BLYTHEWOOD – A welcoming reception will be held for Blythewood’s new Town Administrator Gary Parker at The Manor on Thursday, July 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event will be sponsored by the Town of Blythewood in conjunction with the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce’s ‘After Five’ networking event held every third Thursday. Mayor J. Michael Ross will be on hand to introduce Parker to the Chamber’s members and their guests.
Parker, who retired as Town Manager of Sunset Beach, N. C. last December, was hired by the Town of Blythewood on June 17. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from N.C. State University in Raleigh and has more than 30 years’ experience in municipal government.
Chamber members are asked to register themselves and their guests for the event on the Chamber’s Eventbright page. The Manor is located at 171 Langford Road in Blythewood.
Museum Director Pelham Lyles holds a quilt top that was embroidered in 1895 by the good women of Fairfield County’s Bethel ARP Church as a fundraiser. Donors whose names are stitched into the quilt top include not only well known Fairfield County names, but such notables as British Prime Minister W. E. Gladstone, indicated by Lyles, and former S.C. Gov. Benjamin R. Tillman.
WINNSBORO — Handcrafted needlework and decorative fabrics were an integral part of rural life in Fairfield County in the 19th century, and this summer many of these intricate, locally-made needlework treasures are on display at the Fairfield County Museum. The exhibit, “From Fields to Textiles: Needle Arts from the Collection,” opened in June as part of the Fairfield County Ag+Art festival. It features Fairfield County needlework from the early 1800s to the present, including quilts, a variety of traditional needlecrafts and tools of the textile trade.
Museum Director Pelham Lyles said the exhibit features several pieces from the museum’s permanent collection, some of which are on display for the first time.
Walking visitors through the quilt collection, Lyles points out the wide variety of quilting patterns and styles on display, which range from plain to wildly inventive. While some fabrics are adorned with needleworked local buildings, flora and fauna, many feature geometric patterns like the ‘strawberry patch.’
“Some of these quilts were probably made by African-Americans, who would often collect and save the last pickings of cotton in the winter after the crop was done, and use that to create beautiful textile crafts,” she said.
“And, of course, everyone saved old clothes which were cut up and sewn into ‘crazy quilts.’ We have a great example of a crazy quilt made from silks. Even though the dyes were very acid, which damages the silk, the embroidery work they did on top of the silk has retained the fabric underneath just by holding it together,” Lyles said. “Back then, fabric was saved and re-used as long as possible.”
One of the featured artists in the exhibit is Swiss native Lily Fox, who was highly regarded in the Fairfield community for her exquisite hand-made laces, embroidery and beadwork and much loved for her volunteer work in the community. Fox, who died last December at 77, came to America in 1980 and lived in Winnsboro since 2000. The display of her work in the exhibit includes a Hardanger sampler, which is an intricate, white-on-white style of embroidery that originated in ancient Persia.
“Lily’s work was just gorgeous,” Lyles said. “She studied with the Embroider’s Guild of America, and taught courses in needlework at the University of Minneapolis and elsewhere. She was extremely skilled at reticello needleweaving, pulled thread and a variety of embroidery methods.”
The exhibit also contains a display of tatting, which is a durable lace constructed with knots and loops. Jane McMaster, a volunteer at the museum in the mid-1900s, was known for her delicate tatting, and several examples of her work are part of the exhibit, along with earlier examples.
A highlight of the exhibit is a large 1895 Signature Quilt from the Bethel Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Winnsboro. It features a ‘chain stitch’ technique and was created by the church’s Ladies Benevolent Society as a fundraiser. The 778 names of donors on the quilt include the Hon. W.E. Gladstone, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1892-1894; John G. Evans, Governor of South Carolina from 1894 –1897; State Sen. Benjamin R. Tillman, who also served as the Governor of South Carolina from 1890–1894.
Textile tools on display include curious implements such as a needlework clamp and Victorian sewing birds. There are also a variety of beaded handbags, embroidered silk evening gloves, an embroidered tea cozy and even Victorian hair jewelry, which is delicately woven from real, starched hair.
