection, visitors to Cattle Creek Campground today now also regard campmeeting as a time to relax, talk and share meals with relatives and friends.
- T&D Staff Report
SPRINGFIELD — Travelers heading into this mall Orangeburg County town on Highway 4 may have spotted a sign beside the road with a little frog on it.
The frog, more than just a symbol of the amphibious life that abounds throughout the rural region, is representative of Springfield’s unique festival that spans more than four decades.
The town is probably best known for its Governor’s Frog Jump, which was held for the first time in 1966.
The festival actually began in Columbia in 1966, when the governor of California asked the governor of South Carolina to send a frog to California to compete in the famous Calaveras County Frog Jump immortalized in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” an 1865 short story by Mark Twain and his first great success as a writer.
In 1968, a Springfield frog named “Buckwheat” won the contest in Columbia and then-Gov. Robert McNair asked Springfield officials if the town wanted to sponsor the festival.
Pat Williams, the son of late Springfield resident Lila Williams who worked for the Governor’s Office, was responsible for bringing the event to his hometown.
A meeting was called at the old Springfield Community Center, and the townspeople and then-Mayor O.K. Furtick were challenged to put on the Frog Jump Festival. They agreed to hold the festival in Springfield.
The state General Assembly then took a vote and designated Springfield as the official home of the Governor’s Frog Jump.
The first Frog Jump as held on Main Street in a vacant lot between stores. Former Mayor Dickie Phillips initiated the purchase of the lot where the Frog Jump is now held. The land was purchased from Alice Bean, daughter of Daniel Bean, one of the town’s founding fathers.
The Frog Jump parade has attracted many state politicians, with the late Sen. Strom Thurmond being a frequent participant who even entered a frog in the competition on occasion.
During the festival’s second year, the International Egg Strike competition was added. Striking eggs had been a tradition ever since the Irish settlers came to Springfield. A homemade conoction called “Frog Juice,” a combination of Kool-Aid and fruit juice, was once a traditional refreshment at the festival.
The event has spawned interest all over the nation and the world. The festival has also become a family reunion of sorts for townspeople.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
Orangeburg is home to the oldest skating rink in the state, Jammer’s Skate-N-Fun Center.
Built in 1948, the rink is also one of the oldest in the Southeast.
While on a visit to New York after serving in World War II, James Smoak, the original owner, had the idea to bring the popularity of roller skating to Orangeburg.
He spoke with his father, Jake, and the men opened Lakeview Skating Rink, the third rink to be built in South Carolina.
Subsequent owners transformed the facility from a simple roller skating rink to a complete family fun center offering additional activities, with the business undergoing major renovation over the last decade.
The indoor roller rink and entertainment facility features the original 120-foot by 50-foot maple floor.
The center is open year-round and has a complete pro shop that can make on-site skate repairs as well as assist patrons in finding the right pair of skates for their ability and style of skating.
The center formerly had a jam skating team that competed on the national level.
While roller skating has always been the main attraction, the family facility also offers an indoor “soft play” area that features a 12-foot slide, a bounce room, a rope swing and an obstacle maze. In addition to skeeball, air hockey and basketball, arcade games are featured.
Jammer’s Skate-N-Fun Center offers special hours for day-care centers as well as Christian Skate Night, Saturday Kiddie Klub and Sunday Family Day.
The 9,000-square-foot skate floor is equipped with 16 speakers to provide music, along with a light show that will dazzle the kids.
The facility is available for private rental for large birthday parties or groups and fundraisers.
Jammer’s will host a Back to School Late Skate Party for students in mid-August.
For more information about Jammers or the Back to School Late Skate Party call 803-533-1600.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
ELLOREE — Aficionados of all things tea will want to check out one of the most unique attractions in Orangeburg County, J’s Tea-Rific Teapot Museum located in the heart of Elloree.
The museum, which can be found behind the Boland Pharmacy building on Cleveland Street, houses Julian “J” Boland’s collection of more than 4,000 teapots of every size, shape, design and color and from all over the world.
Boland has collected teapots for more than two decades. Many were given to him as gifts, some were bought at flea markets and others were purchased during his trips to other countries.
Part of his collection is displayed on 20 tea carts, each denoting various themes.
A 12-foot wooden Noah’s Ark inside the museum serves as home to animal-themed teapots.
In fact, the entire teapot collection is displayed based on their motifs. Featured are the Vegetable Garden, the Wedding Section, the Christmas section and the Children’s Section, to name a few.
The entrance to the museum is a huge 20-foot wooden blue teapot — perhaps the largest in the world.
Boland describes his prized teapots as “just a whimsical collection.”
To make reservations to view J’s Tea-Rific Teapot Museum, call Sybil Boland at 803-829-2944 or 803-707-2017.
Admission is free.
Contact the writer: 803-531-2222.
- By DALE LINDER-ALTMAN, T&D Staff Writer
Adden Hall, the stately Victorian mansion at 541 Broughton Street, was built about 1900 by F.A. Adden as a gift for his bride, 23-year-old old Harriett Lois Matthews of West Philadelphia.
The 6,000-square-foot house had 13 rooms, hardwood floors and marble fireplaces surrounded by carved oak mantels.
The two young people met in 1896 in New York when Mr. Adden visited family members who lived there. They corresponded for four years before they were married.
Mrs. Adden traveled to Orangeburg by train in 1900, arriving at the depot across from the home her husband had built for her.
It’s been said she laughingly noted that her beautiful house did not have one single closet.
The couple, who had no children, lived together in their home until Mr. Adden’s death in 1936.
Mrs. Adden, who became blind not long after he died, continued to live in the house until her death in 1969. At some point, she was joined by a companion, Mable Turner.
A devout Christian and faithful Southern Methodist, Mrs. Adden contributed to the support of Southern Methodist College, which was located in Aiken at the time.
She learned in 1961 that the college was looking for a new location, and she offered her home and surrounding property.
Her offer was accepted, and the home that had never known the sights and sounds of children growing up, welcomed hundreds of young people over succeeding decades.
Nine of the rooms were used as administrative offices, a library, etc., but Mrs. Adden continued to live in a four-room apartment on the first floor until her death in 1969.
According to those who still remember her, Mrs. Adden became a “mother” to the students who passed through the doors, loaning many of them money for tuition — but she always expected them to repay her.
She sat on the side porch, and though she was blind, she recognized the students by their voices and even the sounds they made when they walked.
For more than 50 years, Adden Hall and the surrounding property — sometimes affectionately called “the marriage mart” by students — has been the happy scene of dozens of weddings, receptions, bridal and baby showers and other happy events.
Today, Adden Hall houses a visitor’s center and administrative and business offices, but it also continues to be the scene of the joyful occasions of the college’s alumni.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- Christopher Huff
The history of aviation in Orangeburg began in the 1930s.
In 1935, the city of Orangeburg purchased about 75 acres of land and built an airport that was dedicated in 1937 as Jennings Airport named after Orangeburg Mayor Robert H. Jennings Sr.
Previously, the airport was located where the Orangeburg Mall and Clark Middle School are today.
Shortly after the airport’s opening, Orangeburg jeweler Tom Summers founded the Breakfast Club for pilots throughout the state.
Hundreds of pilots would fly into Orangeburg from across South Carolina to enjoy breakfast and fellowship. It is considered to be the first pilots’ Breakfast Club in America, starting a national trend.
In 1944-1945, the Jennings Airport had more aircraft per capita than any other city in the world, according to a history of Orangeburg Municipal Airport written by one of its first fixed-base operators, T.C. Hadwin.
During World War II, Hawthorne Aviation operated an entry-level flying school only a mile or two south of the airport and used Jennings Field as a practice field.
In the 1950s, the name of Jennings Airport was changed to Orangeburg City and County Airport, but that name was changed to the current Orangeburg Municipal Airport in the 1980s.
Located at the entrance to the terminal is the “The Aviation Memorial and Pilot’s Walk.” The walk was designed, constructed and paid for by local pilots of the Orangeburg Pilots Association. It strives to display aviation history, and honors those associated with aviation.
Also featured at the airport is a memorial which has a time capsule inside and is capped with a granite stone outlined in the shape of South Carolina. The capsule will be opened on Dec. 17, 2053, the 150th anniversary of aviation. It contains clips and other memorabilia of the history of aviation.
The seating area at the facility features photos of those inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame from Orangeburg County — Hadwin, Frank L. Culbertson Jr., T.S. Summers, Hiers Furtick and Carroll Joye.
Celebrities have also visited the airport including Oprah Winfrey, Gov. Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2008, many of the presidential candidates visited. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has also visited the airport.
The airport is currently owned and operated by the City of Orangeburg. It is located two miles south of downtown Orangeburg off the Highway 21 by-pass (Joe Jeffords Highway).
The facility is the home base of a number of corporate and private aircraft.
Two runways, 17/35 (5,400 feet) and 5/23 (4,600 feet) serve both piston and jet aircraft. 100LL and Jet-A Fuel is available.
Satellite weather, wireless internet and use of a courtesy car are available to pilots at no cost.
Numerous improvements have been made to the airport facilities over the years, including new hangars, a new runway and runway lights.
- T&D Staff Report
The iconic Norway Bell Tower has become a landmark in this small western Orangeburg County town.
The structure is often photographed by visitors to Norway.
The bell tower’s story began in 1913 when the Norway Grade School was dedicated. It was one of the first public schools in the town at the time.
The school was destroyed by a fire set by an arsonist in October 1975.
The only thing saved from the blaze was the bell, which now hangs in the bell tower that was built in 1976. The tower was erected to mark the Norway Bicentennial celebration.
The bricks from the Norway Grade School were used in the construction of the bell tower.
A time capsule, which was placed inside the cornerstone of the tower, contains brief histories of Norway churches and organizations. The capsule is to be opened in 2026.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
It was a different era, a time when the world was stretching its legs through the use of the increasingly reliable automobile.
The ever-expanding highways and the increasing number of motorists in America gave rise to motor lodges, where travelers could find lodging away from home.
No-nonsense Harry Truman was in the White House, Hank Williams Sr. was on the wireless and gas prices were holding steady at 39 cents a gallon. Life was a highway for the millions of Rosie the Riveters and G.I. Joes of World War II.
Drivers could fuel their cars at the many full-service gas stations springing up along the roadsides. Tourist attractions sprang up as well as diners and other businesses catering to the thousands driving the road each day.
Today’s installment of “100 Objects: 100 Days” features the iconic symbol of one local restaurant that once catered to the motoring public as well as to locals — the giant coffee pot still perched atop the former Coffee Pot Diner on Bamberg Highway (U.S. 301 south of Orangeburg).
Before they opened the diner in 1950-51, British natives Fred and Emily Griffin had originally planned to open a tearoom. Deciding the busy highway needed a coffee shop instead, the Griffins opened the Coffee Pot Diner. Mrs. Griffin is said to have baked pies each night for the next day’s customers. A traveler could order breakfast and lunch and, of course, plenty of steaming cups of Joe.
Coffee may have been the American public’s beverage of choice for a caffeine fix, but in a nod to her British roots, Mrs. Griffin continued to partake of her afternoon tea at 4 o’clock every day.
The 1950s motored on, and the Griffins greeted their guests from near and far. But trouble was brewing on the horizon for the Coffee Pot Diner and other establishments like it.
In the mid-1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower brought home from World War II the idea of the interstate, a road system designed to move military equipment quickly, based on Germany’s Autobahn. South Carolina was to get three interstates: I-20, I-26 and I-95.
Begun in 1957 and one of the oldest interstates, it was I-95 that would slice through Orangeburg County, parallel to U.S. 301, sounding the death knell for countless motels, gas stations and mom-and-pop diners like the Coffee Pot.
The Coffee Pot poured its last cup in 1979.
The 6-foot-tall coffee pot replica, which has stood as a beacon to travelers for more than 60 years, weighs an estimated 250 pounds. If it could actually brew coffee, it would hold more than 330 gallons of java. At one time, there was a light on its lid to illuminate the night.
The diner and its trademark coffee pot were restored last year after a storm damaged the building and toppled the Paul Bunyan-size percolator.
Many things say Orangeburg County, but mention the giant coffee pot that sits above the diner of the same name and fond memories stir of days when the pace was a little slower.
The roads weren’t as congested then, gas was a whale of a lot cheaper and so, too, was a good strong cup of coffee.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandD for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
The Hawthorne School of Aeronautics was a World War II civilian flying school, contracted by the United States Army Air Forces to conduct primary pilot training for aviation cadets.
The school was in operation from 1941 to 1945 and was under the supervision of the 58th Flying Training Detachment, Eastern Flight Training Center, Army Air Corps Training Command.
Serving as president of Hawthorne was Beverly “Bevo” Howard, who had learned to fly at the age of 16.
The military designation of the Hawthorne school was the 2162nd Army Air Force Base Unit.
In order to conduct the flight training, the school built an airfield, along with buildings and other support structures to include an all-way turf field with four delineated runways, a large aircraft parking ramp, a pair of hangars and a control tower and operations building.
