Mark's Photo Travels

I have some time off this week, and I've been planning a few adventures to fill the time. Originally, I had a different adventure planned for this day, Tuesday, but the showery weather forecast for later in the day forced a bit of a change. Today's adventure is part planned, part ramble through Spartanburg and Greenville Counties. On my way to Bon Haven about two weeks ago, I made a quick stop to view on old billboard for a drive-in that closed in 1984, the Circle South 29 Drive-in off U.S. 29 in the western outskirts of Spartanburg near the intersection with Fairforest Clevedale Road .: I didn't notice at the time another decaying left over from the drive-in, the  entrance sign: The old entrance is blocked by a mound of dirt belonging to the lumber company that now owns the property. The drive-in can be seen, though rather fuzzily, from aerial photos taken in 1981 hosted at the SC Digital Library: A Google Earth view still shows the old entrance, an...

Go forward a few days to last Wednesday, and it's already time for another photo outing. his time the humidity is lower, the temperature is cooler, but the sky is still mostly cloudy. I made a map listing of old, interesting churches, country stores, and former schools to visit along and near SC 414 in northern Greenville County. The main objective of this trip, however, was to visit the T. P. Wood store in Tigerville to see how the renovations to the store, announced in 2013, were progressing. Fellow explorer Tom was also ready for a trek, so a few days ago we visited some of the places on my list. Cool Springs Primitive Baptist Church Cool Springs Primitive Baptist Church is located off of Cool Springs Church Road between U.S. 25 and S.C. 414. This church piqued my interest, first for being historic (well of course) and second, the word "primitive". Just what is a Primitive Baptist anyway? From a FAQ  on the subject: Primitive Baptist ancestors have been calle...