The "See Rock City" Ramble

When it comes to choosing where to go on my outings, I usually end up choosing the last thing that caught my interest before making a decision. And this time is no different. I happened to come across the website for Rock City Gardens, an attraction located on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga Tennessee. The page that interested me most was the one for their map of Rock City barns, barns much like the ones I remember seeing while traveling during summer vacations when I was little. Their map showed a barn located a few miles south of Abbeville. Earlier last week I found the time to visit this barn, and a few others old buildings along the way and back.

My route took me down U.S. 25 to Hodges, down S.C. 185 and S.C. 203 to Abbeville, then S.C. 72 and S.C. 28 to the Bethel community where the Rock City Barn is located.

I'll briefly as possible describe the stops I made along the way and back.

Southern Greenville County

About a mile south of Moonville at 7788 Augusta Road on U.S. 25 is the Augusta Road Ruritan Club.

Aside from their regular meetings and their other public services, the Augusta Road Ruritan Club also hosts a farmers market.

The brick building at the end of the driveway was originally a school.

The building was originally known as Pepper School from 1914 to 1953, when the school closed due to school consolidation. A historical marker stands nearby on a brick base:

In June 1964, the Augusta Road Ruritan Club bought the property from the School District of Greenville County, and has remained here since.

On the south side of the intersection of U.S. 25 and U.S. 76 I spotted an overgrown old service station with older "analog" style gas pumps. I had to check it out!

I checked out the gas pumps to see what their last sale was and at what price per gallon.

On a busy highway like U.S. 25, I'm surprised some company hasn't been remodeled and reopened this place.

Princeton

Princeton is a small community just south of the Greenville County-Laurens County border.

A few hundred feet inside the Greenville County line is the Royal Inn, until recently named the Princeton Inn. Old single story hotels like this have been gradually disappearing, so when I spot one I try to grab at least one photo.

Off the appropriately named Gin Mill Road (in Laurens County) is an old cotton gin, currently or recently the home of Gin Feed and Seed:

Princeton Lodge #129 is located at 13145 Hwy 25.

This was originally Princeton School, built in 1925. I unfortunately didn't get a photo of the dedication, but fortunately my friend Tom Taylor did in one of his earlier visits:

I always try to compare how school buildings look now with their old school insurance photographs, if available.

This photo of the old Princeton School from the South Carolina School Insurance archives shows the chimneys have been removed, and the front windows altered:

Across the street is an old country store that appears to be used just for storage.

Brewerton

Brewerton School is located off U.S. 25 in the Brewerton community.

The school was recently renovated. The changes to this school seem to mirror the changes made to the Princeton School.

The chimneys have been removed, and the windows reduced and replaced with smaller ones. An air conditioner has been added (good!).

Near Harmony Baptist Church is a beautiful aging red country store that looks to be in decent shape considering.

Hodges

I first visited old Hodges School with Tom Taylor in April 2012. The school back then looked like the windows had just been replaced. The school looks almost exactly the same now, except 5 years older:

Comparing the building now with the school insurance photo, the shorter replacement windows is the one major difference:

Jackson Station, at the southern end of Hodges, was once a train depot in town and later a famous blues bar. It was out of business during my 2012 visit, and it's still out of business during this visit. However, in 2016 a new owner bought the place and hopes to reopen the Station and make it great again.

Harvley's Service Station is just down the road in sight of Jackson Station. It's no longer a service station, but is now a bar. According to the owner, Otis Harvley, when he retires the bar will likely close:

I don't drink, but I do find the fading signs interesting:

Especially this weathered sign for a beer brand that's long gone out of favor:

Abbeville

I stopped by the Frank Pursley Railroad Park in Abbeville, located on the grounds of the Abbeville County Historical Society. Memorial bricks honor those who made contributions to the rail industry in the Abbeville community.

I tried standing on the bench to get all the bricks in the shot, but the bench was unsteady and my lens wasn't quite wide enough to capture all the names.

The feature attraction is Seaboard caboose #5759, dedicated here in 2014. The caboose was in service from 1963 for Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (later CSX) until 1997. As detailed by the Abbeville County Historical Society, the caboose underwent a restoration before being moved to the railroad park.

A short distance away is the McGowan-Barksdale-Bundy house. At the time, I thought it was a nice looking Queen Anne style house, but now I know it's home to the historical society.

Near the caboose I found what turned out to be three servants cabins associated with this house:

This cabin is undergoing some maintenance:

Then it was on to my main objective: the sole remaining known Rock City Barn remaining in South Carolina:

Rock City Barn in Bethel

A ditch runs along the highway, making parking off the roadside with a ditch not a viable option. I ended up parking here at this small church, named Stone of Bethel Holiness Church, just around the corner down Parsons Mountain Road.

A nice lady passing by informed the church is looking for a pastor. Should one of my readers be a pastor and looking for a church to lead, you might consider getting in touch with the congregation.

I walked by the side of S.C. 28 a short distance to the barn, staying as far off the road as I could. Unfortunately, this barn looks like it will collapse in a few years if nothing is done to prevent it.

Seeing three rusting old cars was an unexpected surprise.

Walking along the grass just off the road I could see the advertisement for Rock City come into view.

What was to become Rock City Gardens was created by Frieda Carter in the 1920s and further developed by her husband Garnet Carter in the early 1930s. Rock City Gardens began operating in May 1932, after some of Garnet Carter's other business ventures fell through due to the Great Depression.

In 1935, the business was struggling, so Garnet Carter came up with an idea that turned Rock City into a huge success. Carter hired a young painter named Clark Byers to tour the country and offer to paint barns in exchange for painting an advertisement for Rock City on the barn. Exactly what words the advertisement used depended on the size and shape of the barn, but it always involved the words "See Rock City".

I used the filters in Luminar 2018 to maximize the legibility of the lettering. In case you can't read the lettering, the advertisement says, "SEE 7 STATES from ROCK CITY Near Chattanooga Tenn.".

Clark Byers retired from painting Rock City barns in 1969. In 1992, the Logansport Pharos-Tribune printed this Associated Press article where he was interviewed about his experiences painting barns:

Clark Byers died in 2004 at the age of 89.

I went a bit further down the road to get one last photo before turning around:

Wrapup

I enjoyed seeing this old barn and getting a photo of a significant piece of American advertising history before it's gone forever. I also finally had the opportunity to visit certain places that had been on my visit list for quite some time.

If you wish, you can go through my trip album on Flickr or go through them below: