In 1925, Springs Recreation Park was a thriving hub for residents of Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas. The textile industry was booming during this time, with several operational facilities nearby that provided employees with financial security. Recreation Park seems too modest a term to describe Springs Park. By all accounts, it was more…
The 1958 Mars Bluff Atomic Bomb Accident
On March 11, 1958, the lives of a family and a community changed forever early that afternoon. A rare occasion occurred over Mars Bluff, just outside Florence, South Carolina, when a nuclear weapon fell from the sky into the woods behind the Gregg family home. According to The State, the highly destructive weapon was dropped…
Yogi Bear Honey Fried Chicken: South Carolina History
We all loved Yogi Bear so much that we decided to cash in on his popularity during the 1950s. Celebrity restaurants were popular at the time, and Gene Broome set out to find the next big thing to bring to South Carolina. Broome reached an arrangement with Hanna-Barbera for the naming rights to the franchise….
The Creepiest Ghost Town in South Carolina
Down an eerie old road outside of Lockhart sits one of the earliest settlements of South Carolina. Pinckneyville is the real ghost town of this state that will stop your heart and raise the hair on your arms. The Pinckney District was created in 1791 and comprised Union, Spartanburg, York, and Chester Counties. Three commissioners…
Bury me with a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and a pickax
The South Carolina Lowcountry is filled with legend & lore. One such story comes from Beaufort about a doctor who feared being buried alive after treating patients during the yellow fever epidemic. Dr. Perry was from a wealthy planter family who lived on St Helena Island. Victims of the fever would often slip into comas…
The Legend of Coffin Island: Headless Soldiers, Buried Treasure, Shipwrecks, and Pirates
Would you vacation on an island if it were named Coffin Island? One such place existed in South Carolina. Today, Folly and Morris Islands are beautiful places near Charleston, but both were once home to a storied past that included pirates, shipwrecks, war, disease, and bootleggers. Folly Beach was once known as Coffin Island before…
The Haunted History of Stumphouse Tunnel
Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel in Oconee County, South Carolina, is an incomplete tunnel for the Blue Ridge Railroad of South Carolina in Sumter National Forest. The tunnel was first proposed in 1835 by residents of Charleston, South Carolina, as a new and shorter route for the Blue Ridge Railroad between Charleston and the Ohio River valley…
The Mysterious Healing Springs
Just 56 miles south of Columbia, South Carolina, lies a small community with a popular Artesian well. It’s called Healing Springs and is found a few miles north of Blackville, South Carolina, off SC Highway 3. The cool water flows freely from spigots located behind the church. Ample parking is available next to the well,…
Forgotten History of Duke’s Mayonnaise
It is almost tomato sandwich season in the South. Southerners know a few things about food, especially when it comes to our preferred mayonnaise. Duke’s Mayonnaise is a staple here, like sweet tea and fried food. While most of us use this tasty condiment, many may not know its background or why it is part…
The Haunted History and Spirits of Whig Hill
This plantation near Thicketty Creek in Cherokee County on Hwy 18 was settled around 1767 by John Nuckolls, Sr., a native of Virginia. During the American Revolution, as the war in the backcountry escalated into a vicious civil war, the plantation became known as “Whig Hill” due to Nuckoll’s support of the patriot cause. He…