Exploring Lancaster and Cheraw

One fine morning during the Good Girls road trip, we stopped by the Olde English District Visitors Center, a place right off the highway. We found scads of brochures touting any and everything you might want to do in the state plus a delightful collection of South Carolina made items, pottery, jewelry, photographs and such. The collection of cookbooks was quite wonderful and we succumbed to Dori Sander's Country Cooking, teased by the chapter on cooking and baking with peaches.

On to Lancaster, South Carolina, known as the Red Rose City, after England's House of Lancaster for whom the flower was a symbol in the War of the Roses. The town was established in 1785 by British settlers who moved south from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Today, you'll find many red rose bushes planted in the downtown district.

Sculptor Bob Doster

We first stopped in to meet a famous resident and sculptor, Bob Doster. Bob is a very friendly, down to earth guy. His Backstreet Studio is housed in a row of formerly derelict buildings with an art-strewn garden out back. The brightly painted interior bursts with stunning paintings, sculpture and other objects d'art.

  

Doster's Workshop

Doster works with metal, mostly reclaimed metal and his next door workshop is a hodgepodge of scraps, saws, clamps, and soldering irons. Bob is a man with big vision and he produces some monumental works. His pieces are placed all over the South in sculpture gardens, on downtown streets and outside banks. One is a 40-foot high rocket at the Challenger Learning Center in Columbia; another, a depiction of DNA strands in brass and steel, is displayed in a five-story lobby at the University of North Carolina. 

Bob volunteers much of his time teaching children from elementary to college levels. He guides the students through the process of designing and drawing, then creating and installing a project.

We also met Bob's wife, Cherry, a real dynamo. She is also an artist and major advocate for the arts.

Cherry Doster

Cherry directs the Lancaster Council on Arts and she took us for a quick driving tour, pointing out highlights within the city and the Lancaster Wall of Fame. As always we were surprised to learn unusual details about a place. Did you know this old textile town is the place where all Duracell AA batteries in America are made and that a Lancastrian, Charles Duke, walked on the moon? More trivia facts for my brain!

Lancaster Wall of Fame

Soon we were off to sample some barbeque at Pig-n-Vittles in Pageland. The tiny hole in the wall restaurant (in the best sense of the phrase) is the real deal. Great southern food at amazingly low prices cooked by co-owner Logan Ring. Don't miss this location or the award-winning one in Chesterfield.

Pig-N-Vittles

Following lunch we headed to Cheraw, a town named for the Indian tribe that inhabited the area in the early 1700's.  The town grew as a trading center. In the 1760's it was formally laid out with a gridded street system and later lined with trees. The town green flaunts a collection of 19th century public buildings including the Town Hall, Market Hall, a law office and the Lyceum.

Beautiful Streets in Cheraw

We especially enjoyed the effervescent statue of Dizzy Gillespie, who spent his childhood here. We made a car tour around the streets passing some 50 antebellum and Victorian homes and Gillespie park containing a musical themed fence made by Bob Doster.

Statue of Dizzy Gillespie

Gillespie Park & Fence

 One of Cheraw's treasures is Old St. David's Episcopal Church, 1770, used by both the British and separatists during the Revolutionary War and Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War. Soldiers from every American War are buried in the surrounding cemetery. The interior, open by appointment with the Cheraw Visitors Bureau, is simple and elegant. The box pews and pulpit are reconstructions. The steeple was added in 1826. Today, the stately church is home to many civic events and weddings.

Old St. David's Church in Cheraw

Grave Marker in St. David's Cemetery

Interior of St. David's Church

Historically, March, 1865, saw Cheraw become the unwilling host to General William T. Sherman's Union troops. They amazingly left the town buildings and homes alone because they liked them. We did, too, and encourage a visit.

Debi tried out the pulpit.

Don't forget to stop in the River's Edge Cheraw Bakery to taste homemade goodies that actually pass our stringent taste test. Yes, the Good Girls award a thumbs up for the chocolate peanut butter and coconut cream cakes.  The handmade quilts are also worth a look.

Cheraw State Park golf course.

Before returning we drove around Cheraw State Park that contains another hidden gem: an 18-hole championship golf course with a full service pro-shop.   

Historic Brattonsville: From the American Revolution to Antebellum South

Historic Brattonsville is a 775-acre, internationally known historical site and living history museum in South Carolina. (Just the kind of place I love.) The number of visitors increased exponentially when the location was chosen for filming The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson. At Brattonsville, you not only step back in time, you leap into the emotional conflicts of war and slavery. Our interpreter, Dontavius Williams, was extraordinary. He guided us through many buildings on the site tracing the history of the Bratton family and the farm workers from the 1760's to the late 19th century. His tales are spell binding.  

Dontavius Williams welcomes visitors to Brattonsville.

First we stopped by the Visitor's Center and saw a movie about Huck's Defeat, a complex series of skirmishes that happened in this area during the Revolutionary War. The British militia had entered South Carolina's backwoods and local tradition states that Martha Bratton sent a trusted African-American slave named Watt to find her husband and warn him of the British. Captain Huck, a loyalist,  interrogated Martha, but she refused to give him any information. Watt's delivery of the message lead to the destruction of Huck’s Loyalist force. The victory helped revive the morale of the people in South Carolina just when British victory seemed inevitable. It served as a rallying point and set into motion a series of significant events which eventually led to the even larger Patriot victories, and finally to the British surrender at Yorktown in October 1781.

Historic Brattonsville includes a working farm and heritage breed animals. We stopped by the milk barn, hog pen, tool shed, smoke house, corn crib and the backwoods cabin. These are the kind of buildings children really love. We entered the original Bratton House, a log house with one room downstairs and one upstairs. The family soon opened a tavern nearby and later added the schoolhouse wing. All of these buildings are now grouped close together for ease of viewing.

Tavern and Schoolhouse

The formal Dining Room

We crossed the street and stepped into the impressive Homestead which was built between 1823-26 The Brattons were a wealthy, influential family and their home reflects their high social standing. One of the rooms was used by Dr. John Bratton for his medical practice. He is noted for treating hundreds of people, both black and white. Three of his sons also pursued medical careers. The grand dining room was set for a banquet and we just had to have our pictures taken there, as this room was shown in the movie.

The main Homestead at Brattonsville

The highlight of our tour came when we visited the slave house. Dontavius disappeared into the dwelling and when he reappeared, he had a new persona; he was Adam, a slave who worked on the property.  Adam told us the impassioned story of his mother and the spirit doll. He presented each of us with a similar doll and I will always cherish mine. We left with a better understanding of the sacrifices made by both slaves and their descendants.   

Dontavius at Adam

We hope you will take the time to watch the YouTube version of Adam's speech. He is moving.

More history plus disc-tossing in Chester County, SC

Once a jail, now a museum.

Another literal "throw you under the jail" jail is now the Chester County Historical Society Museum in Chester, SC. 

Here history goes back far beyond the arrival in 1750 of Scots-Irish settlers from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Great Warrior Trading Path (aka Catawba Road, Warrior's path) passed over then hill on which Chester was built.

The Haigler pot on the left is one of only two known to exist with holes in the handle .

The Society's museum contains one of the finest collections of Native American projectile points, some dating back to 10,000 BCE, and superb pieces of Catawba pottery. According to our guide, Susannah Owl, a Catawba, married a chief of the Cherokee Nation and is credited with teaching them the Catawba method of firing pots.

The Revolutionary War battles and skirmished fought here were the first in which the Patriots used the Indian fighting methods and the first that were successful against the British forces.

You could spend hours pouring over the treasures here including

Stars and bars battle flags.

• A Confederate battle flag suggested by South Carolinians, the biggest star for South Carolina, of course.

the Burr bench doesn't look very comfortable for sleeping.

• The Aaron Burr bench, where traitor Burr slept when captured at the Lewis Inn.

