#54: Drayton Hall, Paris Mountain, and Children’s Day on the Farm at Historic Brattonsville
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #54 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
Huge thanks to Drayton G. for becoming a paid subscriber today - thank you for your support! To try something new, and to have a little fun, I’ve decided for every new paid subscriber, I will start doing audio shoutouts. See the audio voiceover snippet above for Drayton’s shoutout!
Will you be next?
I’d like to also extend a special welcome to the following new free subscribers — woohoo!
coachr23
elkk77
garrisonmarcoux
scott
sims5550
ronahall57
jhuggins
mandytumblin
bandemeree
robfarr55
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.
Additionally, please join us & keep the conversation going by becoming a member of our SC History Newsletter Facebook Community here! I can’t wait to meet you.
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.
Saturday April 20th, 2024, 9:30 am - 4:00 pm | “Children’s Day on the Farm at Historic Brattonsville” | Historic Brattonsville | McConnells, SC | FREE for Members and $10 for all others
“Join us to see how children were involved in 18th and 19th-century farm life and trades. This special event features living history demonstrations and hands-on activities for families that highlight children’s life, work, and play in the 18th and 19th century Carolina Piedmont.
Children’s Day will take place in two sessions with the same activities. The first session is 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and the second session is 1– 4 p.m.
Activities Include:
• Candle-dipping
• Historic hearth cooking
• Butter-churning
• Writing with quill pens
• Blacksmithing demonstration
• Woodworking
• Carding and spinning
• Historic toys and games
• Scavenger Hunt
• Brattonsville site tour at 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
• Concessions, including soft-serve ice cream, will be available for purchase.”
➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that Paris Mountain was once Cherokee land, and was first used by the city of Greenville as a water source?
Before Paris Mountain State Park was the beloved recreation site in Greenville that it is today, the land was owned by the Cherokee Indians. In 1765, the first white man to settle the land was a Scots-Irish Virginian named Richard Pearis. He married a Cherokee woman and built strong relationships within the Cherokee tribe. The Cherokee continually gave Pearis land until his property extended 10 square miles, including land on what is now Paris Mountain. As you have likely guessed, Richard Pearis’s name is the source of the name "Paris" Mountain. (Note from Kate: Richard Pearis became an “Indian interpreter” and according to what I have read, was rather a scoundrel. I will need to write a separate newsletter about him!)
The earliest use of the mountain by the city of Greenville would come years later, when in 1888, the city began to use Paris Mountain as a water source. The city built multiple lakes (Lake Placid, Mountain Lake and Buckhorn Lake) and dams to be used as part of the Greenville City Water System reservoir. The Paris Mountain reservoir system was used extensively until the Table Rock reservoir was constructed and put into service in the late 1920s.
In the 1890s, a resort called the Altamont Hotel was built at the top of Paris Mountain. It was a 23-room wooden, three-story building with piazzas on all sides of each story. One could visit the hotel from Greenville via “a coach of four driven by John Marshbanks.” The trip took over two hours. Mr. Marshbanks would stop to water his horses, and on the final mile he would “toot his bugle” to inform the hotel of how many guests he was bringing.
The hotel did not prosper. It didn’t help that the rooms lacked running water. In 1898, the hotel was sold to be put into use as a Bible Institute. The institute was first known as Altamont Bible and Missionary Institute and later as Holmes Bible College. The college opened its doors in 1898. The institute was later sold to another citizen, and the building was later destroyed by a fire in 1920.
The state park on Paris Mountain was built in the 1930s by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Sixteen other parks in the state of South Carolina were also created due to the work of the CCC. The nearby liberal arts college, Furman University, founded in 1826, is located near the foot of Paris Mountain.
Paris Mountain State Park is now a center of activity for the city of Greenville. The park is host to nine trails for hikers and mountain bikers alike. George Hincapie, a Tour de France participant, lives in Greenville and is known to train in the park. Paris Mountain State Park has a 40-site family campground with a mix of tent and RV sites. The 15-acre Lake Placid located in Paris Mountain State Park is the park's main spot for boating and fishing. North Lake, also known as Reservoir 3, is larger lake located in the park, is closed to boaters and reserved for fishermen. The lake is home to “crappie, bream, and catfish.” The visitor center, also known as the Park Center, is located next to Lake Placid and has maps and information about facilities.
Have you hiked at Paris Mountain before? Isn’t it great? Leave a comment about your experiences below!
II.
Here are 13 Fun Facts about one of the historic “jewels” of South Carolina, the 18th century plantation house, Drayton Hall:
In honor of our new subscriber named Drayton, I found these fun facts about Drayton Hall from ExploreCharleston.com and wanted to share:
Drayton Hall was owned by 7 generations of the Drayton family before becoming a historic site.
It took more than 360,000 hand-made bricks to construct Drayton Hall.
Drayton Hall was not a working plantation, but served as the commercial center of John Drayton’s plantation empire, which totaled 76,000 acres.
Some descendants of the enslaved community lived on the property until 1960.
John Drayton used architectural pattern books to design Drayton Hall.
A watercolor of Drayton Hall dated 1765 was mailed anonymously to the site in 2008. Until that point, the earliest confirmed image of the property dated to 1845.
Drayton Hall is an active archaeological site. Only 2% of the property has been excavated, yielding more than 1 million artifacts.
Charles Drayton (1743 – 1820) kept a diary recording daily operations of Drayton Hall, which can be found digitally on the Lowcountry Digital Library.
The Drayton Hall desk and bookcase is thought to be the finest piece of furniture surviving from the American colonies.
Drayton Hall was constructed by both enslaved and white craftsmen.
Drayton Hall has a preservation department dedicated to researching the historic architecture, landscapes, archaeology and decorative arts associated with the site.
The Drayton’s wealth was built upon raising cattle, producing indigo and growing rice, all of which were dependent on slave labor.
Money made from phosphate mining on the property after the Civil War helped save Drayton Hall.
Have you visited Drayton Hall? If so, leave a comment below and tell us about your visit!
➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
“Received account that Joe & Toby were knocked overboard by the Sloops boom last night. Poor Joe could swim, & he was drowned - Toby could not, & saved by catching hold of the Canoe - Neither skill nor wisdom can avail Destiny!"
— From Charles Drayton’s Diary. On this date in 1799, an enslaved man named Joe who lived at Drayton Hall died following an accident aboard Charles Drayton's sloop. According to Charles's diaries, Joe was living and working at Drayton Hall as early as 1784, the year Charles moved in. Joe's responsibilities at that time appear to have been primarily agricultural or horticultural in nature, but Charles also assigned him to travel on horseback or by boat to Charleston and other plantations to pick up supplies or assist with other work.
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
I always want to improve my work. Answer the poll below to give me your review of today’s newsletter. I also welcome your suggestions for new content! Simply reply to this email with your ideas. Thank you!
Paris Mountain State Park is one of my kid's favorite parks! Swimming in the lake, hiking the nature trail, and visiting the CCC bath house are definite highlights! We also loved touring Drayton Hall and its interpretive center. SC has so many amazing historical sites.