And of course, several examples of cross-stitch samplers are featured, the oldest of which was sewn in 1819. These sewing tablets usually contain the alphabet, a bible verse or family names and were often created as practice sheets for young girls learning to sew.
“We’ve learned quite a bit about the museum’s textile collection from specialists in the histories of specific needlepoints,” Lyles said. “It’s fascinating to see how a handmade textile is dated and to learn about the origin of the imagery. This exhibit is a great way for visitors to gain an awareness of the fabric arts that were part of rural life here in Fairfield County.”
The exhibit will be on display at the museum through the summer, and admission is free.
The aftermath of January’s collapse of a portion of the retaining wall around the new Drawdy Park football field. Construction has since picked up the pieces and is in the process of moving on.
WINNSBORO – Six months after nearly 60 feet of a 473-foot long retaining wall around the Drawdy Park football field collapsed into a heap of rubble, a detailed report from an independent engineering firm was obtained this week through an FOIA request by The Voice from Fairfield County Administrator Milton Pope. Although the wall collapsed following a day of heavy rain back on Jan. 12, the report places responsibility for the failure squarely at the feet of the project’s engineer, S2 Engineering and Consulting, their subcontractor, Four Brothers Enterprise, LLC and the unconfirmed individual whose name is on the plans.
“A lack of design detail and a disregard for the design intent during construction directly contributed to the failure,” the report, prepared by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Inc. and dated March 31, states. “The design drawing does not include key elements on the spacing and geometry of the wall section, leaving construction personnel the latitude to deviate from the intent of the design professional. Additionally, the drawing does not include the signature of the design professional or the seal of the company that was responsible for the design as required by South Carolina law.”
Following the collapse, a Blythewood general contractor with experience in wall construction reviewed photographs of the wreckage for The Voice and expressed serious concerns with how the wall was constructed. The contractor, who wished to remain anonymous, said it appeared as if there had been no plan for constructing the wall, or if there had been, the plan had not been followed.
Among his concerns for a wall of that height (10 feet) was the absence of adequate rebar in the construction. Photographs of the collapsed portion of the wall show rebar inserted into about every eighth column of block. The Blythewood contractor said rebar should have been inserted into every column of block and should have been filled with concrete. Photographs of the collapsed section indicate that little or no concrete fill had been included with the rebar.
The Blythewood contractor also said the blocks had not been interlocked, as they should have been, nor were the deadmen (horizontal support sections running from the wall into the earth behind the wall). Rebar had also not been properly installed into the deadmen. Soil behind the wall also should have been compacted with every 2 feet of fill, the contractor said. Photographs of the collapse indicate that it had not. Weep holes (drainage holes) also should have been provided along the base of the wall, he said. No such holes are visible in the photographs.
That analysis was confirmed by the March 31 Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood report.
“The construction of the wall did not follow industry standards for the placement of the fill or the coursing of the reinforced masonry,” the report states. “The lack of adequate drainage behind the wall and the improper construction of the piers led to a failure . . .”
The Drawing Board
According to documents and invoices obtained earlier this year by The Voice, the County paid S2 $39,750 in March of 2012 for “architectural and engineering design layout and drawings.” Less than a month later, the County forked over another $11,275, since S2 discovered that the “total area for the Drawdy Park Survey and Engineering study is more than twice the size that was originally given,” according to the invoice. But as of last February, the County had no drawings for the project in its possession.
Drawings inspected by The Voice shortly after the wall’s collapse were revealed to be merely a set of “as-built” drawings pertaining strictly to the ill-fated retaining wall – drawings dated after construction of the wall had been completed. The drawings are not to scale and include little detailed information. Sources with the County told The Voice that the drawings were not plans, but were “as built” drawings and were protocol for changes that occur during a construction project. Those drawings were indeed unsigned and bore no official seal. The drawings were labeled as having been prepared by Sherman Sumter. A search of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation database turned up no mention of Sumter.
Rising Costs
The retaining wall was only a few months old and still under warrantee when it toppled, and last month work began on reparations. S2 was still at the helm, but with Mims Contracting serving as subcontractor and Chao Associates as structural designer. The work is being done at no cost to the County.
Former County Administrator Phil Hinely green-lighted the construction of the new football field in May of 2013 with a cost limit of $280,000, but documents obtained earlier this year by The Voice indicate the project actually began much earlier than that, with the price tag quickly climbing to more than $380,000.
Last January, The Voice submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the County for an itemized breakdown of all costs and expenses associated with the Drawdy Park project. The County answered that request, but instead of providing an itemized breakdown, only supplied The Voice with a copy of the County’s final authorization form and a “technical memorandum” from S2 to the County. Bids and invoices for chain link fencing around the field were also included, but an itemized breakdown of S2’s work was not. Those constituted all of the documentation in the County’s possession regarding costs for the project, Pope told The Voice.
The “Authorization to process on building maintenance projects assigned to S2,” signed for final approval on May 21, 2013 by Hinely, show that the Drawdy Park project was not to exceed $280,000. But the “technical memorandum” from Sam Savage of S2 Engineering & Consulting to Davis Anderson, Deputy County Administrator, dated May 15, 2013, gives a rough outline of “work to be performed and work that is near completion,” with an estimated cost of $321,200.
While the memorandum provides a laundry list of various aspects to the project – from engineering design and site clearing to the installation of an irrigation system and the construction of the retaining wall – it does not include any line-item costs or expenses associated with each aspect. A handful of invoices and other documentation obtained by The Voice through anonymous sources, meanwhile, indicate that the County has shelled out at least $339,750 to S2 for the project since March of 2012.
SLED
Last February, the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) launched an investigation into Fairfield County’s procurement practices under Hinely. Of particular interest in the early stages of that investigation, according to a statement made by Council Chairman David Ferguson after Council’s Feb. 25 meeting, was the County’s relationship with S2 Engineering. Between December 2009 and September 2013, the County shelled out more than $8.76 million to S2 for various contracts. According to documents obtained by The Voice, projects over that time period range from improvements to the HON Building, construction of the new Voter Registration offices, work at the County Courthouse as well as the Drawdy Park project.
While records indicate that most, if not all, of these projects were not put out for bid, Pope said during Council’s Feb. 10 meeting that S2 was one of several firms on a list of firms approved for County work by Hinely. Since Pope’s arrival as Interim last summer, the County has returned to a more conventional procurement process, putting projects and purchases out for bid in accordance with County policy. Ferguson said on Feb. 25 that while the former procurement practices may have been unusual, they were not illegal.
“Was it best practices? It was the cheapest practice for us to get jobs accomplished,” Ferguson said. “Did we bid out every job? No. With Milton (Pope) we do. Does that cost you? Yeah, it does.”
A spokesperson for SLED told The Voice this week that their investigation remains open.
The Reconstruction
The March 31 report by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood concluded that the failed section of retaining wall should be rebuilt by the contractor and that a drainage system, as well as waterproofing, should be installed on the back side of the wall to prevent another failure. Mims Contracting, under the direction of S2’s Sam Savage, has since had to overcome several challenges.
According to daily inspection reports provided to the County by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood between June 3 and June 26, inspectors were able to prevent Mims Contracting from installing the incorrect rebar size on the new construction. Soil compaction testing, which held up the project for weeks, was finally completed and approved on June 23. Drainage appears to be an ongoing issue at the site, as three times the inspector has instructed the crew supervisor to open a temporary drainage trench at the wall footing. As of June 24, that had not been accomplished. Inspectors also noted safety concerns at the site and on June 19 recommended the installation of a safety fence beyond the top slope at the edge of the football field.
Dr. Sheldon Hudson, senior pastor of Across All Boundaries Christian Church, in her new offices in Blythewood.