• The enormous  (250,000 images) collection of photographs by second generation photographer Henry Nichols who documented everything Chester from 1918 to 1990, including the owner of Springs Cotton Mills who hired famed ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee as vice president of unveiling.

The building itself is worth a look. Constructed in 1914 of poured concrete a la Frank Lloyd Wright, it was the town's first building with indoor plumbing. The bold might venture down to the basement where prisoners were housed, described as "a veritable hallway of ghost people".

Might look around town, too. This is the last place the Confederate treasury's gold was ever seen.

Eager driver in search of a fire.

The Good Girls took a peek at the Transportation Museum in the old Seaboard Rail Road Depot. A work in progress, it does have the town's first fire engine - with Debi at the wheel during our visit.

Golf, anyone?

We finished the day with a quick look at Chester State Park which is known for its beautiful lake and its 18-hole and 9-hole tournament grade disc golf courses.

Judy

Naturally, we tried our hands at that tournament grade course.

Debi

No one would call us ready for prime time playing.

More surprises in Greenwood, SC

NOTE: This should have appeared after the post on Greenwood, SC, but got "lost". If you had ever ridden along with us you'd know we do that a lot - get lost. As when we are directed to "Turn left at the dollar store at the light" only to discover there is a left turn and a dollar store at every light for the next 25 miles.

One of the Saanen "girls" at Emerald Farm.

 Everywhere the Good Girls go we encounter fascinating people and in Greenwood one of them was Kathryn Zhan, owner of Emerald Farm. She's just about an expert on everything. Kathryn raises organic chickens and goats and is a premier breeder of Saanen goats, a Swiss breed. She develops formulas for soaps and lotions, makes them and sells them, too. She uses no chemicals in her line of health and beauty products.

The herb garden

Emerald Farm is located a bit off the beaten path, but once you find it, it offers a full day's worth of activities. Families and seniors are especially happy with the relaxed pace on the farm. Besides visiting and feeding the farm animals, you could try fishing in the lake, explore the herb garden or shop for a large variety of health foods and hobby items.

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Emerald Forest chapel

 I followed the tracks and took a ride on a miniature railroad constructed by Kathryn's husband. It's really cute. I hopped aboard and rode past ducks on the pond and all around the Emerald Forest. There's a whole village of little structures like a chapel, schoolhouse, general store and more, constructed by members of the family.

The remarkable model train layout.

Finally, I entered the huge Hobby Shop filled with craft items for a variety of enthusiasts: sewing, knitting, model airplanes, miniature car collectors and you name it! Then, I went upstairs and found a model railroad museum.

What a surprise; it's an absolute wonder for anyone interested in trains. The museum contains a vast system of tracks with a number of engines pulling cars. One course is standard gauge, the other H.O. The layout is one of the largest in the southeast and is totally captivating. Members of the Emerald Farm Model Railroad Club may come and run their trains anytime they wish.

I didn't see, but Kathryn told me about an air strip for model airplanes and a model remote control car dirt track. She gives tours to hundreds of school children every year. Emerald Farm is a surprising, delightful place and Kathryn Zahn and her family are truly special.

Childhood home of Dr. Benjamin Mays.

We moved along to another unexpected find; the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Museum Interpretive Center. Dr. Mays was born in August, 1894, in a Greenwood farmhouse, later moved to this location. The house contained only two bedrooms for the Mays family of ten. An original outhouse and cedar post clothesline were brought along to add authenticity to the site.

Original outhouse and clothes line.

Dr. Mays was an African American minister, educator, sociologist, social activist and the president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1940 to 1967. Mays was also a significant mentor to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and he delivered the eulogy for King. Mays was among the most articulate and outspoken critics of segregation before the rise of the modern civil rights movement in the United States.

Open the barn door to a modern museum.

A faux barn is cleverly designed to serve as the Interpretive Center and Museum. It contains photos, books, brochures, speeches, films and personal items belonging to Dr. Mays. Our guide, Loy Sartin, is a passionate expert on Dr. Mays and explained how Dr. Mays became a presidential advisor and man truly ahead of his time. "And to think he came from Greenwood, South Carolina," said Sartin.