The two hangars from the flying school are now located at the Orangeburg Municipal Airport.
The Hawthorne structures consisted of a group of one- and two-story wooden buildings surrounding an oval-shaped grass area at the northern end of the property, which served as a parade ground.
The Boeing PT-17 Stearman biplane was used as the primary trainer for cadets. The flight school also operated several auxiliary airfields in Orangeburg: Jennings, Hagood and Kennedy.
At the end of 1944, training of Free French pilots was transferred from Hargrove Van de Graaft Airport in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Hawthorne. Free France and the Free French Forces were the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle during the Second World War and its military forces that continued to fight against the Axis powers as an Ally after the fall of France.
Hawthorne was inactivated on Sept. 1, 1945. However, it went on to continue operations in Moultrie, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida.
During World War II, Hawthorne trained 5,924 military pilots, including more than 2,000 French Air Force students.
The site of the housing area at the northern end of the former airfield is currently used by The Oaks.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- Dale Linder-Altman
By DALE LINDER-ALTMAN
T&D Staff Writer
Trinity United Methodist Church has since its founding in 1866 stood for the dignity and rights of people in Orangeburg, across the state and throughout the South.
Its role has been both spiritual and social as it has served the community as the “light of the world,” said Ulysses S. Jarvis Jr., lifelong member of the church.
“We don’t believe church folks ought to hide their lights under a barrel,” Jarvis said. “Christian people should go out and share their wisdom, guidance and love with others.”
Standing up as a leader in the community has sometimes taken courage as it did during the Civil Rights movement of the sixties.
The church served as a meeting place for students to plan strategy for their demonstrations. When they were arrested and released, it
provided them with a peaceful sanctuary and food.
Trinity hosted meetings that were led by Civil Rights leaders like Roy Wilkins, Jesse Jackson, Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s speeches at Claflin and Trinity put new heart into the movement that was losing momentum.
“It brought people together who were a little tentative about participating,” Jarvis said. “People became more willing to hit the streets for equality.”
Trinity has stood out in the community as a leader for civil rights in other areas, too, including the rights of women. It took the lead in recognizing and supporting women as ministers, bishops and spiritual leaders.
Trinity was organized in January 1866 by the Rev. T. Willard Lewis and the Rev. Thomas Phillips. For the first three years, worshippers met in a schoolhouse built by the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The first church building was erected in 1870 on the corner of Amelia Street and Pittam Alley. A larger church building was erected on the same property in 1898.
In 1926, the church sold its property and purchased the land where the current building now stands. For two years, the church’s congregation worshipped in then-Claflin College’s T. Lewis Chapel.
In 1928, ground was broken for a new building, but the church “got caught up in the Great Depression,” and it was not completed until 1944, Jarvis said.
“I faintly remember sitting in folding chairs under a tent or tabernacle, my feet barely touching the sawdust,” he said.
In succeeding years, the church grew, and by the 1960s was a leader, not just in Orangeburg, but across the South.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
Patriotism is strong in the Orangeburg County town of Bowman.
For more than 30 years, American Legion Post 64 has flown 100 American flags along the town’s main street to celebrate and observe special occasions including Flag Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the 4th of July. Most recently, the Bowman Masonic Lodge purchased new ones to replace those flags that had started to fade.
The town has had its share of Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star Mothers.
A prominent symbol of the town’s patriotism is the war memorial and its eternal flame that is situated just across from the Bowman Post Office on Main Street (Highway 178).
The granite marker is inscribed with the names of Bowman residents who gave their lives for their country:
World War I
James Edward Easterlin
John Wesley Weathers
John Moorer Livingston
World War II
James Edmund Berry
Thomas Richard Edwards
Leonard Everett Berry
George Arthur Kemmerlin
Benjamin Franklin Knight
Vietnam War
James Allen Johnson
Henry Dennis West III
Jessie Clarence Felder
Funding for the shrine was provided by Post 64 and the Town of Bowman.
Immediately to the left of the monument is a bronze plaque placed in memory of Capt. Richard A. Morris, whose F100 jet crashed just outside the town limits near Kizer Lumber Company on Feb. 19, 1965.
Rather than ejecting and perhaps saving his own life, Capt. Morris remained with his crippled aircraft, fatally injuring him and perhaps saving the lives of hundreds of Bowman residents.
- T&D Staff Report
Orangeburg County and barbecue have shared a long, delicious relationship going back 60 years.
Dukes Barbecue and Sweatman’s Barbecue have continued to please the palates of Orangeburg County residents and visitors across the nation.
Canaan native Earl Dukes Sr. started his restaurant in Orangeburg in 1955 at Chestnut Street and Columbia Road at about the same location where Kentucky Fried Chicken operated a restaurant until recently.
Earl Dukes Sr., who started the restaurant at the urging of his brother, Danny, would later move the business to a small cafe on Whitman Street.
From there, he moved to Cameron in 1970. In order to distinguish his barbecue from other Dukes restaurants, it was named The Original Earl Dukes Barbecue.
Earl Dukes Sr. eventually moved back to Orangeburg in 1983 to the Charleston Highway location. The restaurant closed about 2002.
Upon his retirement in 1984, his son, Earl Dukes Jr., assumed ownership of the restaurant.
From its origins in Orangeburg, Dukes’ barbecue spread across the city, including to its current Whitman Street location, and throughout the state as family members and others saw the success of the Dukes name.
In the middle 1990s, the family had about 20 restaurants statewide. Today, there are about 14 with the Dukes name.
In the early days, all-you-can eat barbecue was $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. The menu consisted of barbecue pork, rice, hash, skins and ribs, sweet pickles and dill pickles, coleslaw, white bread, tea and coffee.
Earl Dukes and other Dukes BBQs have been featured in numerous publications over the years, including South Carolina Farmer, Southern Living, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
At about the same time, Harold “Bub” Sweatman and his wife, Margie, opened a small barbecue place in Holly Hill in 1959.
After closing this location, they only cooked for special gatherings with family and friends.
The couple’s desire to reopen a barbecue restaurant came to fruition when they purchased an old farmhouse and some land.
The barbecue restaurant reopened for business in 1977, and the business is still in the same location.
About three years ago, Sweatman’s Barbecue restaurant was sold to Mark and Lynn Behr.
Today, oak and pecan trees are cut and split for the wood burned in the cooking process.
The whole hogs are cooked 12 to 14 hours each night over hot coals from wood prepared during the week.
Sweatman’s has been featured in several magazines and books over the years, including Southern Living.
Both Dukes and Sweatman’s helped spawn the popularity of barbecue not only in The T&D Region but statewide. A number of other barbecue restaurants call Orangeburg County home, including Antley’s Barbecue in Orangeburg and Lone Star Barbecue in Santee.
- T&D staff report
Dr. T. Elliott Wannamaker was the youngest of three sons growing up in the cotton industry.
Wannamaker’s family owned the Orange Cotton Mill, but for the youngest Wannamaker, the cotton industry wasn’t appealing enough.
After graduating from The Citadel, Wannamaker went on to earn his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Cornell University in New York.
In 1937, he began the Wannamaker Chemical Company on what would later become the site of the Albemarle Corporation.
His first products were aniline dyes, which sold successfully. Early in World War II, the government asked him to switch to explosives, particularly one called “Petral.”
Wannamaker sold the company in 1953 to the Ethyl Fuel Corporation.
In 1994, Ethyl spun off the plant in Orangeburg and others as Albemarle Corp.
The Cannon Bridge Road company currently employs about 322 people at its 300-acre site in Orangeburg County, according to the Development Commission website.
The Albemarle plant is the primary U.S. maker of Ibuprofen, the active ingredient in pain relievers such as Motrin, Advil and Nuprin.
The company has received a number of national and state safety and manufacturing awards.
In April, Albemarle signed a definitive agreement to sell certain assets, including the Orangeburg plant, to SI Group, a manufacturer of chemical intermediates, specialty resins and solutions.
The transaction included the Orangeburg plant’s antioxidants, ibuprofen and propofol businesses and assets, along with a plant in Jinshan, China.
The sale came a little more than a year after Albemarle’s announcement that it would invest $65 million in the Orangeburg plant over five years.
The largest expansion included the company’s fire-safety solutions line, where it made flame retardants for use in insulation. It also added products in its Fine Chemistry Services business.
- T&D Staff Report
The award-winning Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center is one of the quaint Orangeburg County town’s most prized treasures.
The museum opened its doors in 2002, and is the culmination of grass-roots efforts by dedicated volunteers. It’s hands-on exhibits have been restored to portray rural life in South Carolina from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s.
The museum is located in what was the old Brandenburg Motor Co. The old Elloree Depot is used as the cultural center to showcase the area’s rich agricultural and religious heritage.
The first-floor Historic Elloree gallery features a collection of stores from 1900 to 1930, which are designed to authentically typify small-town businesses of that era.
The second floor houses an art gallery and other exhibits. A photographic history of the town is available for viewing, along with exhibits detailing the archaeology of the Santee River.
A gift shop carries a selection of books, including “Cotton Fields to Golf Courses — A Pictorial History of Elloree and Santee.” Home decor merchandise and wood crafts can also be found in the shop, along with children’s books and toys.
A 100-year-old plantation cotton gin and the authentically furnished cabin of Elloree’s founder, William J. Snider, are among the museum’s other displays.
The walls of the Farm Wing are lined with old boards from local barns. Most of the artifacts have been donated by the descendants of local farm families.
In 2003, the Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center gained statewide recognition by capturing the 2003 Award of Achievement from the South Carolina Federation of Museums.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
For more information, contact the museum by phone at 803-897-2225.
- T&D Staff Report
“Botanical Gardens Will Some Day Be Famous Beauty Spot.” So read the headline of a newspaper article by C.C. Berry on Aug. 2, 1927, in the early days of Edisto Memorial Gardens.
The gardens were the brainchild of City Councilman John M. Sifly, who was responsible for Orangeburg’s parks and streets.
He, Mayor Robert H. Jennings Sr. and Councilman A.C. Watson voted at a city council meeting on Jan. 16, 1926, to establish the site.
The first area developed was the five acres where the current azalea garden is located.
For the first five or six years, the gardens were known as the Orangeburg Botanical Gardens.
By the mid-1930s, the city fathers realized that the services of a professional horticulturist were needed.
In 1937, horticulturist and landscape designer Andrew Dibble was hired by council to plan and direct the destiny of the gardens. His first goal was to draw up a master plan and design for all future endeavors.
When Dibble began managing the gardens, the only resources he had were four men, a mule and a dump cart.
Shortly thereafter the levee, or dike, along the river was raised to prevent flooding of the gardens. This project was done without the benefit of modern machines.
In 1939, the lake area was developed. More than 1,600 iris bulbs were installed around this lake and water lilies and lotuses were set in specially prepared beds within the lake.
The next development of this master plan was the “Hillside Garden,” which is now the area of Garden Drive.
The gardens, owned and maintained by the City of Orangeburg, have continued to grow over the years.
Today, there are more than 82 beds of roses ranging from miniatures to grandiflora to climbers.
The Orangeburg Festival of Roses, one of the Southeastern Tourism Society’s top 20 events, is held in Orangeburg in early May to celebrate the blooming of the city’s roses.
The gardens have award-winning roses from All-America Rose Selections and some 4,800 plants representing at least 75 labeled varieties of roses are always on display. The site is also one of only 15 official test gardens in the United Sates sanctioned by All-America Rose Selections Inc.
Edisto Memorial Gardens are open seven days a week from dawn to dusk. Admission is free to the public.
- T&D Staff Report
NORTH — Pen Branch Baptist Church near the town of North got its start in 1839 as Gethsemane Meeting House — a mere brush arbor.
According to the church history, William Knotts of the Lexington District sold six acres of land for $6 an acre on Dec. 17, 1838, to be deeded to the Gethsemane Meeting House. The trustees were listed as David Dannelly, John Hooker, Walter Knight, Charles Robinson and Henry Sturkie.
The current church building is the third or fourth one built on the tract of land. Speculations are that the original church buildings either burned or were torn down to make way for the present structure, which was built about 1880.
The church eventually became Pen Branch Baptist, but it’s not known for certain why. Some say the name came from turkey pens that were located on the branch nearby. Others believe the name stemmed from the mule pens built on the branch when the original railroad was being built. Still others say the church got its name from the hog pens in the area.
Pen Branch was part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which later became the Methodist Episcopal Church, South after the Civil War. The last full-time pastor of the church was the Rev. Luke Belvin, whose tenure ended about 1919. With no pastor, the congregation left to attend churches in Woodford and North. Later, several families in the area tried to revive Pen Branch as a Southern Methodist church, but the renewed services lasted just a few months.
Pen Branch remained idle until a homecoming service was held there on May 4, 2008. Homecoming services have been held at the church very year since then, and members of Pen Branch’s board of trustees and volunteers have done a great deal of work on the building and the property over the years.
The Pen Branch Cemetery, which also dates back to 1838, is the final resting place of soldiers of every war since the Civil War, and one area marked as “Unknown” is believed to contain the bodies of Civil War soldiers, slaves and people who could not afford a burial. It is also said that a railroad construction worker who came from outside the area died on the job and was buried in the Pen Branch Cemetery.
- T&D Staff Report
A mural from renowned Columbia muralist Ralph Waldrop has infused life into an old landmark for more than a decade.
The project began with the restoration of the exterior of the old Bank of Cope, built in 1918.
The landmark is located on property in the heart of Cope and is owned by Jo Helen Riley, Fletcher Riley and the late Helen Vallentine. As part of their revitalization work within the town, the trio decided to give the old bank building a makeover during the summer of 1999.
After admiring the mural in downtown Orangeburg, Mrs. Riley chose Waldrop to put the finishing touches on the bank. Waldrop, a painter of more than 400 murals throughout the country, said the Bank of Cope project was “a breeze” compared to his last job.
That job had taken Waldrop to Lakeland, Ga., where he painted 1920-era murals on every exterior wall in the town, which is about twice the size of Cope.
The mural Waldrop created for the Bank of Cope was painted on portable panels that were permanently affixed to the building.
The figures depicted in the mural are some well-known members of the Cope community, who are now deceased: Mrs. Alberta B. Cope, daughter-in-law of Cope founder J. Martin Cope; J.I. Vallentine, one of the founders of the Bank of Cope; Wash “Punk” Ryant Sr., a longtime Cope resident; Robert Vallentine and a dog named Ace.
The founders and first directors of the Bank of Cope were F.A. Adden and T.C. Bryant of Orangeburg and J.I. Vallentine, E.E. Ritter, E.R. Boltin, W.H. Zeigler and M.J. Thomas of Cope.
The bank served the Cope section of Orangeburg County for 15 years. On March 8, 1933, a banking holiday was declared, and all banks across the nation were closed to stop the widespread money panic. The next day, Congress passed the Banking Act, which allowed banks with enough money to reopen in March 13. The Bank of Cope was one of the few banks in this part of South Carolina to reopen.
The city of Orangeburg, however, was left without a bank. Seeing the need for banking services for the larger community, the Bank of Cope’s property was loaded on a truck under the cover of night and opened the next day as the Bank of Cope in Orangeburg. It later became the Bank of Orangeburg.
- BY KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D STAFF WRITER
Williams Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1873 with the Rev. Dave Christie serving as its first pastor.
In 1877, trustees Emily Williams, Richard Howard and Irwin Mintz purchased for $500 the small lot, where the current structure is located, on what was then Market Street before Glover Street was laid out.
A small frame for the church, which stood for nearly 30 years, was built.
In 1909, additional land was purchased that allowed the congregation to build an addition and a parsonage.
“The Chapel” is an elegant essay in Gothic Revival architecture. Its picturesque massing and distinctive detailing attest to the talents of its architect, Miller F. Whittaker, who prepared plans for the building in 1915.
Whittaker was the director of the Department of Mechanical Arts at South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) and was also the first African American architect practicing in South Carolina.
Construction of the building began about 1915. The cornerstone was laid about 1919, but the building was not completed until about 1925 due to financial difficulties.
The one-story brick church features two towers on the facade with pyramidal metal shingle roofs and corbeled battlements, Gothic arched stained glass windows, louvered Gothic vents and decorative brickwork. The front doors give access to a two-story narthex. Staircases on each side lead to the nave and balcony. Rose windows are displayed at the front and rear of the interior.
Williams Chapel has served as a resident place of worship for three South Carolina State University presidents: Dr. Miller F. Whittaker, Dr. M. Maceo Nance Jr. and Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. AME Bishop the Rev. Richard A. Hildebrand can also be found on the membership roster.
David Daniels, a ministerial student at Allen University and former supply pastor of the church after the death of the Rev. Chappelle M. Davis in 1978, later became an AME bishop.
Four former pastors of Williams Chapel have become presiding elders in the 7th Episcopal District: the Rev. Dr. William Smith (1978-1980), Marion District in the Northeast Conference; the Rev. Dr. Allen Parrott (1980-1991), Kingstree District in the Palmetto Conference; the Rev. Lorenza Baker (1991-1994), Orangeburg District in the Central Conference; and the Rev. Dr. Juenarrl Keith (2004-2006), Mount Pleasant District in the Palmetto Conference.
The church’s current pastor of nearly eight years is the Rev. Dr. Caesar Richburg.
Williams Chapel AME Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- T&D Staff Report
For almost 300 years, life in Orangeburg has centered around the black waters of the North Edisto River.
The General Assembly created the Orangeburgh Township along the river in 1730, and 220 German-Swiss settlers arrived there in 1735, making their homes near its banks. They found the river to be a ready supply of water and a means of getting their crops to market in Charleston.
Today, the river continues to provide the city with a plentiful water supply.
The North Edisto flows through the 175-acre Edisto Memorial Gardens and serves as a resource for recreation and other activities.
A 2,600-foot boardwalk allows visitors to stroll along the river and neighboring swamp, enjoying quiet reflection in the scenic setting.
Some local folks remember taking swimming lessons in the river and attending events at the old Pavilion where the Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center now stands.
Before Europeans settled near the Edisto River, the Natchez-Kusso, or Edisto Indians, lived on the banks of the river and roamed the nearby swamps. It’s said these Native Americans used the bluff overlooking the river as a trading post.
According to Hugo Ackerman, author of “A Brief History of Orangeburg,” the Indians in the Orangeburgh District at that time were friendly, and they and their allies, including the Cherokee, would camp along the banks of the North Edisto on their way to Charlestown to trade.
There are several different versions of how the settlers arrived in the Orangeburg area.
Dr. Gene Atkinson, local dentist and historian, said he and other researchers believe the settlers followed Indian trails from Charleston to settle along the banks of the Edisto.
However, the Charleston Gazette reported the settlers were traveling up the Edisto at government expense with a year’s supply of provisions. Each head of a household was to get a lot and 50 acres of land in the township for each member of his household.
Edisto means “black,” referring to its dark water. The black water gets its color from the tannic acid of decaying leaves, branches and roots of the hardwood trees surrounding it.
William Gilmore Sims said in The Times and Democrat in 1891 that the river took its name from the Indian word “Audusta.”
Made up of two forks that begin in Saluda and Edgefield counties, the Edisto is the longest free-flowing black water river in the United States. The waterway meanders for 250 miles across South Carolina, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Edisto Beach. The river is one of three that make up the ACE Basin, one of the largest estuarine systems on the East Coast.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- T&D Staff Report
“Ben Hur” played silently and “Beau Geste” followed.
The year was 1927, and the Carolinian Theater was brand new.
Its seats, sound and lighting were of the highest caliber, making the facility the envy of other theaters in the area.
Over the years, the Carolinian remained a prime location for movies and theatrical productions in Orangeburg — and continues that tradition today as Stevenson Auditorium.
The history of Stevenson Auditorium began more than 80 years ago when the Young Men’s Business League of Orangeburg decided the city needed a new municipal building and auditorium.
A referendum was held on Aug. 17, 1926, for the sale of $175,000 in municipal bonds to fund the project. It passed, and the money was approved on May 4, 1927.
After seven months, the new municipal building, with the Carolinian Theater, was completed.
Country comedienne Minnie Pearl, cowboy Red Barry and the Dean Hudson Orchestra all performed in the theater.
The name was later changed from the Carolinian to Stevenson Auditorium in honor of the former city administrator, Robert Stevenson.
Stevenson Auditorium has traditionally been an event venue for the Orangeburg community. The auditorium since been used for dance recital, plays and concerts.
In the late 1990s, an effort was made to restore the auditorium. The only sprucing up the building had prior to the renovation was in 1972 when it was repainted and rewired and air conditioning units were installed and the seats were painted and recovered.
The Stevenson Renovation Committee was formed and worked to raise about $300,000 from grants and contributions to restore the building, including the dressing rooms and restrooms.
Local businesses and industries as well as the City of Orangeburg, the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities, the Junior Service League of Orangeburg and the Horne Foundation contributed to the renovation efforts.
- T&D Staff Report
The lone Palmetto tree in the median of U.S. Highway 301 a few miles north of Orangeburg stands as a memorial — a tribute to the late Sen. Marshall Williams.
“My husband was a true statesman so I felt the state tree, the Palmetto tree, would be the perfect monument to him,” Mrs. Marshall (Margaret) Williams said of her desire to plant the tree across from the front door of her home in honor of her late husband.
Sen. Williams served the public for 49 years — six years in the state House of Representatives and 43 years in the state Senate.
Williams was the longest serving state senator in the nation when he died in December 1995.
Williams’ son, Orangeburg attorney Charles Williams, had given two Palmetto trees to the late Clara Evans, a lady who lived on the Williams’ property and cooked for the family for more than 40 years.
The trees had special meaning to the Williams family and for this reason, Mrs. Williams had one of them transplanted.
Mrs. Williams is well known for her many tree-planting projects.
One of the more significant projects was when Mrs. Williams, at the age of 70, raised $25,000 for the Yoshino cherry trees that stand in Edisto Memorial Gardens and throughout the city, also in memory of her husband, Marshall, and daughter, Mary Ashley (Gardner).
She has also worked throughout the years with city and county officials to have Bradford pear and crepe myrtle trees planted in Edisto Memorial Gardens and along major thoroughfares in the area.
- T&D Staff Report
History lives at 200 Whaley St. in Orangeburg.
Mirmow Field was first built in 1948 and named after Eddie Mirmow, who spearheaded the community effort for Orangeburg to have the city-owned baseball stadium.
Initially, Orangeburg Post 4 fielded an American Legion team for a couple of seasons before the outbreak of the war. With the onset of global fighting, the team went on hiatus.
After the war, Mirmow was the person who re-established the American Legion baseball program in Orangeburg, serving as the athletic director for many years.
The success of the 1946-1947 Post 4 teams, along with some added interest from semi-pro and minor league ball clubs, sparked the idea within the community that Orangeburg needed a quality baseball field. That idea became a reality when much-needed revenue for a field became available after the sale of land that was once home to Hawthorne Field.
A lot between Rowe and Whaley streets was purchased with the funds, construction of then-Orangeburg City Engineer Alec Brown’s design began, and a new field was born.
Mirmow Field, made from cement blocks, was considered a marvel of modern design at the time.
Among the features the park offers are the flagpole and two light poles that can be found in the field of play. The flagpole stands by the center field wall while one light pole is located in front of the left field wall.
Mirmow Field is enclosed by its own version of the “Green Monster.” The green outfield wall surrounds the entire stadium.
There was a time when regular crowds of more than 1,000 fans would attend the park to catch a few innings of baseball with the boys of summer.
In 1966, Mirmow Field had the distinction of being selected to host the American Legion baseball World Series for the entire United States.
The field also hosted a semi-professional baseball team for a short time and was the spring training home of the New York Yankees’ Double-A minor league team for several years.
Mirmow Field has also graced the big screen in a major motion picture, when the production crew and actors for the 1997 film “Major League III” came to Orangeburg to film several scenes.
The ball park has undergone renovations, including a new scoreboard, lighting repairs, a new roof and the leveling of the infield.
The stadium has had its share of talented players to traverse its base paths over the years including a number of Orangeburg-area legends who went on to play baseball in the major leagues. Nathaniel Snell, Bill Spiers (Astros), Mookie Wilson (Mets and Blue Jays), the late Mike Sharperson (Dodgers), Herm Winningham (Reds) and Jimmy Ferry all called Mirmow Field home before heading off to pro careers.
Today, the field is primarily used for American Legion baseball, and attendance numbers are well below the 1,000 the park once saw.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
In the late 1880s, the city of London had a string of murders that were attributed to a character who became known as Jack the Ripper. At about the same time, Orangeburg had a “fiend” going around at night setting fires to city structures, according to newspaper articles of the time.
During this period across America, volunteer firefighting organizations were emerging to become the forerunners of today’s municipal fire departments. Orangeburg was no exception, eventually boasting four independent fire troupes.
Also spreading across the country was the recognition of the service that firefighters provided by combatting fires as an organized group as opposed to the former fire bucket brigades. Larger cities such as New York were dedicating monuments to these innovative and bold individuals who fought to save life and property.
In 1902, a local community improvement group, the Young Men’s Business League, purchased the fireman’s statute that is being featured on Day 30 of The Times and Democrat’s “100 Days — 100 Objects* series. Called a firefighter fountain, the Orangeburg version was, in essence, a deluxe model that sported drinking fountains for both passersby and horses. The base was hollow so it could hold up to 500 pounds of ice that kept the drinking water cool.
Like most of those made during that period, the statue depicts a firefighter holding a small child, which some historians say represents the strong aiding the helpless. Some in Orangebug began calling the statue the “Fire Laddie,” perhaps giving it the name a volunteer firefighter was called in the early 1900s, as referenced in J. Frank Kernan’s book, “Reminiscences of the Old Fire Laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York and Brooklyn.”
