#47: A nuclear bomb in Mars Bluff, William Henry Drayton's fireworks, and the Lowcountry Strawberry Festival
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #47 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions on South Carolina history you’d like to learn more about. I’m only a click away.
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And now, let’s learn some South Carolina history!
Yours truly,
Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
➳ Featured SC History Event
Please enjoy our featured SC History Event below, and click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the upcoming SC history events I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the calendar! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
April 5-7, and 11-14 | “Boone Hall Plantation Lowcountry Strawberry Festival” | Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens | Mount Pleasant, SC | Tickets starting at $15
CLASSIC FESTIVAL FEATURES:
All American Petting Zoo
All American Pig Races
Inflatables
Boone Hall Farms Playground Fun
Live On The Boone Hall Farms Stage
All American Pony Rides – additional fee
Festival Foods Available For Purchase
CONTESTS
Mr. John Deere Contest
2pm Sunday April 7Miss Berry Princess Contest
2pm Sunday April 14Strawberry Pie Eating Contests
No charge to enter
Limited to first 20 to sign up on each day
Contests Saturday 4/6 at 3:00pm AND Saturday 4/13 at 3:00pm
TWO KINDS Of PIE EATING CONTESTS
Traditional – one regular sized pie per person
NEW “Mini and Me” Adult-Child Team Contest
Adult will eat regular sized pie
Child eats a smaller sized pie
$100 Prize Package For
Each Contest Winner/Team
➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that a (de-activated) nuclear bomb dropped on Mars Bluff, South Carolina in 1958?
When our wonderful subscriber sent me this topic for consideration for the newsletter, I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading.
At 3:53 pm on Tuesday, March 11, 1958, a group of four B-47E planes took off from Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia in route to England. The planes were a part of a small convoy “performing a routine task”— as part of a mission called Operation Snow Flurry. The operation consisted of the US military B-47s flying to England to perform “mock bomb drops.” During the Cold War, Air Force bombers, such as those being used for Operation Snow Flurry, “were issued a MK 6 nuclear bomb.” These bombs were carried onboard in case the planes needed to activate during an emergency wartime situation.
While preparing for their transatlantic journey, shortly after takeoff, the co-pilot of the 3rd B-47 “pulled a lever that was meant to engage a locking pin in the plane’s bomb harness, which would keep the bomb extra secure for the flight’s duration.” The co-pilot reported that a light indicated that the locking pin of the bomb harness had not engaged. The pilot sent the flight navigator, Bruce Kulka, back to inspect the problem and fix it. While attempting to pull himself up on top of the bomb to inspect its locking harness, Bruce accidentally grabbed the bomb’s emergency release mechanism.
What happened next sounds like it’s out of a movie, but it is true. Bruce and the MK-6 fell down onto the plane’s bomb bay doors. The combined weight of the bomb and Bruce forced the bomb-bay doors to open and released the MK-6 into free fall. Bruce was able to grab hold of the plane and save himself from the 15,000 ft drop. But the MK-6 bomb was already in free fall.
An important note that a MK-6 bomb isn’t nuclear unless its core containing the nuclear elements is installed. When Bruce Kulka and the MK-6 fell, the bomb’s nuclear capsule was safe in a separate compartment on the plane called the “birdcage”. While not nuclear at the time of its unintended release, the 10 foot long 7,000-pound MK-6 still carried a “substantial payload of explosives that functioned as its triggering mechanism.”
When the MK-6 hit the ground, it exploded near the home of Walter “Bill” Gregg, 6 ½ miles east of Florence, SC in Mars Bluff. The impact instantaneously created a 50x70 ft. crater 25-30 ft. deep. The bomb’s detonation leveled nearby pine trees and virtually destroyed the Gregg residence, shifting the house off of its foundation. Everything in the home was in ruins. The blast also totaled both of Walter Gregg’s vehicles.
Walter and his family were home at that time, and were fortunate to only sustain relatively minor injuries when compared to the damage of the Greggs’ property. One eyewitness, J.A. Sanders, driving nearby on Hwy. 301 at the time of the explosion reported that the “force of the shockwave was so substantial that it was able to turn his moving automobile around in the road.” Meanwhile eight miles away, Florence County employees reported “hearing the explosion and being able to view the cloud of dust caused by the explosion from the roof of the courthouse.”
Hours after the incident, the Air Force established a 2-mile perimeter around the site and began clean-up. Air Force leadership quickly announced to the local press that there was no threat of radioactive contamination to the community. They also announced that residents should turn any found fragments of the classified bomb over to the local authorities. The Mars Bluff Incident marks “one of the few times during our nation's history that an atomic bomb has detonated on US soil.” Very fortunately for the Florence community, the Mars Bluff bomb wasn't armed with its nuclear elements.
The Gregg Family sued the Air Force and received $54,000, equivalent to $547,723 in today’s dollars. Artifacts from Mars Bluff can be seen on display in the Florence County Museum's Pee Dee History Gallery during museum hours.
Here is a video (0:00-1:55) from 1958 about the incident:
II.
Did you know that South Carolina Founding Father William Henry Drayton is responsible for our custom of fireworks on July 4th?
Every year, Americans celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks, parties, barbeque, and more. Who do we have to thank for these traditions? None other than South Carolina Founding Father, William Henry Drayton, born in Charleston in 1742.
Drayton was a “fierce supporter of America’s independence” and served as a delegate and later president of the provincial South Carolina Congress. Drayton made many impassioned speeches on the topic of independence. Once America declared independence, he was also appointed a member of the Continental Congress.
A discussion arose in 1778 after America had declared its independence and was well ensconced in the Revolutionary War with Britain. The delegates in Philadelphia debated how Americans should observe their newly found independence.
While a fellow South Carolinian and Founding Father, Henry Laurens, argued that America’s annual Independence Day should be a day of “fasting and mourning,” William Drayton argued persuasively for the opposite — a day of celebration to be accentuated by “certain grand fireworks.” In the end, Drayton’s more popular idea won.
The first organized celebration of the Fourth of July was held in Philadelphia in 1777, despite the “clouds of war” that would soon engulf the city. The following day, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported that:
Yesterday the 4th of July was celebrated in this city with demonstrations of joy and festivity. About noon all the armed ships and gallies in the river were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed. At night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks (which began and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the Commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated.
By 1794, the Drayton family celebrated July 4th in another way that’s popular today. William Henry’s brother Charles, the second owner of Drayton Hall, observed July 4 with a beef barbeque! Charles noted: “Killed an ox. to be cured in the barbecue manner. It is said the meat so cured will keep perfectly, & be more juicy and fresh, than salted or pickled.” The great feast produced such hearty leftovers that almost two months later, on August 30, Charles recorded: “the ox killed July 4. was all eaten 2 or 3 days ago. that is 7 lb daily for 56 days or 8 Weeks.”
➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
I.
“Carolinians! Heretofore you were bound — by the American revolution you are now free. The Change is most important — most honourable — most beneficial. It is your Birth Right by the Law of Nature — it is even valid by the fundamental Laws of your Country — you were placed in Possession of it by the Hand of God! — Particulars evidencing a Subject of the highest Import.”
—Excerpt from his speech “A Charge on the Rise of the American Empire” (1776) by William Henry Drayton to the Grand Jury of South Carolina at Charleston. The rest of the speech can be read online here.
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
Fireworks? Love them or hate them? Thank or blame William Henry Drayton
July 4th Then and Now: Are we celebrating Independence Day as the Founding Fathers once did?
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Awesome research!! Thank you!