Tag Archives: South Carolina

-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.

-South Carolina, Black History, Churches and Temples, Historic Photos

Mulberry AME Church-Abbeville, South Carolina

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Mulberry AME Church was organized in 1871. Like many churches in the South, the congregation began meeting in a brush arbor, a shelter constructed with poles covered in tree limbs and hay. It was named after a mulberry tree near the church.

A log structure was completed in 1872. Another building was built in 1878 and used until 1918 when it was lost to fire. The current Carpenter Gothic church was completed in 1919. Mulberry is the mother church to the St. Paul, St. Peter, and Shady Grove AME churches in Abbeville County.

This is a 1939 drawing of the church created during a WPA Survey of State and Local Historical Records.
-South Carolina, Black History, Schools

Schoolhouse at the Glovers Chapel Baptist Church-Troy, South Carolina

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This small structure is located on the Glover Chapel Baptist Church campus. Initially, I could not identify the structure, but thankfully, the church is still active, and they confirmed it is a one-room schoolhouse.

-South Carolina, Stores

Smith Steifle Grocery-Bradley, South Carolina

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Bradley, South Carolina, is located on the southwest border of Greenwood County. The unincorporated town’s population is 160. If you’ve ever driven 221 south, you drove right past the Smith Steifle Grocery Store.

Ruben Smith Steifle ran the store for over 50 years. Stifle passed away in 2021, and according to his obituary, he was “a friend to many.” I am uncertain if the store is open.

-South Carolina, Abandoned

Spartanburg Printing and Paper Company-Spartanburg, South Carolina

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The Spartanburg Printing and Paper Company once called this Art Deco building home. Located in Archer Street, it was built in 1925. I understand there was talk of demolishing this building but that plan is currently on hold.