Local historians are attempting to trace the origins of the fireman’s statue, but very similar models were made by J.W. Fiske Iron Works in New York.
When it arrived in Orangeburg, the statue was originally placed in front of the First Baptist Church on Russell Street, where a former volunteer firefighting organization, the Young Americans, had their fire house.
In the late 1930s, however, the fireman, who stood in the middle of what were then driving lanes, was struck several times by motorists. He was completely toppled at least once.
The statue was eventually moved to a spot between Orangeburg City Hall and what is now the Orangeburg County Administrative Center on Middleton Street, formerly Fire Station Number 1.
That move came in the late 1940s, but it wasn’t long before the fireman statue was moved once again, this time to his current location at the corner of Middleton and Fischer streets.
As was the case in the Jack the Ripper murders, the Orangeburg arsonist, labeled a fiend by media of the day, was never arrested.
Nevertheless, for the past 112 years, a fireman has been watching over this city day and night as a reminder that there’s an organization ever at the ready to fight fire, accidental or intentional.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
VANCE — A rural church cemetery in Vance is the final resting place of Eddie Sweat, longtime groom of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
Sweat, who died at age 58 of leukemia in 1998, grew up on the outskirts of Vance and was hired by trainer Lucien Laurin when Sweat was 16.
Atop Sweat’s grave in the Rock Hill AME Church Cemetery in Vance is a plastic toy horse with small silk flowers. There is also a trophy, topped with a horse and jockey, bearing the inscription: “In Memory of Mr. Eddie Sweat, Secretariat’s Beloved Groom.”
Sweat was the sixth of nine children born to David and Mary Sweat.
Actor Nelsan Ellis played Sweat in Walt Disney Pictures’ 2010 movie “Secretariat.”
In an interview with The T&D around the time of the movie’s world premiere, Sweat’s oldest sister, Bertha Lee Walker of Florida, said her brother “worked with horses ever since he was 13 years old, until he died. … He was good with horses from when he was a child.”
Walker also talked about one of Sweat’s trademarks: wearing colorful plaid pants.
“We used to laugh at him when he wore those pants. But he would say, ‘I don’t care about your laughing because I know I’m going to win. They’re my pants, and I’m going to wear them,’ ” Walker said.
Between Holly Hill and Vance, not far from the Rock Hill AME Church Cemetery, is the Holly Hill Training Center, which was originally founded as the Branchdale Racetrack.
Laurin owned the track for many years. He hired Sweat for various duties there.
Local lore has it that Secretariat was trained at the track near Holly Hill, but those who worked at the track or lived nearby say that likely wasn’t the case.
A life-sized tribute to Secretariat, in the form of a bronze sculpture, welcomes visitors to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.
The commissioned bronze statue was dedicated on April 8, 2006. It features Secretariat immediately after his Kentucky Derby victory on May 5, 1973, at Churchill Downs. Jockey Ron Turcotte is seated on Secretariat and Sweat is leading the champion horse.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- Dale Linder-Altman
While it stands alone today on Neeses Highway near the Pine Hill community, the Great Branch Rosenwald Teacherage was once part of a thriving school complex that included a school building, a cannery, a creosote pit and a shop.
The teacherage had three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen and provided housing for teachers who lived too far away to commute every day.
Built in 1924-25 at a cost of $2,650, the complex was the focal point of the community until the school closed in 1954.
Orangeburg School District Four owned the teacherage until 1961, when it was deeded to the Great Branch community.
The Great Branch Rosenwald School burned in an arson-related fire in 1960. The other buildings were torn down, and the teacherage fell into disrepair.
The structure’s foundation rotted away, the roof was seriously damaged, the walls were in disrepair and the ceiling was gone. The only part of the building that remained in good condition was the hardwood flooring.
Then about eight years ago, members of the community, school alumni, the National Trust and the Lowe’s Foundation agreed to partner to renovate the teacherage and turn it into a community center.
The structure was jacked up, the old brick sills were removed and new ones were put in place.
The roof was replaced with a $50,000 donation from the Lowe’s Foundation. Work, including major repairs on the walls, was done, and the restoration was completed by the fall of 2009.
The Great Branch School was part of the Rosenwald initiative, which was organized by educator and scientist Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, co-owner of Sears and Roebuck.
The initiative was designed to educate black children in the post-Civil War South. The Rosenwald Foundation contributed $300 for each school, with the rest of the cost being funded by the community, the state and local schools.
While some 500 Rosenwald Schools were built in South Carolina, there were only eight teacherages. The Great Branch Teacherage is one of only two that still exist in the state.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- Dionne Gleaton
A string of four refurbished country stores from a bygone era have been brought back to life as part of an antique village on Santee State Park Road.
Santee real estate agent Patrick “Pat” Williams calls his vintage community of old stores “Lone Star” after the nearby Calhoun County village from which two of the four buildings came.
The buildings provide a place where tourists and area residents can enjoy the replicas, good food and good times in an early 1900s setting.
Williams purchased the two buildings, which were owned by the O.K. Zeagler family of Lone Star, nearly 20 years ago. The stores were moved in 2000 to the antique village site in Santee.
One of the buildings in Williams’ antique lineup is what was called “The Green Store.” The old tin-roofed building, which had peeling paint and no electrical wiring, was a general store in the Lone Star community that was restored to its original use. The back of the building now includes a restaurant/buffet line and kitchen.
While some of the antiques such as old-pot bellied stoves have been used for the operation, others are for display or purchase. The store also features old cracker jars, meat scales and cheese cutters.
Another building featured in the village served as the old Lone Star Post Office, which came with a vintage Coca-Cola sign of an engineer sipping a Coke on its side. The old white building was also where the movie “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” was filmed.
The old Shuler Store, which was located 4 miles below Santee on U.S. 301 South, is also showcased. It serves as a dining hall and is connected to the old general store by a breezeway.
The Old Dantzler Store, which sat on U.S. 15 South of Santee, is also included in the Santee village. It is also connected by a breezeway and used as a social hall for activities, including parties and civic club meetings. A small kitchen and a door leading into a courtyard are among its amenities.
An old-style smokehouse, with old meat hooks from which meat was hung to be cured, was part of the Old Dantzler Store and serves as its backdrop.
Williams’ family has been sharing their own good times in two old stores he moved to his farm and converted into a hunting and fishing cabin and a bunkhouse.
“Those two stores really got me excited about the possibilities of going ahead with this project,” he said. “I just have a love for the old stores; it’s part of the dying rural heritage.”
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- T&D Staff Report
T&D Staff Report
Looking down the Russell Street pedestrian alleyway between 5th Avenue Fashions and the business that was formerly Sophisticated and Glamorous Fashions, the eye is treated to a rainbow of colorfully painted houses.
The mural of brightly colored homes — reds, hot pinks, yellows, blues and greens — with painted balconies, windows and doors could be dubbed Orangeburg’s own “Rainbow Row” after the homes in Charleston’s historic downtown.
The six-month painting project was done about seven years ago by Richard Smoak, who had done set design work for the Orangeburg Part-Time Players. Smoak received help from Matt Quay, an OPTP performer.
Smoak said the project was in an effort to attract more people to downtown Orangeburg.
The idea to help spruce up downtown was the brainchild of the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association.
About 80 gallons of paint were used to create the mural.
Smoak has also been at the forefront of the Bluebird Theatre Restoration Committee, and he designed Orangeburg’s New Year’s millennium lighted ball.
- T&D Staff Report
White House United Methodist Church, located on U.S. 301, is believed to be the oldest Methodist church in Orangeburg County.
The church, founded in 1788, was named to the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior Parks Division in 1974. White House UMC will celebrate its 226th anniversary this October.
The structure that presently houses the White House congregation was built in 1850. The interior of the sanctuary is structurally the same as it was in 1850, and the pews and altar rail are part of the original structure. A fellowship hall was added in 1957.
In 1952, Arnold Murray, the last Confederate veteran in South Carolina, was laid to rest in the church cemetery.
White House United Methodist Church is one of three churches on the Bowman Charge of the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The church has preserved numerous record books, minutes of meetings and miscellaneous historical documents in the archives collection of the Historic White House Commission. Included in the church archives is a sermon notation made Dec. 24, 1801 by Bishop Francis Asbury, a United Methodist pioneer and frequent visitor to White House, in his journal on 2 Peter 3:18: “We should have grace planted or sown in our souls.”
Asbury and other notable ministers visited the church to preach and often ministered from the stump of an oak tree to overflow crowds.
William Capers, who served the church in 1812, initially studied law, but eventually became the first native South Carolinian to be elected to the episcopacy.
William May Wightman, who later became a bishop, served the congregation in 1829 at the age of 20.
Those ministers planted seeds of leadership in the congregation of White House United Methodist Church during its early period that are still evident today.
- T&D Staff Report
Late Orangeburg Korean War veteran Edward “Victor” Fenton III wrote a letter to the editor in the Times and Democrat in November 1998 expressing concerns about the lack of a visible and adequate veterans memorial in Orangeburg.
Eleven years later, city leaders and the community celebrated the dedication of Orangeburg Veterans Memorial Park located on Riverside Drive across the street from the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce building.
The memorial features a 25-foot obelisk, six granite sections representing the branches of service and granite plaques identifying the wars in which the United States has been engaged.
The park also has nine flags representing the United States, the state of South Carolina, the six branches of service and the POW/MIAs. Featured are six granite naming panels recognizing those individuals from Orangeburg County who died serving the country in times of war.
Earlier this year, a 10-space parking lot was added at the park to help enhance accessibility for handicapped visitors.
The park was constructed using $375,000 in penny tax revenues — $250,000 from the city and $125,000 from the county.
O’Cain Construction worked on the project, and West Summers was its architect.
The public has contributed through the purchase of memorial bricks, which are also a part of the memorial.
The initial project was trimmed to reduce costs, including the removal of a reflecting pool.
In addition, the height of the obelisk was reduced from about 34 feet to 29 feet. Carolina Granite and Marble performed the work on the obelisk and the granite.
- T&D Staff Report
The sign for the Orangeburg Cemetery leads visitors to a site where they can trace the rich history of African-American citizens in Orangeburg.
Before its restoration in the 1990s, the cemetery looked like a “no man’s land.”
Located at Windsor and Bull streets, the cemetery was created in April 1889 after several leading black citizens saw the need for a black cemetery in the town.
Included among those buried at the cemetery is Johnson C. Whittaker, one of the first black men to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1876. The story of Whittaker’s wrongful court-martial was profiled in the Showtime cable network movie “Assault at West Point.”\In July 1995, after 115 years, former President Bill Clinton posthumously commissioned Whittaker as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Whittaker died in 1931.
Just below Whittaker’s massive tombstone are the graves of his sons, John Whittaker, who was a pioneer engineer and Army captain, and Miller F. Whittaker, who was also a second lieutenant in the Army.
Miller Whittaker was the third president of S.C. State, serving from 1932 to 1949. Not far away is the grave of S.C. State’s second president, Robert Shaw Wilkinson, the face behind Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.
In addition, several early black business owners are buried at the cemetery. John Maxwell was the proprietor of a famed supermarket at the end of Russell Street near what is now known as Railroad Corner at Magnolia and Russell streets. Also buried at the cemetery is Dr. Marion Fordham, who operated his own drug store at the lower end of Russell. He was a relative of J.H. Fordham, one of the early citizens who purchased the property and established the cemetery.
Near the entrance of the Orangeburg Cemetery on the left and shrouded by the shade of cedar trees are some of the earliest burial plots. Resting on the hill is the grave of Nelson Cornelson Nix. When S.C. State opened its doors for the first time after separating from Claflin, the bell was rung by his watch. The former Nix Elementary School was named in honor of the dean.
Many of the gravestones in the cemetery are decades old, but the oldest identified marker is for a week-old baby named Wilhelmina Levy, who was buried in her family plot in 1893, just four years after the cemetery was chartered. The marker stands prominently among the other stones with an angel perched atop it.
The 110-year-old cemetery was refurbished and cleaned up in 1984 by the Orangeburg Cemetery Committee, which was co-chaired by the late Geraldyne Zimmerman.
After soliciting funds from people who had relatives buried at the site, the committee convinced the City of Orangeburg to claim ownership of the cemetery in 1994.
The project received recognition and awards from the Readers Digest Foundation, Keep America Beautiful and the Colgate Palmolive Inc. Community Service Foundation. The cemetery is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the City of Orangeburg Parks and Recreation Department maintains the property.
This story has been changed to reflect that Johnson C. Whittaker died in 1931. We apologize for the error.
- T&D Staff Report
The Great Depression in the early 1930s led many financial institutions to close their doors.
Seven men were determined to beat the odds during that difficult time. In the year 1934, they formed First National Bank.
