In 1832, the Amelia made a voyage from New York to New Orleans with 120 passengers on board. The ship wrecked on Folly Beach, stranding all onboard. While stuck, 20 of the passengers died of cholera, also known as “blue death,” and word traveled to nearby Charleston about the passengers. People panicked over a possible…
The Pirates Den: Folly Beach
Yes, the infamous pirate Blackbeard once blockaded Charleston and even threatened to burn the city to the ground. Some may even be more shocked to learn that the legend of Blackbeard extends to Fripp Island, near Beaufort, South Carolina, all the way down to Georgia. As I have mentioned in numerous articles, areas such as…
The 1946 Greenville Ideal Laundry Explosion
On November 19, 1946, one of the worst accidents occurred in the history of South Carolina, which left four to six people deceased, with another hundred to a hundred fifty injured. Around 6:00 PM, 3,500 gallons of propane exploded at Ideal Laundry and Cleaners in Greenville. The blast was felt as far away as Gaffney…
Remembering the 1996 John D. Long Lake Accident
On August 31, 1996, the unthinkable happened again when a family and one other person drowned at John D. Long Lake, just outside of Union, South Carolina. This is the same lake where Susan Smith also did the unthinkable in 1994. The Phillips family, from nearby, visited the site when their Suburban began to roll…
Is Union County, South Carolina, Sitting on Civil War Treasure
Down Highway 49, past Monarch, near Browns Creek Baptist Church, sits a swamp and plenty of pasture land. The highway once served as a former stagecoach route that connected Union to Charlotte. After the Civil War ended, the Union army entered the Upstate, pulling wagons and distributing food to the local population. A German man…
The Great Depression, Public Enemies, and the Number One “G-Man”
Many may be shocked to learn that the person who was responsible for bringing down more public enemies was Melvin Purvis from South Carolina. Purvis was born in 1903 in the small town of Timmonsville, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina’s law school in 1925 and passed the bar. After 20…
The 1923 Cleveland School Fire
The Cleveland School Fire occurred in May 1923 near Camden, South Carolina. It is one of the deadliest school fires in American history, killing 77 people during a school play. The incident should have never happened, as the school was set to close permanently after the 1923 school year. The two-story school, which employed only…
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Had Nothing on this Small S.C. Town
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral had nothing on this small South Carolina town. On August 12, 1878, two Edgefield County families had a shootout downtown to settle an almost 10-year feud between the two, when in 1869, Benjamin Booth killed Luther Toney. In the midafternoon, Brooker and Mark Toney sat in the bar room…
Tunnel Hill Village: A Rough and Rowdy Town of Violence
Below is a picture of the Stumphouse Tunnel in South Carolina, but many may not be aware of the rough and rowdy town located atop the mountain that housed the workers on this project. Stumphouse Tunnel was the westernmost tunnel of the three; Middle Tunnel was ½ mile SE, and Saddle Tunnel was 1-¾ miles…
The Mystery of the Hunley
The Civil War era was a challenging time for the country. Many arguments exist about why the war was fought in the first place. Ask several historians, and you will likely get different answers. Another argument is which state was most impacted by the fallout. Even today, a ride through the countryside of South Carolina…