Refining Young Ladies with Christian Values
BLYTHEWOOD – After serving as senior pastor at Across All Boundaries Christian Church in Ridgeway since 2000, Dr. Sheldon Hudson is spreading her wings into Blythewood where she recently opened a Christian-based finishing program for girls, ages 4 – 18. Hudson has operated the program, called Destiny’s Daughters, as an in-house ministry at her church since 2005. She said she decided to move it into downtown Blythewood with the hope of reaching more girls.
“The goal of our program is principled-based mentoring, polishing and finishing to help young ladies lead, excel and achieve in their lives,” Hudson said. “That’s something that just isn’t always available and affordable for young ladies these days.”
Hudson is a graduate of Truth Bible College in Jacksonville, Fla. where she earned a Doctorate in Theology. Raised by her grandmother in Mount Pleasant, Hudson said she fondly remembers that her grandmother was assisted in her rearing by a whole village of older women.
“I had a wonderful childhood. They saw to it that I had every opportunity to experience art, culture and a lady’s training,” Hudson recalled. Now she wants to bring that training to young women who might not otherwise experience it.
“My role in Destiny’s Daughters,” Hudson said, “is to mentor and train, to provide skills necessary for these young women’s success in their personal, social and, eventually, their professional lives.”
Hudson said she is now taking applications for the program, which will start Aug. 1.
“Our desire is to bring back the rites of passage, standards that were once passed on in our culture,” Hudson said. “Besides etiquette classes, we will offer dancing, music and other areas of the arts.”
Hudson’s offices and studio are located at 303 Main St. in downtown Blythewood. For information about the program, call 803-569-7131.
Resurrection ferns climb an old oak at Hopelands Gardens near Aiken.
A quick 79-mile jaunt to Aiken will usher you into a past where luxury ruled the day. You can tour a classy town and see where wealthy industrialists spent their winters. Thus was Aiken once known as the Winter Colony. In Aiken you’ll find much to see and do. And should you desire you can check out a splendid hotel, the Wilcox Inn. None other than Sir Winston Churchill stayed there.
One Frederick S. Wilcox established this fine inn long ago in the last years of the 19th century. His inn became a haven for Yankees seeking a warmer clime. Today it’s a sumptuous setting with stonework and rich wood-paneled walls. In the Gilded Age of the 1920s and 1930s, Aiken was known as the “Winter Colony.” Every fall well-heeled northerners came by private railcar to Aiken to play polo, golf, race their thoroughbreds, hunt fox and socialize at high tea, musicales, balls and dinners.
The Wilcox, as I call it, was said to have had the first bathtub in the South connected with hidden plumbing. Over the years, Andy Williams and Bing Crosby came as did John Jacob Astor, Harold Vanderbilt and Evelyn Walsh McLean who owned the Hope diamond. Makeup queen Elizabeth Arden graced the hotel as well. As for Franklin D. Roosevelt, legend maintains that he rode his private train to the inn’s back door where he quietly slipped inside. In 1999, Robert Clark and I included the Wilcox Inn in our book, “Reflections of South Carolina.” Back in 1997 and 1998 when we were working on that book I never made it inside the Wilcox Inn. It took me some 17 years to finally do that. It will be much sooner when I return.
Use the Wilcox Inn as a base camp and go exploring. Aiken has a lot to offer. Nearby are Hopelands Gardens, a 14-acre estate garden, and Hitchcock Woods, one of the country’s largest urban forests. There’s a place called the Rye Patch too, a popular venue for weddings and parties.
Hopelands Gardens features a labyrinth where you can walk and think with a feeling of being lost yet found. It’s a wonderful place to meditate. The labyrinth opened April 17, 2007. It’s patterned after a 13th century design in Amiens Cathedral, France. Its 45 feet in diameter with brick pathways leading to a granite center.
Be sure to see the intersection of Whiskey Road and Easy Street where you’ll see one of the country’s most photographed road signs. Explore the sandy lanes left unpaved for the thoroughbred horses that walk them. And check out the Racing Hall of Fame.