Robert Lide, an Orangeburg attorney, and businessmen Wallace C. Bethea, D.A. Gardner, W.L. Glover, E.V. Mirmow, Dwight Moseley and Dr. C.A. Mobley founded the bank, pledging a minimum stock purchase of $1,000. Together they raised $62,500 through the sale of stock. They borrowed a matching amount from the federal government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
The bank’s Russell Street location was constructed in 1920 for Edisto National Bank, but it went bankrupt during the Great Depression along with most other banks in the city. First National Bank occupied the building in 1934. It later moved to more spacious quarters, but left behind its iconic sign.
From its start with six employees, the bank had deposits of $1.1 million and profits of $1,395 the first year.
By its 40th anniversary in 1974, SCBT had 120 employees and deposits of $56.3 million.
First National continued to expand and, in 2002, moved its headquarters to Columbia and changed its name to SCBT.
On June 30 of this year, the bank saw another milestone, changing its name to South State Bank to indicate its continued expansion throughout the Southeast.
The bank did business as SCBT in South Carolina, as NCBT in North Carolina, as Community Bank & Trust in North Georgia and as The Savannah Bank in Savannah, Ga. The bank’s fifth brand, First Federal, located in coastal South Carolina and Wilmington, N.C., will be branded South State Bank on July 21.
Customers now have access to 135 banking locations in three states – North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The building itself has also seen a new beginning.
The Palmetto Development Group, a Columbia nonprofit organization, is using it to house groups involved in small business development. The building is now known as the Palmetto Enterprise Center.
PDG, with aid from a USDA Rural Development grant, received support from the City of Orangeburg and Orangeburg County to open the business incubator. PDG is leasing the building from the city.
The center opened earlier this year after some renovations, including the installation of a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, improvements to the wiring and bathrooms, repairs to the floors and roof, and removal of asbestos tiles.
The center is currently assisting small businesses and a start-up business and will soon be providing small loans to help small businesses.
The center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- T&D Staff Report
When the aliens finally land to stretch their legs, they’re going to find a place ready for them in Bowman — the UFO Welcome Center.
The two-story structure, located just off Charleston Highway, is a silver-painted design based on the “flying saucers” of the 1950s.
The structure, about 16 feet tall and 39 feet in diameter, is built of lumber held together with wood screws and bolts so that it will weather hurricanes and tornados.
The UFO Welcome Center has, in many ways, become an unofficial landmark for the town of Bowman.
One-time Bowman mayoral candidate Jody Pendarvis decided to build the UFO in 1995 after coming across lumber that was left over after his grandmother’s store was torn down to make room for a BP gas station.
About eight tons of plywood and boards went into the project.
At first, it was going to be Jody’s UFO #1, but the postmaster suggested Pendarvis name it the UFO Welcome Center.
Pendarvis has said the design of the Bowman UFO is inspired.
“I’ve never seen a UFO built, but I like to mow my grass in circles,” he said.
The UFO has all the amenities of a terrestrial home: a small kitchen with a “replicator” (microwave), a satellite system, a VCR and a radio.
Pendarvis has publicly stated he wanted to be an ambassador for extraterrestrials.
To make the center more accommodating to the extraterrestrials, a door was placed on the top of it.
The center was originally scheduled to open on Columbus Day in 1996, but its opening was delayed due to some structural concerns. Four years later, the welcome center was again scheduled to open to the public. However, it was deemed not to be compliant with building codes and unsafe.
Ultimately, Pendarvis hopes the UFO will fly. The body has room for five engines.
“This UFO Welcome Center is here to welcome UFO’s,” Pendarvis has said, adding that he hopes the visitors will consider landing in Bowman rather than Washington, D.C., where they’d probably be taken prisoner.
Though Pendarvis has been silent on whether or not aliens have visited the UFO Welcome Center, the center has received notice from a number of local, state and national media outlets.
It has appeared on the Comedy Central Daily Show a number of times and on the Roseanne Barr talk show as well as others.
Church missionaries have said they have run into people in foreign lands who saw Pendarvis and his UFO Welcome Center on Japanese television.
T&D Staff Report
The exact date of its construction is lost in history.
Some accounts put its origin in 1735; others, between 1764 and 1775.
But all agree it was built prior to the Revolutionary War, making Middlepen Plantation, the Donald Bruce house, the oldest home in Orangeburg County.
Situated on a plot of land about two miles outside of Orangeburg on U.S. 301 North, the house is made of virgin long leaf pine with timbers a foot wide, according to newspaper accounts filed at the Orangeburg County Historical Society.
In fact, the house was originally built on land just a few blocks from the society’s Middleton Street location, rising in the center of “Orangeburgh” at the corner of Windsor and Bull streets. The two-story house featured a basement cellar and “ample piazza,” pegged construction, hand-wrought nails and handmade hardware.
Constructed of pine, the Bruce house has wide flush boards on the front and clapboards on other sides. The house was listed in the National Historic Register on Dec. 1, 1978.
The home’s namesake, Donald Bruce, was a Scotsman who came to the area from Charleston with his daughter and second wife in the mid-1760s. He was a justice of the peace and justice for the governor for Orangeburgh District in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, Bruce served as a representative in the General Assembly. He lived in the home until his death in 1795.
During the Revolutionary War in 1779, the home was used by Gov. John Rutledge to carry out his plans for a “great military company” in the area. Two years later, it served as headquarters for Lord Francis Rawdon, commander of the British forces. Bullet holes in the hidden stairway are said to have been placed there when British soldiers invaded the house.
In 1837, the home’s new owner, Daniel Larey, moved it to its present location on U.S. 301 North. The house was likely rolled the four miles on logs and driven by horses.
Just before the Civil War, the house changed hands again.
The home and its surrounding 1,200 acres, were purchased by Benjamin F. Simmons of Charleston. He is said to have named the place “Middlepen Plantation” after the stream that runs behind it, called Middlepen Branch — named so because the estate was once the middle corral for cattle drives headed for Charleston.
During the war, stragglers from Sherman’s army are said to have robbed the smokehouse and killed the poultry on the property, but they failed to find the family’s silver, which had been hidden in Four Holes Swamp.
Middlepen Plantation was inherited by Charlotte “Lottie” Simmons Wolfe from her father, and passed on to her son, the late Col. Russell Wolfe and his wife.
In 1937, the Donald Bruce house was moved back from the road 100 or so feet to allow for a flower garden.
It was restored as a historic showcase and featured many antiques, including one of Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephones, the first sewing machine made in Orangeburg County and saddle bags belonging to Gen. Francis Marion.
Over the years, the property declined due in large part to damage from vandals.
The house is also significant as an example of 18th century vernacular architecture.
- T&D Staff Report
An Orangeburg County landmark on U.S. 301 South has become a part of the skyline.
The 525-foot stack rising above the tree tops from the South Carolina Electric and Gas Cope Generating Station, the utility company’s newest coal-fired plant, is unmistakable.
Instead of smoke, the stack emits condensation from the plant’s cooling system. The Cope Generating Station draws water for operations from a deep aquifer in the area and routinely uses 4.5 million gallons of water a day for its operations.
Plant construction began in 1992. The station was ready for operation before its May 1996 deadline, officially coming online Jan. 15, 1996.
The $411 million project came in about $34 million under budget.
At the peak of its construction, the plant employed about 750 and paid a combined $65 million in wages. Today the plant employs about 73 people and pays approximately $7.2 million in property taxes annually.
The facility, which sits on 3,200 acres, was designed so that only half an acre of the 1,700 acres of wetlands would be disturbed. Nearly 400 acres of wetlands along the South Fork of the Edisto River were included in a conservation easement to the Congaree Land Trust as a hardwood and cypress preserve.
The South Fork of the Edisto River is used as a backup water supply. The amount of water drawn from the river, when needed, is about 4 percent of its normal river flow, and the river’s required minimum flow is maintained at all times.
The Cope Station generates 430 megawatts of electricity by burning about 160 tons of coal per hour. At full load, the plant can produce enough power in one hour to supply the average electric needs of 430 residential customers for one month.
The facility consistently ranks in the top 20 plants for efficiency, according to Electric Light & Power magazine.
The plant was designed and built with a dry scrubber to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The scrubber eliminates more than 95 percent of SO2. A co-benefit is that approximately 60-90 percent of mercury emissions are eliminated.
The Cope Station was also equipped with baghouses that remove 99 percent of fly ash from the combustion process. The boiler also had low-NOx burners installed in its initial construction.
But even the most efficient plants require preventative maintenance. Since 2008, SCE&G has installed more than $600 million in environmental equipment, reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury.
Selective catalytic reduction equipment officially came online in 2008 to reduce nitrous oxide gases even further. The total cost was more than $69 million, and will reduce NOx emissions by more than 70 percent.
SCE&G is a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 661,000 customers in South Carolina.
- Christopher Huff
It was 238 years ago today. After more than a year of open hostilities, the Continental Congress signed what would become known as the Declaration of Independence. The proclamation would unleash the full might of the most feared military force of its time — the British army and navy.
When the British forces opened their Southern campaign four years later, Charles Towne would fall after a three-month siege. The King’s military then moved inland, setting up outposts in several locations in South Carolina’s Midlands, including Orangeburgh.
Today’s Independence Day “100 days: 100 Objects” entry — the stone marker on Broughton Street, commemorates the town’s role in the war.
Charles Towne was successfully defended from a combined British naval and land forces that attacked a small fort made of palmetto logs on Sullivan’s Island under Col. William Moultrie. Those spongy palmetto logs are said to have absorbed the British naval fire while the American artillery did considerable damage to the oak-sided British ships.
The British returned with a larger force in 1780. After a three-month siege by land and naval forces, South Carolina’s largest city and its 5,000 Colonial troops under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln were captured. The surrender was the largest of an American military force until the Civil War 80 years later.
With its capture, Charles Towne became the base from which the British would launch raids and supply a chain of outposts set up through the state.
One of those outposts was the town of Orangeburgh. Due to the area being populated by large numbers of those both loyal to the Crown and those opposed, the town changed hands often.
The stone marker at the corner of Broughton and Henley streets indicates the approximate location of the town’s original courthouse and jail, which were used by the British for their Orangeburgh outpost.
Almost a year later to the day, Charles Towne was surrendered. Gen. Thomas Sumter brought 350 colonists to bear upon the British-held outpost. Considering the strength of the British forces, Sumter waited until his artillery could be brought forward.
After Orangeburgh was secured, Sumter moved to assist forces with Gen. Francis Marion at Fort Motte. The British re-captured the town a month later.
The taking and re-taking of Orangeburgh in the waning years of the Revolutionary War wasn’t a Bunker Hill or Valley Forge. It’s not on maps of the time as a strategic stronghold.
But strategically, it was one of several cat-and-mouse, hit-and-run engagements that would lead up to the full-scale Battle at Eutaw Springs in September. That confrontation in the eastern part of the county, in turn, would eventually be marked as the end of British outposts in the state.
The war didn’t start here and it certainly didn’t end here. But a little-known marker at the corner of Broughton and Henley streets is a reminder of a time when the idea of independence grew here.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow Walker on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
EUTAWVILLE — “Small towns are their own gifts,” said the Rev. Tom Hendrickson, pastor of the Church of the Epiphany.
The history of the Church of the Epiphany in Eutaw Village (later named Eutawville) begins with the establishment in 1804 of Rocks Church near Rocks Plantation on the old Santee River Road.
As Eutaw Village grew, people felt the need for a church that was conveniently located. In 1849, the present structure, once referred to as The Village Chapel-of-Ease, was built.
The original building had a slave gallery. It was later removed and a small fenced area was provided for the few blacks who wanted to attend services.
Rocks Church became the parish church of Upper-St. John’s parish in 1864. Upper-St. John’s was first settled chiefly by the English, but as the French Huguenot families who settled along lower Santee began to accumulate wealth and increase in number, they moved up the river in search of new lands and better health conditions.
The current chapel was enlarged and improved during this time.
A great change came between 1938-1942 when the Santee Cooper Project left Rocks Church and its old cemetery on an island in Lake Marion.
Due to constant vandalism, the church was torn down in 1954 and a monument was erected on the site.
Epiphany Chapel was consecrated on Jan. 30, 1949, and is now the Parish Church of Upper-St. John’s.
In the early ‘80s, an auxiliary building, “The Vestry,” was added.
Every first Saturday in September, the church hosts a commemorative re-enactment of the Battle of Eutaw Springs.
Average attendance on Sunday is just over 60 with some parishioners from Summerville still calling the church “home.”
Hendrickson said, “Many were raised in the area and moved away, but the church is a treasure.”
“One of the gifts of the Christian faith is that there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free,” he said. “It’s the blood of Christ that covers us, and unless people get that in their heart, things will not change.”
The church is affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
Service times are Sundays at 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- T&D Staff Report
The seven-story Hotel Eutaw on Russell Street was considered one of the most modern and best-equipped hotels in a community Orangeburg’s size when it opened for business in 1927.
