Category Archives: -South Carolina

-South Carolina, Churches and Temples, National Register of Historic Places

McBee Chapel Honors the “Father of Greenville”

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Along the Reedy River in Greenville County, South Carolina, is the mill town of Conestee, founded in the 1830s. The McBee United Methodist Church, designed by John Adams and built in 1841, is located there. Adams utilized the octagonal design to allow for more seating space. At one point, a slave gallery was built above the floor seating. It was removed after the Civil War.

The church was named after Vardy McBee and his son Alexander, who donated money and land for its construction. In 1815, Vardry McBee purchased 11,000 acres in the area now known as Greenville and built a sawmill, brickyard, and ironworks.

-South Carolina, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples

Retreat Presbyterian Church-Bachelor’s Retreat Community, South Carolina

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Bachelor’s Retreat was established by John Verner in 1812. He had three sons, Ebenezer, Limuel, and David, who were bachelors well into adulthood. Ebenezer and Limuel eventually married, but by that time, the community was coined “Bachelor’s Retreat.” The bachelor part was eventually dropped, and the area is now known as Retreat.

Retreat Presbyterian Church is believed to have been started in 1836. some sources list the date as newer. Land was donated in the 1850s to build a house of worship, which was completed in 1860. Despite struggling to maintain members, the church remained active until 1968. The church has fallen into disrepair a couple of times, and it has been restored at least twice. The grounds are well-maintained. I did not venture up the steps of the Greek Revival building.

-South Carolina, Churches and Temples

Built in the 1840s, Cool Springs Primitive Baptist Church Still Stands Today in Greenville County

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The Cool Springs Primitive Baptist Church was organized in the 1830s, and by the 1840s, this wood-frame church was built. The church used this building until the 1950s when a brick church building was erected to replace the wooden building.

-South Carolina

Our Lady of Vietnam Park-Greenville County, South Carolina

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North of Greer, South Carolina, is the unexpected Our Lady of Vietnam Park, built by Catholic refugees from Vietnam. It features the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child and was dedicated on November 24, 1991, during the Feast of the Holy Martyrs. The event remembers the 117 Vietnamese martyrs who were persecuted for their Catholicism during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

According to Wikipedia, Buddhism and Catholicism are the largest organized religions in the country. Still, most people in Vietnam either follow an unorganized faith tradition, are classified as Vietnamese folk religion, or are atheists. There are approximately 7 million Catholics in Vietnam and 1 million Vietnamese Catholic expatriates.

-South Carolina, Black History, Libraries, Schools

Faith Cabin Library-The Final Extant Building of Seneca Junior College in Seneca, South Carolina

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The Seneca Institute was a school built in 1899 in Seneca, South Carolina, to educate Black schoolchildren. It was founded by the Seneca River Baptist Association. In 1926, it added two years of college, and it became the Seneca Junior College.

Undated image of the Seneca Junior College before it was razed. The image is courtesy of Seneca Echoes by Nora Nimmons Field (1954).

Faith Cabin Libraries began in rural South Carolina, where, due to segregation, African Americans did not have access to public libraries. Willie Lee Buffington and Euriah Simpkins created the idea of these libraries. A letter-writing campaign focused on preachers provided funding.

In 1937, the Faith Cabin Library at the Seneca Junior College was built and filled with books provided by Oberlin College.

It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

-South Carolina, Hotels and Motels

Once Listed in The Green Book, the Mrs. Octavia Jones Tourist Home Still Stands in Spartanburg, South Carolina

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Dean Street was the heart of Black business and life in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Octavia Jones and her husband, Gilbert, lived at 255 N. Dean Street. By the 1939 Negro Motorist Green Book, their address is listed as one of several tourist homes (a residence where the owners would rent out rooms their rooms to travelers) on Dean Street. A garage is also listed at this address. I wonder if that was situated behind the home.

The 1939 entry on Spartanburg, Siuth Carolina in The Negro Motorist Green Book

Ancestry records indicate that Mrs. Jones died in 1951, and Mr. Jones died in 1954. Despite this, the O. Jones Tourist Home is still listed in The Green Book as late as 1962.

The 1950 Census Record

While researching Octavia Jones, I found an interesting tidbit in the census records. This is the only time I can recall a wife being listed as head when the husband is still alive. I am intrigued to know if there is a story or not.