Aiken is a beautiful town of live oaks, resurrection ferns, dogwoods, ivy and brick walls. Best of all it is an easy drive away.
WINNSBORO – The body of a Winnsboro woman was discovered outside her home on S. Garden Street early Friday morning and investigators with the Department of Public Safety are looking for the man they believe was responsible for strangling her to death.
Officers responded to a disturbance call at 417 S. Garden St. at 3:50 a.m. on July 4 where they found 34-year-old Jennifer Monique Stone lying outside on the south side of the house. An EMS crew arrived a short time later, according to Freddie Lorick, Chief of Public Safety, but was unable to revive Stone. She was pronounced dead at the scene, Lorick said.
The search is now on for 36-year-old LaTroy Dante Sampson, whom Lorick said was an acquaintance of the victim. While Sampson’s last known address is 2741 Syrup Mill Road, Lorick said Sampson had been living at 417 S. Garden St. at least part-time.
Lorick said Stone’s son, 18-year-old Matthew Stone, was awakened in the early morning hours of July 4 by the sounds of an altercation taking place outside the home. Matthew came out of the house and was met by Sampson coming from around the side of the home. Sampson reportedly grabbed Matthew by the hair and tried to physically pull him back around to the side of the house, but Matthew slipped away and Sampson fled on foot. A short time later, Matthew ventured around to the south side of the house and discovered the body of his mother.
Lorick said Sampson had just recently been released from prison. Records from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) state that Sampson was incarcerated in 1998 for an armed robbery conviction, as well as for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Since his release, Sampson has twice run afoul of the law. Last March he was arrested for public disorderly conduct. A month later, he was charged with trespassing and failure to comply with the direction of a police officer.
Sampson’s list of prior charges in S.C. dates back to 1996 when he was arrested in March of that year by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and charged with second degree lynching. The following September, Sampson was again picked up by the Sheriff’s Office and charged with strong-armed robbery and armed robbery with a deadly weapon. None of those charges merited a conviction, however.
In November of 1996, Sampson was once again arrested by Sheriff’s deputies, this time charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was sentenced to six years, but the sentence was suspended upon five years of probation. One month later, Sampson found himself in the Kirkland penitentiary following a conviction for assaulting a police officer.
As of press time, Sampson was still on the run and Winnsboro investigators were being assisted by SLED’s Fugitive Task Force, which was pursuing leads all over the state. Anyone with knowledge of Sampson’s whereabouts should call the Department of Public Safety at 803-635-4511. Lorick said Sampson should be considered extremely dangerous.
WINNSBORO – Barely a week after District 7 County Councilman David Brown announced that he would be retiring from Council at the end of his current term, Bobby Cunningham, the Trustee from District 5, announced that he would not seek another term with the Fairfield County School Board.
“I said from day one that I would not run for a second term,” Cunningham told The Voice this week. “I’m 70 years old and I have other things I want to pursue.”
Cunningham pulled something of an upset in 2010, unseating Rickey Johnson, a minority incumbent in a minority district, 578 votes (51.56 percent) to 542 (48.35 percent). Since then, Cunningham has been part of a Board that has ushered in what might be considered a renaissance for the school district, hiring and supporting the longest serving superintendent in recent memory, updating the District’s security systems, reducing frivolous spending and, earlier this month, breaking ground on a new Career and Technology Center.
“I had no earthly idea I would even win the thing,” Cunningham said. “I think my reputation is if you ask me something I’m going to tell you like it is. I think that’s what it was. People knew I was fair and that I would say what was on my mind.”
Progress has been slow, Cunningham admits, and there is more to be made, but it has been progress, he said. And that is something the District hasn’t seen in quite some time. Attorney fees are down and test scores are up, Cunningham noted, and with the help of the School Resource Officers (SROs) and an updated security camera system, issues that Cunningham pushed to the forefront, the schools are safer than they were just four years ago.
“There were a lot of issues on the curriculum side that I did not understand,” Cunningham said, “but there were other issues on the safety side that I did understand. Those security cameras have been a life-saver for the School District. There were some who were hell bent set against it.”
