Carolina Ghost Towns

The colonial town of Dorchester is located on the Ashley River, just north of Charleston.  Settled by Congregetionalists, it was once the third largest town in South Carolina. Now only the old bell tower of the St. George's Church and the tabby fortifications remain.  Old Dorchester is now a historic site and part of the South Carolina Parks System. Here are some of the resources used in this epis...

Merrittsville was a community in norther Greenville County in what has become known as The Dark Corner.  Once a stopover for travelers, the region was notorious for moonshining and other illegal activities.  Now.  The town lies under the Greenville Watershed Reservois. Resources: Blog Post - Remembering Merrittsville Benjamin Merritt Genealogy Poinsett Bridge National Register Merrittsville - Now...

This week we look at three ghost towns.  These towns featured academies that played a large part of the town.  When the academies closed down, the towns went into decline.  This episode looks at the towns of Minervaville in Richland County, South Carolina, which had the Minerva Academy, Slabtown in Anderson County, which had the Thalian Academy, then the Slabtown Academy, and Sievern in Aiken Coun...

Ellenton, Dunbarton, Meyers Mills, and Leigh were small towns in Aiken and Barnwell Counties that were uprooted to make way for the Savannah River Plant to make atomic and hydrogen bombs. I used lots of references and audio clips in this episode.  Here are the clips that I used in putting together this story. Blog post - Hamburg and the Atomic Towns " I Don't Live there Anymore " - Lawrence Holofc...

Manchester is a ghost town in Sumter County, on the east side of the Poinsett Electronic Warfare Range.  It was settled in the 1700s, but disappeared in the mid-1800s. Resources: Archeological Studies Wilmington and Manchester Railroad from Wikipedia Blog Post

  Willtown Black Mingo was on Black Mingo Creek in Williamsburg County.  The terms "Willtown" and "Black Mingo" were used interchangeably.  It was also the site of an important battle in the Revolutionary War. Resources: History of Williamsburg County Black Mingo Historical Marker  

Willtown on the Edisto River was first known as New London.  It was the second planned town in South Carolina, after Charleston.  The remaining buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places .   Here are the resources I used in this episode... Willtown:  An Archeological and Historical Perspective Willtown Bluff Study Historical and Archeological Study Willtown Past and Present Blog...

The ghost town of Shelton is located in northwest Fairfield County, South Carolina, along the banks of the Broad River.  The early settlement featured a ferry, but grew into a town with the coming of the railroad.  The major industries were shipping for the surrounding and the Shivar Springs Bottling Company, located just south of the town. Resources used in this episode: Blog post on RandomConnec...

Henry Martyn Robert - author of Robert's Rules of Order Robertville is a small farming community in South Carolina, named for a family of French Huguenots that settled in the region.  The community was the birthplace of Henry Martyn Robert , author of Robert's Rules of Order, and Alexander Robert Lawton , Confederate General and one of the founders of the American Bar Association.  Robertville Bap...

Ellenberg Homesite The modern town of Ninety Six hold close connections to my family.  It's where my grandparents lived, as well as some other, more notorious relatives.  Before modern Ninety Six came the college town of Cambridge, named with aspirations of reaching the lofty status of its namesakes in Massachusetts and England. Resources for this episode: Finding Your Roots - Season 5, Episode 10...

Merry Christmas from Carolina Ghost Towns! The new season starts January 14, 2025, with new episodes every other Tuesday.  Be sure to tune in!

This bonus episode is a lecture I gave for the Mauldin Branch of the Greenville County Library.  The lecture was on Monday, November 11, 2024, and featured several of the towns that have appeared on previous episodes.

The community of Cashville is located in southwestern Spartanburg County.  It is home to Hurricane Tavern, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It's also home to Antioch Presbyterian Church.  Earlier this month Debbie Weekes invited me to join her and Len Strozier for a survey of the Antioch Cemetery using ground penetrating radar, or GPR.  Len then gave a presentation to the gen...

Pinckneyville was a town in Union County, South Carolina.  The town was established in the 1790s as the seat of Pinckneyville District.  It was envisioned as the "Charleston of the Upstate."  When Pinckney District was divided into smaller districts, the courthouse was moved to Union.  Pinckneyville started to die out. National Register Listing Pinckney District on Carolana Wikipedia Research Pinb...

The Cataloochee Valley is a remote area in Western North Carolina, now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It was never really a town, but is included on most lists of Ghost Towns in North Carolina. Cataloochee:  Center of the World - National Park Service Video NPS Cataloochee Basin Cataloochee Reunion Serena , by Ron Rash Research Pinboard AI Voices by Eleven Labs

Hurricane Helene has not been kind to us.  Here's a quick update on what to expect over the next few weeks.

The town of Auraria was the site of the first gold rush in Georgia.  It was a boom town on a mountain ridge, but died out as the nearby town of Dahlonega grew more prominent. Auraria : the story of a Georgia gold-mining town / E. Merton Coulter Etowah River Mine Tunnel Trip

This is an episode from an old podcast series that I started some years ago.  It's about old cemeteries and headstones, which often are the only remnants left of a ghost town.  Here's a link to the original blog post... The Stone Carvers

Hamburg was a city in South Carolina on the Savannah River, across from Augusta.  It was the terminus of the Charleston to Hamburg Railroad, the first regular passenger service in the US. Henry Schulz and His Town of Hamburg The Untold Story of Hamburg, SC Prince Rivers AI Voices by Eleven Labs

Ebenezer was one of the first settlements in the Georgia Colony.  Displaced Salzburgers from Austria traveled to the new world and settled on a tributary of the Savannah River.  It was also the site of a terrible tragedy during Sherman's March to the Sea. Links: Old Ebenezer Wikipedia Entry Betrayal at Ebenezer Johann Martin Boltzius Georgia Salzburger Society Paddling trips Cypress Adventures Low...

This episode is a departure from our normal ghost town explorations.  In today's episode we look at fake ghost towns, specifically, western amusement parks that are now defunct.  The parks covered in today's episode include Tweetsie Railroad (still going strong), Ghost Town in the Sky , Rebel Railroad , Frontierland , and Echo Valley. Blog posts about Echo Valley: Memories of Echo Valley Even More...

The ghost town of Chappells is located in the southwest corner of Newberry County, South Carolina.  The town was first known as Chappell's Ferry, then Chappell's Depot, then just Chappells.  When the new Highway 39 bridge over the Saluda River was built, it bypassed the main street of the town, dooming the remaining businesses. Blog posts: Exploring Chappels The Sad Fate of Chappells More on Chapp...

The community of Phoenix in Greenwood County, South Carolina was the site of an election riot in 1898.  The riot pitted black citizens who wished to vote against the white citizens and Jim Crow era laws. Blog post Benjamin Mays Site

This bonus episode is the audio from a presentation given at the Mauldin Branch of the Greenville County Library.   Link to presentation slides

  Samish Island is nearly 3000 miles from the Carolinas, but it has close ties to our region, especially Western North Carolina.  This is the story of two ghost towns on the island that waged their own version of the Civil War. Blog Post - PNW Connections - The Lost Cause Blog Post - PNW Connections - Tar Heel Land Tales of the Magic Skagit Skagit County History Museum George Washington Lafayette...