Lockhart, South Carolina, is full of history. Not only was Pinckneyville located nearby on the Broad River, which many considered the “Charleston” of the upcountry during the late 1700s and early 1800s, but Lockhart is home to a famous waterway. The Lockhart Canal, designed by Robert Mills, was completed in 1823. It was part of…
Todd Kolhepp and the 2003 Superbike Murders
On November 6, 2003, the unthinkable occurred in Chesnee, South Carolina, when four people were killed at Superbike Motorsports. The case remained as cold as ice for 13 years, until a local serial killer confessed to the horrific slayings. The killings provoked much fear, not only in Spartanburg County, but also in neighboring counties in…
The Good Dentist Snaps
If walls could talk, many could write a novel, especially the walls inside older buildings around the state. Spartanburg, South Carolina, is no stranger to haunted history, with a dark past marked by unthinkable atrocities. At The Lantern, we have highlighted many of these paranormal hotspots and the city’s history in the past. One story…
SC Man Built A UFO Welcome Center In His Backyard To Welcome Aliens
You may be thinking, don’t things like this only happen in Florida? No, South Carolina comes in second in the United States for the strangest or most uncommon things. Welcome to Bowman, South Carolina, where Jody Pendarvis decided to construct his very own UFO Welcome Center in his backyard. His reasoning? Aliens need a place…
The Haunted Old Charleston Jail
The Old City Jail at 21 Magazine Street may be the most haunted place in Charleston, but just about every spot in the Holy City is plagued with specters who continue to keep watch. From 1802 until 1939, the old jail housed pirates, Civil War prisoners, thieves, and even the most infamous, like Lavinia Fisher,…
Beautiful Lake Jocassee and the Ghost Town beneath it
Revered for its emerald waters and abundant recreational opportunities, South Carolina’s Lake Jocassee was rich in history before the dam was built in 1973. Before the lake was created, the area was called Jocassee Valley. Cherokee legend states, “The first part of the name ‘Jocassee Gorges’ comes from tragic, star-crossed lovers. Jocassee was a beautiful…
The I-85 Median Cemetery in Cherokee County
Here is something else you may not be aware of. There is a graveyard between the northbound and southbound lanes near exits 95 and 96 in Cherokee County on Interstate 85. Nicknamed the I-85 Median Cemetery, the Lipscomb-Sarratt Cemetery dates to 1799. According to a goupstate article dated April 29, 2001, “The graves are about…
The Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon
The Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon, located at 122 E. Bay Street, is a Charleston landmark built in 1771 as a commercial exchange and customs house. During the American Revolution, tea confiscated by the British was stored here. After the British captured the city in 1780, it was a barracks, and the basement served as…
The Poor Houses in South Carolina
In the 19th and 20th centuries, some counties in South Carolina established poor houses as places where paupers were sent to live. Often, they were elderly or disabled people in the community who had nowhere else to turn. Usually, a Poor House was accompanied by a Poor House Farm, where the able-bodied worked until they…
The Rose Hill Plantation
Built between 1828 and 1832, the beautiful Rose Hill Plantation is a historic site in Union County, South Carolina. Nestled along the Tyger River. Rose Hill Plantation served as the South Carolina Governor’s mansion during William Henry Gist’s (1807-1874) time in office from 1858 through 1860. The home offers insight into the upcountry cotton plantation…