Apart from championing safety issues, Cunningham said he was most proud of being on a Board that undertook and finally implemented a salary study, bringing wages up for the District’s lowest paid employees. And during his term, Cunningham has always been a staunch defender of taxpayer dollars.
“I ate my first meal at the last Board meeting (an unusual 4:30 p.m. meeting on June 12),” Cunningham said. “I have eaten at retreats we’ve had – maybe a donut or a sausage biscuit, but I have not abused the taxpayers’ money. I go to one seminar every year, to Myrtle Beach, to get my points for accreditation, but that’s it. And I’ve never had one dime of phone calls to our attorneys, running up that bill.”
The 70-year-old Cunningham said he has no further political aspirations at this time. He will fill his days, he said, tending his garden, working in the yard and relaxing in his rocking chair underneath the carport of his Washington Street home, watching the cars go by and throwing up a hand when he elicits a friendly honk.
BLYTHEWOOD – Jim and Peggy Jeffcoat, owners of Singing Oakes Garden in Blythewood, were honored last week by the American Hemerocallis Society (American Daylily Society) at the group’s national convention in Asheville, N.C. The couple was presented the Steve Moldovan Mentoring Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the organization.
The Jeffcoats have been members of the AHS since 1981, and their daylily garden, recognized as one of the top daylily gardens in the country, has been on the AHS national tour several times. The award recognized the couple for their life-long mentoring efforts, from organizing their local club, The Mid-Carolina Daylily Society, in 1987 to their continuous service as elected leaders in the national organization to developing an AHS Display Garden at Riverbanks Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Columbia.
They are both garden and exhibition judges and have long taken the lead in training daylily judges, writing journal articles and conducting workshops for other clubs. They frequently give talks on their own hybridizing programs at Singing Oakes Garden.
During the presentation, the Jeffcoats were lauded for the wisdom they have imparted over the years to newer daylily addicts, their leadership of Mid-Carolina Daylily Society and the advice they have generously shared with many AHS members.
Green family members have spent the week preparing for the reunion activities. Folding hundreds of napkins for the various meals are Lottie Wilson, Mardie Walker, Josephine McRant, Bertha Breazeale, Mildred Blocker and Dorothy Clinton.
BLYTHEWOOD – “Harry Green was born a slave in lower Fairfield County between 1858 and 1860 according to U. S. Federal Census records,” recalled his great granddaughter Josephine McRant of Blythewood. “He labored as a farmhand and, at age 20, married Lucy, a cook on the plantation where he worked. Harry and Lucy produced 10 children and when he became a free man later in life, he apparently taught himself to read and was well thought of by everyone, including his descendants.”
This weekend, more than 160 of the descendants of Harry and Lucy and of Harry’s great nephew Jim and his wife Mary, will gather in Blythewood to honor their ancestors.
“It will be the first time in 30 years that our extended family has reunited,” said McRant who is also chairperson of the reunion. “Each of us descended from either Harry’s family or Jim’s family. And while some of us have moved away over the years, we are all still very close and keep in touch, and we are so looking forward to this reunion. It’s how we honor our lineage.” She lamented that it’s difficult to find information from the 1800s, especially for slaves for whom there weren’t a lot of records kept. “But it has been a joy, chairing the reunion,” said McRant who has been at the task for more than a year. She said it has been not only a labor of love, but also a learning experience.
“The area of Fairfield County where my great grandfather was born was later annexed into Richland County and is now part of Blythewood. He and his family were faithful members of Bethel Baptist Church,” McRant said, “and Harry died at age 60.” She said he left a legacy of hard work and devout faith.