That's how we found Greenwood, surprisingly interesting.

Tangible history fills South Carolina's Union County

Rose Hill Plantation

The people who tell you about the history of Union County in South Carolina are probably related to the people who made it.

Rose Hill dining room.

Take Rose Hill Plantation, a State Historic Site 8 miles from the county seat of Union, SC. Begun in 1811 by Francis Fincher Gist, whose family laid out the city of Baltimore, MD, it is best known as the home of his illegitimate son, William Henry Gist. William, a lawyer, state representative and governor, remodeled the house, adding front and back two-story porches and covering its bricks with white-painted stucco.

General and Governor William Gist

He was an outspoken advocate of slavery, having turned his 5,000 acres into a working plantation with a slave population that grew from 20 in 1818 to 178 in 1860. Secessionist William even fought a duel with his State's Rights nephew. When elected governor, William became known as the "secessionist governor" and from 1858 to 1860 the three-story home served as the Governor's Mansion. David, one of two sons to survive to old age, fathered 25 children; the last granddaughter died a matter of months ago. Need I say there are a lot of Union county residents, black and white, named Gist?

Graceful bannister at Rose Hill

Cross Keys House

 As we headed into Union, we passed the Cross Keys House, site of an old stagecoach stop and circa 1809 post office at the intersection of the Old Ninety-Six (Old Piedmont Stage) and the Old Buncombe (Charleston) Roads. Completed in 1814 by Barrum Bobo (southern for Beaubeau, his family were French Huguenots), a prosperous merchant, it is an excellent example of Georgian Colonial style.

Jefferson Davis stopped here April 30 for lunch during his flight from Richmond and every April some 1,400 re-enacters recreate the event and its times. Held in the Bobo family until 2006, it is now owned by the Union County Historical Society and is open for tours on Saturdays.

It wasn't Saturday so we paused instead of toured, but the house has survived four earthquakes so that, too, can wait for a later date.

Union's Main Street where you'll find its museum.

We did stop at the fascinating Union County Museum in Union, where historian Ola Jean Kelly, who had accompanied us on our morning tour, pointed out some of the highlights of the 5,000-square feet of collections:

This dress brought seven brides good luck.

• Display of wedding gowns from 1825, including one worn over the years by seven brides.

Revolutionary War SC battle flag

• Two of the three South Carolina flags remaining from the Revolutionary War.

Secession table

• The table of secession upon which Benjamin F. Arthur of Union County drafted the Ordinance of Secession in Charleston, Dec. 20, 1860.

We were tickled to find out where the expression, "We'll thrown you under the jail" may have originated. No prisoners ever escaped from Union County's jail because they were housed underneath it, literally. So were those in Chester County but that's a story for the next post.

We ended our brief visit to Union County with a truly memorable meal at Midway BBQ in nearby Bufffalo, SC. The venerable establishment is now run by Jay Allen and owned by his wife, Amy, whose father was founder Jack O'Dell.

Jay Allen keeps the hash pots simmering.

Both Southern Living and Garden and Gun have sung its praises and it doesn't take long to see why when you enter this combination butcher shop, restaurant and community gathering place.

Everything edible here is good.

It is justly famous for its Carolina hash, a state specialty. Not pretty to look at but delicious to taste is this melange of beef (occasionally up to 5 percent pork), onions and butter assembled and cooked over a 24-hour period. It is what many diners drive 100 or more miles to eat. Equally famous should be the chicken stew, a rich bisque that soothes the soul with heartiness but would be right at home in a bone china bowl at a gourmet gathering.

We tried to sample it all.

Good Girls never quit so soon, though, and we tasted our way through the excellent pork barbecue, the sublime squash casserole, tangy turnip greens and a sweet potato souffle more satisfying to the sweet tooth than most desserts.

The things we do for our followers, burp.