Carolina Ghost Towns

Carolina Ghost Towns is an exploration of the lost towns and communities in South Carolina, North Carolina, and occasionally Georgia

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Episodes

Hamburg

Tuesday Aug 13, 2024

Tuesday Aug 13, 2024


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

The Ghosts of Ebenezer

Tuesday Aug 06, 2024

Tuesday Aug 06, 2024


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
Lowcountry Unfiltered does Ebenezer Creek

Tuesday Jul 23, 2024

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 Echo Valley
Echo Valley Photographic Proof

Chappells

Tuesday Jul 09, 2024

Tuesday Jul 09, 2024

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 Chappells
Return to Chappells
Farmer's Bank of Chappells
Chappells Depot
Chappells Ruins

Phoenix

Tuesday Jun 25, 2024

Tuesday Jun 25, 2024


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

Tuesday Jun 18, 2024


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

Samish-Atlanta

Tuesday Jun 11, 2024

Tuesday Jun 11, 2024


 
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 Allen
Plat for the town of Atlanta
Plat for the town of Samish

Henry River Mill Village

Tuesday May 28, 2024

Tuesday May 28, 2024


The Henry River Mill Village in Burke County, North Carolina, is an abandoned village used as the setting for District 12 in the movie The Hunger Games.  Here are the links to resources linked in the episode:
Blog Post
Henry River Mill Village
In with the Old
 

Willington

Tuesday May 14, 2024

Tuesday May 14, 2024


In this episode I talk to Scott Withrow, who co-taught a course on Lost Communities with me at Furman University.  Scott lends his expertise on the ghost town of Willington.
Leegstadt Scale for Ghost Towns, developed by Dave Baker
Type A: A completely barren site with no remnants remaining to suggest a town, community, or village of any type ever existed here.
Type B: A site of rubble and roofless buildings remaining with no obvious population or a location marked with only a sign noting that something once existed.
Type C: A Cemetery (may or may not have a sign, and may or may not share the same name of the community), church, creamery, bridge, mill, fort or other civic indicator remains to mark where a town, or village existed. These can be representative of a township so long as it is no further than one mile from the site.
Type D: A semi-abandoned community. Site may have a few residences but all commercial and industrial buildings are abandoned.
Type E: A historic Community. Site may have some residences and fewer than ten commercial and industrial buildings that are in use.
Type F: A restored, fabricated, or semi-dilapidated community maintained as an attraction or within a park.
Type G: Integrated Community: The site was either annexed into a neighboring community or is presently a location where new homes or buildings occupy the site of a former town.
 
In addition to these types, Baker further defines a ghost town as to whether or not it was ever incorporated as an actual town.
 
Group 1: A formerly platted and incorporated city or town
Group 2: A formerly platted unincorporated city or town
Group 3: A formerly non-platted community of industrial or commercial significance (usually related to coal mining or quarries, but there are several towns in the Carolinas centered around other industries such as textiles and logging.)
Group 4: An informal community, non-platted which surrounded around a central location or locations, examples of these include a school, church, creamery, or railroad station
Group 5: An informal community created on or centered around private land. May or may not have been subdivided into lots.
Group 6: A pioneer village having been established within ten years of statehood with no formal recognition otherwise
Resources:
Midwest Ghost Towns with Dan Cline
Willington on the Way
Photos:
Sara Jungst in the bookstore with friends
Old Store display in history center
Cowan Family Band
Cowan Instruments
History Center diorama
Old Willington Post Office
Willington Academy Location and Cemetery

Petersburg, Lisbon, and Vienna

Tuesday Apr 30, 2024

Tuesday Apr 30, 2024


The towns of Petersburg, Lisbon, and Vienna were located on the Savannah River at its confluence with the Broad River.  Petersburg and Vienna were on the Georgia side, and Vienna was across the Savannah in South Carolina.
Resources:
Blog Post
Plan of Petersburg
Old Petersburg report
Moses Waddel
Augusta Canal

Image

Carolina Ghost Towns

from RandomConnections

Carolina Ghost Towns explores the lost communities and towns in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.  There are no tales of hauntings or the paranormal, but stories about the history of the region and what was once here.

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