James ‘Jim’ Green was born in 1875 in Blythewood as a free man. He married Mary Turnipseed and they had seven children. He died in 1983, well over the age of 100. Both Jim and his great uncle, Harry, are buried in the Bethel Baptist Church cemetery. Blythewood families who have descended from Harry and Jim include the Ables, Alstons, Barbers, Beltons, Canzaters, Greens, Palmers, Wilsons and more. A proclamation was read by Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross at Monday night’s Town Council meeting declaring ‘the affirmation of the importance and commitment to family and ancestors who paved the way for their descendants.’ That proclamation recognized that the unions of Harry and Lucy Green and Jim and Mary Green produced entrepreneurs, teachers, medical professionals, administrators, carpenters and other productive citizens who, for more than a century and a half, have contributed to the political and financial growth and development of Blythewood, noting that the Green family is one of the largest in the community.
McRant said family members will converge on Blythewood this week from as far away as New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“The hotels in town will be overflowing with Greens,” McRant said, laughing.
The three-day event will begin on Friday at 1 p.m. with registration and a fish fry at Purity Lodge in Ridgeway. On Saturday, the party will move to the Blythewood Recreation Center on Boney Road where there will be a banquet in the gymnasium at 4 p.m. That evening there will be a social with dancing and visiting in Columbia. Sunday the family will worship together at their ancestral church, Bethel Baptist Church in downtown Blythewood. Following services, they will meet in the fellowship hall for a last reception before departing, and they will gather once more around the grave of their ancestors and, with a special pride, read again the epitaph on Harry’s headstone: ‘Harry Green born into slavery. Died November 28, 1918 as a free man. Highly respected by both races. Was faithful unto death.’
Fish in a Barrel – The Walhalla State Fish Hatchery in – you guessed it – Walhalla.
A 162-mile drive, about three hours, will take you to a memorable place, the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery. Make your way to Walhalla and follow the directions at the end of this column. If you come away with a desire to go fishing and a hankering for fried trout, blame it on this column.
Summer is a good time to make the trip. Green leafy mountains and winding roads make for a calming effect, something quite the opposite of the fish-frenzied Walhalla State Fish Hatchery. Walking through the hatchery you’ll see fingerlings aplenty, all swimming to and fro, churning the waters.
The old hatchery is easy on the eyes. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in the 1930s. Make note of the beautiful rock architecture. Earth tone and hues do much to make the hatchery blend into the mountain environment. It’s said the rocks came from nearby mountains.
The hatchery is the only cold-water fish hatchery the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources operates. Brown, brook and rainbow trout are raised here for stocking the public waters of South Carolina. Most trout are cultured to a size of 9 to 12 inches before being released. About half a million trout are produced and stocked annually. You can see large trout ranging from 5 to 15 pounds at the hatchery as well.
Visitors are welcome to tour the hatchery and to fish in the East Fork, which runs through hatchery grounds. You’ll find places to picnic too.
Belong to a fishing club? You can plan special group tours by calling the hatchery (The best time of year to schedule group tours is in the fall). Visits by individuals and families take place on a walk-through basis. The day I was there several families were touring the hatchery. Kids love to see the fish up close and they get a thrill when the fish splash them.
You’ll find plenty to do when you’re done visiting the hatchery. Adjacent to the hatchery is the Chattooga Picnic Area, operated by the U.S. Forest Service. Next to the picnic area is the boundary of the Ellicott Rock Wilderness. Hikers may take a trail that goes along side the East Fork for 2.5 miles to the Chattooga River. From there you can go upstream to Ellicott’s Rock (1.7 miles) or downstream to the Burrell’s Ford campground and parking lot (2.1 miles). Request a trail map.
On Highway 107 South toward Walhalla is the Oconee State Park. Here there are cabins, camping areas, swimming and numerous other recreational activities. Best of all it’s refreshing to go to the mountains when summer heats up the land and you’ll find it educational to learn about the life cycle of trout. And then you can plan a fishing trip and have that fish fry I mentioned earlier.
If You Go …
Walhalla State Fish Hatchery
198 Fish Hatchery Road
Mountain Rest, S.C. 29664
864-638-2866
Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There may be a few exceptions during the winter months if inclement weather makes conditions unsafe for visitation. The hatchery is closed Christmas Day.