When complete, the $300,000 hotel was a “skyscraper” of seven stories with chandeliers, terrazzo floors, marble, polished carved wood and spacious rooms.
For several years, the hotel operated as part of a chain of hotels on a lease basis, but the operation was unsatisfactory to stockholders.
In 1929, the stock market collapsed, sending the nation into the Great Depression. By 1934, ownership of the hotel had transferred to a group of Orangeburg business people.
For decades, the hotel was renowned for its dining facilities and as a space for wedding receptions and other occasions.
In its earliest days, the hotel was the site of either a suicide pact between a couple successfully carried out or a murder-suicide. Authorities were never able to find out.
The hotel’s busiest time of year was the Orangeburg County Fair week.
Cars gradually replaced trains as the preferred mode of travel and U.S. 301 diverted traffic from Russell Street to John C. Calhoun Drive. Newer motels grew up along the streamlined federal highway route, offering more parking and more first-floor guest rooms than the Hotel Eutaw could provide.
The T&D was published from the hotel’s lobby and dining room for nearly a month in late 1972 following a devastating fire at its physical plant.
In 1984, the hotel was renovated and renamed the Russell Street Inn. A bank foreclosed against the hotel’s then-owner in 1987. New owners took over the hotel in 1990, but it closed again in 1992.
South Carolina State University used the former Hotel Eutaw briefly for student housing in the early 1990s, and real estate agents tried for years to persuade the institution’s foundation to buy the property.
In 1997, Regency Development Associates Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., stepped forward with a $1.3 million plan to divide the building into 32 apartments for senior citizens. City Council endorsed the project and provided $10,000. However, anticipated state grant money was not forthcoming.
Around 2005, the Claflin University Community Development Corp. also looked at purchasing the former hotel. The university did some engineering studies to see if it could be turned into low-income housing, but the project was not deemed feasible.
Columbia attorney Robert Lewis purchased the 28,000-square-foot building in January 2007 with the intention of transforming it into university housing.
The $1.6 million renovation of the building began in June 2008 and included plaster repair and painting, as well as the installation of updated plumbing, electrical, security, air-conditioning, fire suppression and sprinkler systems.
In 2009, Claflin University leased space for students from property management company Red Curb Investments. The university is preparing to open a new dorm on campus, but the company continues to offer off-campus housing to students.
In addition to student housing, the building also has a bridal shop and a men’s clothing store.
A retailer is also being sought for the adjacent, 6,000-square-foot former Goodyear building.
- Dionne Gleaton
SPRINGFIELD — Crumbling ceilings and a water-filled basement were among what was left of an architectural treasure that has since been lovingly transformed into a multi-purpose facility serving the people of the Springfield community.
The old Springfield High School has been rehabilitated to do what is was designed to do more than 80 years ago — enhance lives and serve the community. In 2008, an eight-year restoration project came to fruition with the opening of the visitor’s welcome center.
From 1929 to 1994, the Brodie Street building was locally known as the high school. Closed for educational service, the building sat deteriorating for the next six years. The Town of Springfield came to possess the property in 2000 when Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four deeded the structure to the municipality. Town was given the go-ahead to refurbish, rejuvenate and restore the facility.
Under the supervision of the state Department of Archives and History, the building was returned to its original state as designed by architect James Urquhart. In addition to private donations, state agencies — the Department of Commerce; Archives and History; Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the Department of Transportation — provide grant funding for the project. These agencies have audited the process and spending practices related to the restoration, and Springfield citizens have volunteered to help see the project to fruition.
Springfield resident Sylvia Hiers served as chairperson of a School Restoration and Use Board, which began the work to save the building from destruction through abandonment.
With seating for more than 400, the school’s auditorium and stage have been restored to their former appearance, including the balcony that was original to the building design.
In addition to a visitor’s welcome center, the building also functions as a community center and a museum with a memorabilia shop and African and Native American centers, along with a genealogy room.
The Springfield Branch Library has also opened in the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a site on the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor.
The South Carolina Heritage Corridor Region III held its annual Showcase and Dinner at the former Springfield High School in 2009 to highlight the beautifully renovated school as a site that many people had not known about.
The rehabilitation of the facility has benefited from the Orangeburg County penny sales tax, which has generated millions of dollars for more than 100 community-enhancement and economic development projects.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Richard Walker
Born in England, Leslie was attempting to launch a vaudeville career when he brought his fledging act to Orangeburg, according to several sources.
In the 1920s, Orangeburg was keeping up with the times. Acts from all over, including those such as Leslie’s vaudeville act, were brought in. The city had no less than five moving picture theaters that also served as venues for stage acts.
There were the Star Theater, the Reliance, the Carolina, the Palmetto and today’s “100 Days — 100 Objects” entry: the BlueBird Theatre.
The Bluebird (original spelling) Theatre first opened as the city’s third theater in 1916 — in time to establish itself at the dawn of the “Golden Age of Hollywood” that lasted from the silent motion pictures of the late 1920s to the classics of the 1960s.
During the late 1920s, the movie industry was about to take a leap forward from the movies with no audio to a new format called “talkies” — movies that actually had sound.
Around the time of the transition from silent films to talkies, the Bluebird proudly advertised it offered “Big pictures for little prices,” according to South Carolina Movie Theaters. A movie-goer could see Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Italian heartthrob Rudolph Valentino.
Just a few years later, in the talkie age that began in earnest in the 1930s, more stars emerged, including Shirley Temple, Mae West and a budding actor named Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne.
By the mid-1930s, however, while the Duke’s star was climbing, the Bluebird’s star dimmed to the point where the theater was closed. Newspaper stories of the time no longer mentioned the theater after 1935. Its location later became the home of Williams Music.
A block or two away, the Edisto, a new theater with a 500-seat capacity, opened in November 1941. It would be owned by the same family for the next two decades until it was leased by another company.
A late 1950s advertisement in The Times and Democrat pictured an Eskimo beside the words “air conditioned.” The ad was promoting a horror flick titled “The Colossus of New York!”
But after about 40 years of operation, the Edisto’s screen went dark as well. It was used as a storage facility for another 15 years or so.
Then in 1996, the Edisto’s stage found new life under a phoenix of a name — a riff on the 1916 theater’s name — the BlueBird Theatre.
The Orangeburg Part-Time Players have since brought entertainment back to the former theater under that earlier name that introduced the community to big-screen romance, comedy, westerns and even fledging stage acts such as Leslie’s.
When he performed In Orangeburg in 1924, no one had heard of Leslie, the 21-year-old performer who would return to the Garden City for the last time for another performance two years later. Leslie went on to bigger stages, performing for the USO, starring in movies and becoming one of America’s most beloved comedians of all time.
Most knew Leslie Townes Hope by his shorter stage name: Bob Hope.
Contact the writer: rwalker@timesanddemocrat or 803-533-5516. Follow on Twitter @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Dale Linder-Altman
After more than 70 years, Edisto Memorial Garden’s Chinese water wheel still stands, a silent sentinel watching as children play and sweethearts stroll along the dike that holds back the black river water.
The wheel has seen generations of local folks and visitors come and go as the seasons passed.
Each season surrounds the wheel with its own special beauty.
In the summer, overhanging mossy limbs create a quiet oasis that gives passersby a spot to sit and meditate as they watch the wheel’s slow, rhythmic turning and listen to the peaceful sound of the water pouring from its buckets.
The red, yellow and brown leaves of fall give way to the stark, bare beauty of winter, which surrenders to the green of spring.
Throughout the never-ending cycle, the wheel continues its rotation, a tribute to Andrew Dibble, the city’s first superintendent of parks and recreation.
In early 1941, Dibble was at home recovering from a case of the flu and pondering how he could supply water in an aesthetic way to the newly built pond in what is now the Rose Garden.
While reading the National Geographic, he saw a photograph of a beautiful Chinese water wheel and read the accompanying story about how the Chinese used waterwheels with bamboo buckets attached to irrigate their rice paddies.
Dibble decided that he could successfully adapt the wheel to provide an unending supply of fresh water for the pond and also create a beautiful and peaceful corner for visitors.
Dibble called on a local wheelwright, Durham Bozard, who quickly built the wheel. In September 1941, it was installed in its familiar spot in the river.
Over the years, the wheel has been a popular attraction, both to locals and tourists.
With routine maintenance, the Orangeburg monument withstood the elements well until June 2012, when a large tree fell on it, damaging its paddles and center steel shaft.
The city’s service department removed the water wheel from the river, repaired it and put it back in place. The repairs cost about $500 and rental of the crane to move the 4,000 structure cost another $500. The wheel, which measures about 12 feet wide and 24 feet long, had to be taken out of the river and replaced in two sections.
By mid-September, the water wheel had been repaired and once again stood in its rightful place in the Edisto River, resting on pontoons so that the entire structure rises and falls with the river.
Though water is now pumped into the gardens’ ponds from the river, a switching mechanism and pipes remain in place should the faithful water wheel be needed again.
Contact the writer: dlinder-altman@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5529.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
Called a quaint little village of a thousand inhabitants, Orangeburg was targeted by Union Gen. William T. Sherman during his 1865 campaign through South Carolina. The city was important enough for Sherman to make it a strategic target.
“This place was simply important as its occupation would sever the communications between Charleston and Columbia,” Sherman wrote in his memoirs.
Having completed his “March to the Sea,” Sherman turned his 60,000 troops toward the Palmetto State. Consisting of four corps, the right wing was made up of the 15th and 17th Army Corps while the left wing consisted of the 14th and 20th Army Corps.
It would be the right wing’s 17th Army Corps that would sweep up to the banks of the Edisto River where sits today’s “100 Objects in 100 Days” entry -- the historical marker erected in 1962 reflecting on the defense of Orangeburg.
The plaque reads: “Occupying Rifle Pits and manning a small battery in defense of the Edisto River Bridge, at this point less than six hundred Confederates temporarily halted the advance of the right wing of the Federal Army commanded by Gen. W.T. Sherman. On Feb. 12, 1865, the defenders were outflanked by a much larger force and compelled to withdraw and entrain for Columbia, South Carolina.”
Confederate defenders attempted to delay Sherman’s advance long enough for the remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to reform in South Carolina.
Pocotaligo, Whippy Swamp, River’s Bridge, Cannon’s Bridge, Binnicker’s Bridge are local sites that loaned their names to places where the state was defended. Finally it was Orangeburg’s turn.
Sherman said that when his troops reached the city, they were halted in the swamps across the river from what is today the water treatment plant. The original road leading into Orangeburg is across the river from the Fine Arts Center.
When Sherman arrived, a battery of artillery was exchanging shots with the Confederates on top of the hill across the river. Rather than attempt to storm the Confederate position, federal troops were sent down river to cross the Edisto. The move outflanked the stubborn Confederates and Orangeburg was entered.
During the overnight occupation, many public and some private buildings were burned, including the depot and courthouse as well as “a good deal of cotton,” Sherman wrote.
Orangeburg wasn’t a Richmond or even a Charleston when comparing strategic importance. There were no movies made or songs sung that remember a time when large opposing forces fought on the banks of the Edisto.
There’s simply a marker by the river’s side that seems to plead silently for all who were there: “Remember us.”
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Richard Walker
Many years ago, a young couple visited a gravesite. It was the site where a police officer killed in the line of duty had been laid to rest under the shade of pine trees. When asked why they came, the girl simply said, “He was my friend.”
Those words are now the inscription on a monument erected in the fallen officer’s honor. The monument is located on Memorial Plaza in downtown Orangeburg.
On the monument is a depiction of a child handing a police officer a single flower and the simple inscription: “Because he is my friend.”
Today’s entry of “100 Objects in 100 Days” is the monument erected in honor of police Sgt. T.C. “Tommy” Harrison.
Harrison was killed in the line of duty on Jan. 15, 1993, when an Alabama prison escapee was being questioned at Belk’s in the Prince of Orange Mall. The escapee fired six shots point blank. Harrison died shortly after.
The Orangeburg officer was inducted into the S.C. Law Enforcement Officer’s Hall of Fame. In 2012, Harrison’s wife, Shaye, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, giving those two law enforcement officers the distinction as the state’s only married couple inducted into the law enforcement Hall of Fame.
The monument on Memorial Plaza was brought about as the Eagle Scout project of Tris Waystack, then a 14-year-old member of Boy Scout Troop 45, the locally organized People Against Crime movement and Harrison’s family.
Coincidentally, the plaza itself is the former site of the city’s justice. The courthouse built in 1875 after Union troops destroyed the former facility was located on the plaza square until it was torn down in 1928. The Confederate memorial statue remained, however.
Cleared and landscaped, the lot at that time was turned into what is now called Memorial Plaza, or simply “the square.” The plaza was once home to the “Lady Fountain” before it was temporarily moved into storage. The fountain was later placed where it still sits today at the entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens.
There are also four cannons on Memorial Plaza, two of which are Civil War Union Parrott guns, which are aimed south down Russell Street. Dr. Gene Atkinson’s work, “Images of Orangeburg,” indicates an absence of the guns in early 1940s photographs, suggesting they were mounted on the plaza soon thereafter. They show up in early 1950s pictures.
Legend has it the two remaining cannons, which are facing west on Memorial Plaza, were used to drive British Regulars from their barricade at the city jail in May 1781.
On the Harrison monument, an officer is depicted in a kneeling position, accepting a flower from a little girl. A young boy looks on. What few know is the little girl is Harrison’s sister-in-law; the boy, his own son. The officer was a fellow policeman with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.
Below the officer and children is the simple inscription: “Because he is my friend.”
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com. Follow Walker on Twitter at @rwalkertandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By KIMBERLEI N. DAVIS, T&D Staff Writer
HOLLY HILL — Helen Simmons can remember walking to the historic Holly Hill Depot as a young child with members of Holly Hill Methodist Church’s Sunday school class to catch the passenger train to Pregnall for picnics.
She recalled the depot, located on the town’s main street, being a “bustling place for farmers to sell their produce to northerners.”
Simmons has been a volunteer serving in several capacities with the Tri-County Regional Chamber of Commerce for more than 15 years and currently works as the town’s tourism coordinator.
“The depot holds a lot of memories for those born and raised in the area and at present, it serves as a welcoming center and entertaining venue for some,” she said.
The Holly Hill Depot is an official site along South Carolina’s National Heritage Corridor Region 3 (Site #35). It was built in 1921 on the site of two previous train depots dating back to 1886.
The railroad defined the location of the town’s business section, and it was responsible for the town’s growth and official founding in 1887.
Today, the beautifully restored depot serves as the eastern Orangeburg County office of the Tri-County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Holly Hill Visitor and Information Center, a mini-museum and as the community center.
“Holly Hill has a lot to offer ... from good places to worship, good places to shop, good restaurants and great people,” Simmons said.
Holly Hill and the surrounding areas offer Southern charm and hospitality that can’t be found everywhere, she added.
Referred to by some as the “biggest little town in South Carolina,” Holly Hill was built around a grove of holly trees. The last trees from the grove, estimated to be about 98 years old, were removed in 1957.
The Holly Hill Depot is located at 8603 Old State Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
Contact the writer: kdavis@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5552. Follow on Twitter @KimberleiDavis.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
Long before the 911 emergency system, there was another way to call for help. An area resident spotting a fire simply pulled out their handgun or shotgun and blasted away three times. In the air, preferably. Anyone hearing the pre-determined alarm would then ring the fire bell.
The bell ringer was paid $1 for the trouble.
It may seem crude but it was effective for its day, which was more than 100 years ago. It called out any or all of the four fire companies scattered about Orangeburg at the time.
Eventually the volunteer fire companies consolidated and become a fire department, moving into today’s entry of “100 Objects in 100 Days” — the original Orangeburg Fire Department headquarters building located on Middleton Street.
Odd as it may seem today, there hasn’t always been a fire department in every community. There were efforts to come up with a strategy to fight blazes after the Great London Fire of 1666 wiped out a large portion of the city. Historians say fire companies were formed on a very small scale and a volunteer basis in many places, including Boston in 1678.
Edinburgh, Scotland claims to have formed the first municipal fire department in 1824. Thus the fire department was officially born.
Similar to the concerns after London’s Great Fire, Orangeburg gained a fire-fighting organization after an 1854 blaze wiped out the downtown business district. The following year, the Young Americans volunteer fire company was formed.
Before the turn of the century, three more companies were formed: the Elliott Hook and Ladder Company, East End Reel Company and the Phoenix Hose Company, an African-American fire department.
The Young Americans fire company was located in a building no longer in existence. It was located on the site of the median in front of First Baptist Church.
The Phoenix Hose Company was located in a Treadwell Street building that no longer stands. The Elliott Hook and Ladder Company was housed in what is today a Russell Street business just north of the First Baptist Church. Records show the names of two horses that pulled for the Elliott group were named Tom and Fly.
The East End Reel Company is believed to have reeled their hoses at railroad corner — today the junction of Magnolia, Russell and Boulevard streets.
In 1920-21, the city formed its first municipal fire department. The improvement period of 1927-28 saw the construction of the county courthouse, city hall and the original fire department headquarters building.
Today the building houses City Council Chambers. The original fireman’s pole was moved to the new Department of Public Safety building in 2006.
But for nearly 80 years, whether the alarm was a blast of a shotgun or a more modern 911 call, the 1927 building later known as Station Number 1 served to keep Orangeburg safe.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Richard Walker
With a king for a father-in-law and a grandfather who also served as king, it’s not hard to see how a prince could have a town named after him — even if it is 4,000 miles away.
Born Willem Karel Hendrik Friso in Holland in 1711, historians know him best as William IV of the Netherlands, or more simply the Prince of Orange — the namesake of Orangeburg and today’s entry for “100 Objects in 100 Days.”
Born six weeks after his father’s death, William succeeded to the post of prince under the regency of his mother until he was 20. When he was just 9, he was named a knight of the Order of the Garter, a highly prestigious honor recognizing chivalry.
Three years after his regency ended, William married the eldest daughter of King George II of England. William and Anne were married at St. James Palace in London.
William was related to William III, the King of England who ruled along with his wife, Mary. The latter two are the namesakes of the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
But back to our prince: In 1704, an Indian trader set up a post on the dark banks of the Edisto River in the Carolina colony. Thirty years later, that trading post would be formed into a community when a couple hundred Swiss, German and Dutch settlers set up shop on the Edisto. It was said to have been chosen because the ground was fertile and the game plentiful.
But there was still no name for the trading post on the Edisto. So what better way to commemorate a Dutch prince’s wedding of a year earlier than to name the community after him?
Painted by North artist Coan Culler, a portrait of William IV — the Prince of Orange — hangs appropriately enough at the Orangeburg Fine Arts Center, itself resting on the banks of the Edisto River near the location where historians say the original settlement was formed.
The Fine Arts Center itself is the site of a swimming hole that became so popular, a wooden bathhouse constructed in the 1920s was replaced with today’s cement and block building.
The building that houses the Fine Arts Center today was completed in 1951 — exactly 200 years after the prince’s death at the age of 40. But since 1998, it’s also where the prince’s portrait faces the river that transported some European settlers to a village they would give his name.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com. Follow Walker on Twitter at @rwalkertandd for insight on the cops beat.
- Dionne Gleaton
Vallentine’s Gin and Store in the quaint Orangeburg County town of Cope offers visitors a step back in time when the county played a major role in helping the nation produce more than half of the world’s demand for cotton.
In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, forever changing the clothing industry. Before his invention, cotton cloth was extremely expensive and difficult to make. Then along came the cotton gin, a machine that quickly and easily separated cotton fibers from the seeds, a job formerly performed by hand.
One hundred and 18 years later, J.I. Vallentine built his own cotton gin in Cope in 1911, putting his family into a business that has continued to thrive for more than a century.
In 1937. his son, the late Robert Vallentine, took over operation of the gin, which has since become a joint family venture.
If they’re around at the right time, visitors can see the gin in full operation as the raw cotton is sucked into the gin for processing, then cleaned and packed. Cotton bales, weighing approximately 480 pounds each, are stacked for delivery to various processing plants.
Vallentine’s Gin isn’t the only relic in operation. A unique feature on the premises is Vallentine’s General Store, which was built in 1911 along with the gin. The store offers a peek into the past through its showcase of memorabilia from the 1930s and 1940s. One area in the store is set aside for cotton souvenirs, including T-shirts, cups, dolls, etc.
When it was built in 1911, the store sold everything from horse collars to knitting needles.
Vallentine’s Gin and Store is one of Orangeburg County’s Discovery Sites on the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. Stretching 17 counties and 320 miles across the state, the SCNHC is committed to promoting and preserving the cultural, natural and historic resources of South Carolina.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Dionne Gleaton
The “Pink Palace” on St. John Street in Orangeburg has a lively history and still stands as one of the rare examples of Gothic castellated architecture in South Carolina.
The fortress-like style is uniquely suited to the building’s former primary function as a jail, but the old landmark has been used for more than that.
James M. Guthrie III and John Townsend Sifly purchased the old Orangeburg County jail for $10,000 from the Orangeburg Arts Council, which bought the building in 1984.
Designed along the lines of the English prisons of the day by British architect Jonathan Lucas, the Pink Palace was completed in 1860 after approximately three years of construction. The castle-like structure served as a prison until 1865, when the Union troops of Gen. William T. Sherman burned it. The main foundation, however, stood firm despite extensive damage, allowing it to be completely restored after the Civil War.
Lucas, who by then was married to a woman from Cordova and living in Orangeburg, supervised the renovation of the building. From that time until 1976, it housed an assortment of prisoners. When it was a prison, hard-core criminals lived behind its thick walls. After it became the Orangeburg County jail, it housed only lesser offenders. By the early 1920s, electricity and water had been added at the jail.
It was during the 1950s that the jail got its famed nickname. It was then that late Sen. Marshall Williams’ wife, Margaret, used her influence to have the building painted her favorite color — pink. Williams and her garden club saw to the planting of the two oak trees that still shade the property. Felons soon began to joke about their reservations at the “pink palace.”
The jail became a landmark in the area and was actually entered into the National Historic Register in 1973. In honor of the recognition, the jail was given a massive cleaning, and the entire interior of the building was hosed and scrubbed down.
When the county vacated the Pink Palace in 1976 when the Law Enforcement Complex was completed, the building was vacant for the first time in 116 years. The cost of repairing the facility became cost prohibitive for the county. When Orangeburg City Council approached the county about using the building for a museum, the county transferred the title to the city for only a dollar, and the jail was later painted beige.
By 1989, the city council was forced to lease portions of the building to nonprofit groups and rent out parking spaces in the surrounding lot to help cover the museum’s daily operating expenses. Guthrie and Sifly purchased the building and surrounding property from the Arts Council in 1995 without having any definite plans for its use. The remaining property, in use as a parking lot, was sold to First National Bank.
Sifly said he and Guthrie just had an interest in preserving what had become a part of Orangeburg’s history.
“The building itself is in good shape structurally. Hopefully, we’ll find some use for it that’s self-sustaining. It is such an unusual structure,” Sifly said.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter @DionneTandD.
- Martha Rose Brown
The Revolutionary War’s Battle of Eutaw Springs proved to be one of the bloodiest of the entire war, leaving 500 American soldiers and 700 British troops dead on the battlefield.
Holly Hill native Dr. Robert Hart, a lecturer in the history department at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, said the Battle of Eutaw Springs began about 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, 1781, and “raged for nearly four hours.”
“It involved some of the most intense fighting of the entire war, much of it including bayonet charges and hand-to-hand combat,” he said.
Dr. Jim Piecuch, a researcher and professor of Southern history at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, said commanders of both armies claimed victory at Eutaw Springs.
“In a tactical sense, the British won; but in the long-term, big strategic sense, the Americans won,” Piecuch said.
The British strategy “totally unraveled” at Eutaw Springs, he said.
A portion of the Eutaw Springs battlefield, located on Lake Marion, is designated as a historic site and is open to the public year-round.
Among the top questions posed by visitors and locals to the site is if actual fighting took place at the area identified as the “battlefield.”
“The (battlefield) site itself is where the brick house was. The initial phase of the battle was fought farther west of the site, and the second phase was fought to the east,” Piecuch said.
Some of the retreating British soldiers sought refuge at the brick house near Eutaw Creek, Eutaw Creek, Eutaw Springs, the Santee River and other waterways are now submerged water systems under Lake Marion.
Prior to Lake Marion’s creation about 1939, the backwoods consisted of many swamps. Knowing the way through the terrain took someone who was familiar with the area. For the Americans, Gen. Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion had extensive first-hand knowledge of the swamplands.
Hart said the Battle of Eutaw Springs resulted in the “culmination of a campaign in which the American insurgents relied heavily on an intimate knowledge of the landscape and the vast swamps along the Santee River.”
Marion was among the heroic officers who fought in the Battle of Eutaw Springs; others were William Washington, Andrew Pickens, Nathanael Greene, Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and Wade Hampton.
The battle resulted in the death of British Major John Marjoribanks. There’s a marker honoring him at Eutaw Springs.
The anniversary commemorating the Battle of Eutaw Springs is celebrated annually at the site by organizations such as the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Children of the American Revolution. The annual events are open to the public.
To visit the Eutaw Springs Battlefield, drive just a few miles east of Eutawville on Old Number Six Highway. The battlefield is located just a few yards away from Bell’s Marina.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter @MRBrownTandD.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
Greeting motorists on the Interstate 95 bridge connecting Orangeburg and Clarendon counties across Lake Marion is an iconic billboard featuring a larger-than-life striped bass and a slogan of “not quite actual size.”
Although the billboard sits on a mere portion of the former Highway 301 bridge, which served as a causeway over Lake Marion from about 1947 to 1987, it seems to connect the past and present in ways that “swim” just below the surface.
In a blog entry, Kevin F. Langston of Santee Cooper noted, “When the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project was completed in 1942, biologists believed the striped bass trapped by the impoundment of the Santee Cooper Lakes would simply die off because stripers are a fish that migrate from saltwater to freshwater rivers where they spawn and complete their lifecycle.”
Langston further states, “In fact, the striped bass thrived after they were trapped, and the Santee Cooper Lakes eventually would garner a national reputation for the stripers’ abundance and size.”
Anglers caught record-breaking sizes and quantities of striped bass from the Santee Cooper Lake System, much to the astonishment of biologists, Langston wrote.
By 1972, the General Assembly designated the striped bass as South Carolina’s official state fish.
The billboard promotes Santee Cooper Country.
One of the older concrete bridges remains intact and stretches over Lake Marion. It is accessible only for foot traffic and is open to those who enjoy a scenic walk across the lake or who wish to fish from it – in designated areas only.
And who knows, maybe one day a record-setting striped bass may bite the bait on a fisherman’s line … and the slogan will change to “pretty near actual size.”
Just be sure to check with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources for guidelines and restrictions about striped bass fishing before reeling in the big one.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer
BRANCHVILLE — It’s said that a large, old oak tree, fried chicken, an iron horse and a fork in the road are the factors that contributed to this installment of “100 objects in 100 days.”
Settlers first came to this area of Orangeburg County around 1734 when native Dutch and Germans moved inland from Charleston to form a village at the branch in the road leading to Fort Monroe (present-day Augusta) and Granby (Cayce).
That fork in the road was said to be at a large oak tree that long gone.
Fast forward 99 years to 1833 and the steam-powered iron horse not only arrived in the settlement from Charleston but was extended on to Hamburg. Several accounts have it that a tavern owner was asked to move his establishment to the nearby depot to meet and greet weary train travelers.
Five years later, another fork was built to reach Orangeburg and St. Matthews, then called Lewisville, which created the world’s first railroad junction.
The railroad only came to the village known simply as “the branch” after several disasters had struck at the track’s origins in Charleston. The little engine that could was delivered to Charleston in late 1830. Within weeks, it suffered broken wooden spokes on a test run and was later destroyed when it an engineer shut the steam release valve causing the boiler to explode.
Undaunted, company officials extended the rail line to reach the Augusta area with the Best Friend’s successors, the appropriately named Phoenix, and later the West Point and South Carolina.
But the 15-hour trip from Charleston to the Augusta area required stops for water for the engine and food for the passengers.
In comes Philip Chartrand, owner of the Branch Inn and tavern, which accounts have it had the best fried chicken around – especially if you haven’t eaten in seven hours. The result was that when the steam engine polished the rails at the branch, a forerunner of KFC was waiting to feed hungry faces near the train depot.
At the insistence of the railroad company, the establishment named The Branch Inn should put up a different, newer sign to reflect the railroad’s presence. They wanted the tavern sign to now say “Branchville.”
The depot structure itself was nearly destroyed in 1995 by fire. But the 1870s structure was rebuilt, the museum and restaurant – said to have served presidents – re-opened in 2000.
Today’s “100 days” entry: the world’s oldest railroad junction, Branchville, created by a fork in the path by the big oak tree, fueled by good ol’ Southern fried chicken.
Contact the writer: 803-533-5516 and rwalker@timesanddemocrat. Follow Walker on Twitter at @RWalkerTandd for insight on the cops beat.
- By DIONNE GLEATON, T&D Staff Writer
Just 3 miles east of the town of North, Orangeburg County boasts a 2,400-acre airfield that has been touted as a critical link in the tactical mission training of C-17 cargo planes.
The primary airstrip of the North Auxiliary Airfield is now more visible from the road since the property’s trees have been thinned out. Travelers along U.S. 178 get a pretty good glimpse of it.
Situated 95 miles northwest of Charleston Air Force Base, the airfield is owned by the U.S. Air Force. It is used primarily for C-17 Globemaster III training by the 437th Airlift Wing and its Air Force Reserve “associate” unit, the 315th Airlift Wing, at Charleston AFB.
Additional “bare base” operations are also conducted by the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire Air National Guard Station.
The 437th Civil Engineering Squadron of the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB provides a detachment to maintain and operate the airfield. The only permanently assigned personnel are approximately 12 USAF firefighters and one civilian grounds keeper. The fire department at the base operates two P-23 aircraft rescue fire-fighting vehicles, one P-10 rescue truck, one P-26 water tanker, a P-15 fire truck — the largest fire truck in the world — and other support vehicles.
Established during World War II as a dispersal site for Air Force personnel, the land for the then-North Army Airfield was purchased between 1942 and 1945. The field was built by the U.S. Army Air Force. The original dirt runway was constructed in April 1943 and used by Hughes Aircraft Co. for testing, as well as being a satellite airfield of Columbia Army Air base, supporting B-25 Mitchell medium bomber training for Air Force III Air Support Command.
Training was accomplished by 74th Station Complement Squadron, which also maintained the facility.
After World War II, a 12,000-foot runway and a 3,000-foot assault runway were built. North Airfield (later North Auxiliary Airfield, Northfield Air Base) has been under the jurisdiction of Fort Jackson, Shaw AFB and the Department of Energy. On Oct. 1, 1979, Charleston AFB assumed real property jurisdiction, control and accountability over the facility.
Combat Control Teams from Pope AFB, North Carolina, provide air traffic control for aircraft landings and air drops, and aerial delivery personnel from Joint Base Charleston provide recovery of air-dropped pallets.
Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5534. Follow “Good News with Gleaton” on Twitter at @DionneTandD.
- By MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
The bronze “Lady Fountain” that greets visitors at the main entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens has a unique and colorful history.
The city of Orangeburg purchased the statue around 1928, when a new courthouse was built at Amelia and Sunnyside streets and the old courthouse on the town square was razed.
Former City Councilman John M. Sifly, a lifelong bachelor, went to New York to purchase it.
Sifly, whose responsibility was Orangeburg’s parks and streets, was also instrumental in founding Edisto Memorial Gardens, where the statue would find its permanent home.
Initially, however, the statue was set in place in downtown and Sifly was ribbed by some Orangeburg citizens who called it “Mr. Sifly’s Ladies.”
Due to the partially clothed nature of the ladies depicted in the statue, comments arose about the indecency.
When the statue was put in place, it had two goldfish pools – one on each side – and several swan statues.
The swan statues were actually fountains that spewed water from their mouths into the goldfish pools.
Around 1948 or so, the statue was removed from the town square and placed in storage.
It was not to stay there.
City leaders decided to reinstall it with a different base as the focal point for the Russell Street entrance to Edisto Memorial Gardens, the award-winning gardens owned and operated by the city of Orangeburg.
It was installed around 1950 or 1951, but not officially dedicated until 1959.
On the base of the fountain are the names of local soldiers who died in World War II and the Korean War. After the conclusion of the Vietnam War, names of local soldiers who lost their lives during that conflict were added.
In 1992, it was refurbished to the look it has today.
Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545 Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.
- Gene Zaleski
Immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a patriotic fervor spread like wildfire over the United States.
The song “God Bless America” and the American flag took center stage for many as means to let the world know this country would not back down under trial and turmoil. There were hopes of a brighter day.
For South Carolina Department of Transportation employee Robert Smoak and his maintenance crew of seven, keeping the patriotic spirit and hope alive took on a whole new meaning through the creation of “smiley face” indicating the state’s slogan, “Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places” along with a 52-foot-by-75-foot U.S. flag. Both were formed out of rocks.
The first of its kind in the state, the smiley face and the flag, located near U.S. 601 and Interstate 26, were part of a two-year thought process related to the DOT’s Colorful Spaces beautification program around 2000.
The site was chosen for its visibility and flow of traffic.
“We have had people all over the U.S. call about that thing,” Smoak said, noting the display has put Orangeburg County on the map. He said people see it and remember Orangeburg County is the place where the unique landscaping exists.
“It is one of a kind. When they come through, it is eye-catching.”
Smoak said the events of Sept. 11 had a profound influence on the design and the idea of the display.
“It was still so fresh in our minds,” he said. “We were basically brainstorming and we took paper home and drew up a rough sketch to it and tried to improve it as we built it. The traffic was crazy over the American flag. You would not be out there five minutes before somebody would come out blowing their horn.”
Every maintenance office in the state participated in the beautification program by completing a colorful landscaping project in their respective counties.
The projects included both tree and flower plantings along state-maintained highways, but where the flag was placed there was no water available.
“People from other counties have tried to replicate it, but I don’t think they have the elevation,” Smoak said. “That hill was just right for the elevation.”
A few months after the project was complete, changes were made over concerns the design was not in keeping with proper flag etiquette.
Proper use and display of the U.S. flag prohibits making changes to the design.
The changes involved removing the outline of South Carolina and other symbols representing the state from within the flag and replacing them with stripes.
By Dec. 15, 2001, crews found themselves busily grading and backfilling the landscape in preparation for the placement of the nearly 36 tons of stone and 28 gallons of red, white, blue, and for the smiley face, yellow paint.
Smoak said his crew utilized traditional landscaping techniques, along with some innovation to form the flag.
For the stripes and the rest of the flag, steel molds were constructed to prevent the rock from shifting.
The “smiley face” and related artwork were moved to the other side of I-26 across from the flag.
Contribution of materials for the original work, as well as knowledge, was received from sources such as Waters Edge Rentals, Sherwin-Williams, Sunshine Recycling, Fogle Brothers Construction Co. and SuperSod.
Contact the writer: gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5551.
- Martha Rose Brown
We’re beginning a special journey with a smile – specifically the one on Interstate 26 eastbound at Highway 601 – and from there we’re making 100 stops throughout the 1,100 square miles of Orangeburg County.
It’s called, “Orangeburg: 100 objects, 100 days” and The Times and Democrat along with its readers will serve as tour guides, so to speak.
The journey begins Monday and continues on the 99 days to follow in the pages of The Times and Democrat and online at TheTandD.com, where the series that defines the county through the stories of 100 objects will include a building collection of photos and a matching game that you can play on your desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
Among the objects to be included, for example, are those that make a splash, such as the waterwheel in the Edisto River at the Edisto Memorial Gardens and the county’s aquatics center on St. Matthews Road.
And while a billboard-sized striped bass, with its famously printed disclaimer “not quite actual size,” greets visitors on Interstate 95 southbound into Santee Cooper Country and Lake Marion’s famous fishing, Orangeburg County isn’t limited to its many waterways.
Taking to the sky, just outside of the town of North, a casual passerby may not realize there are 2,400 acres of land that make up the North Auxiliary Airfield and are owned by the U.S. Air Force. The base is used primarily for C-17 Globemaster III training by the 437th Airlift Wing and its Air Force Reserve “Associate” unit, the 315th Airlift Wing, at Charleston Air Force Base.
And prior to airplanes soaring throughout Orangeburg County, the world’s oldest railroad junction came to be in 1838 in the town of Branchville, one of the county’s 17 municipalities.
Despite progress, there have been difficult times. During times of war, Orangeburg County suffered, persevered and prevailed.
Throughout the county, homesteads and farmlands turned into battlefields and skirmish sites.
The former Orangeburg County Jail, also known as the Pink Palace, sits within the Orangeburg city limits on St. John Street. It was built in 1860 and in the last months of the Civil War in 1865, Union troops caused extensive damage to the jail’s interior. Repairs were made and the jail continued to be used to house and execute some inmates, according to historic records.
Just outside of Eutawville is a site dedicated to the Battle of Eutaw Springs on Sept. 8, 1781, one that historians describe among the “bloodiest” in America’s fight for independence from Great Britain.
Those who led South Carolina troops in battle were none other than Gen. Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and Gen. Andrew Pickens.
And Orangeburg County continues to capture the picturesque Americana landscape of family-owned and operated small-town shops that have lasted for decades.
Valletine’s cotton gin and old country store, in the town of Cope, give visitors a real glimpse into a vintage country store where merchandise from the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s is displayed. The cotton gin, adjacent to the store, remains in operation, usually from September through December.
Also in the western portion of Orangeburg County is the town of Springfield, home of the Governor’s Annual Frog Jump and the historic Springfield High School.
But these are just a few samples of what readers may expect to read about in the coming 100 issues of The Times and Democrat and at TheTandD.com.
Orangeburg County offers a variety of unique objects, whether they’re objects that have etched a place in history or are new on the horizon of the county’s future, The Times and Democrat wants to hear from readers about objects that make Orangeburg County unique.
While The T&D is using a draft list of objects to go along with the series, the list is flexible and needs contributions from T&D readers.
If there’s a place, object or site that seems like a good match to go on the list of “Orangeburg: 100 objects, 100 days,” please submit suggestions online or by phone (using email, phone or Twitter below) or by writing to P.O. Drawer 1766, Orangeburg, S.C. 29116.
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