History & Genealogy

Confederate Monuments at Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church
Chester, SC 29706
The first Confederate Monument was erected by the Lafayette Straight Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1929. The monument consists of granite mortar and a podium built upon two granite grist meal stones. In 2002, another monument was erected to honor Revolutionary and Civil War veterans. On this monument are the names of 38 Confederate veterans buried in the church cemetery. Location: In front of historic Fishing Creek Church ( c.1752) Cemetery.
Confederate Park (Fort Mill)
Fort Mill, SC 29715
Approximately one quarter of the town’s Main Street is devoted to this park which has four monuments. One is dedicated to “faithful” slaves loyal to the Confederacy, another to the soldiers of the Confederacy, the third, to the women of the Confederacy and last, to the Catawba Indians who served in the Confederate Army.
Corinth Baptist Church
Union , SC 29379
Baptist Church was constructed in 1894 as the first separate building to house the first black congregation in Union. The congregation was established around 1883 and first held services in the former Old Union Methodist Church. The owner of the mill that stood on an adjacent lot purchased the lot and building from the congregation for $600 in 1893. The congregation purchased the lot on which the Corinth Baptist Church now stands in January 1894, and the building was completed by the end of the year. The church which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a late 19th-century vernacular interpretation of architectural styles common to religious buildings in the region. View from outside; open on Sundays.
Cornwallis House
Winnsboro, SC 29180
One of the oldest extant dwellings in the second-oldest incorporated town of the up-country, the so-known Cornwallis House is documented in letters and diaries as being the residence of Lord Cornwallis in the "winter of his discontent" or the months of October 1780 through January 1781. Though several houses of the town were commandeered by British officers at the time of the occupation, precedence is given to the family traditions of the owners of the houses to preserve the story of that residence. British troops are documented to have occupied the Mount Zion Institute campus across the street from the Cornwallis House, and for years fragments of the weapons and ammunition have been found in the neighborhood. The first recorded records of the house date from 1797 when it was deeded to Captain John Buchanan, a Revolutionary soldier, by way of a sale at public auction to settle the estate of the prior owner Alexander Millar. The Buchanan family owned the property until 1862. Over the years the house has undergone several renovations and expansions, the latest in 2001. This is a private residence. Group tours available by appointment only. Contact the chamber for access.
Coulter Academy (Former)
Cheraw, SC 29520
The academy was founded in 1881 along with, and as a part of, the Second Presbyterian Church. The school was named for a long time supporter, Caroline E. Coulter of Hanover, Indiana who was secretary of the Women's Department of the Board of Missions for Freedmen. The goal of the school was to provide an education for the county's African-American population. Coulter eventually became a co-educational boarding school with a high school and a junior college. 509 students were enrolled in 1943. The first high school graduating class was in 1925; the last around 1950. The academy merged with the public school system in 1949 and was last used as a school in 1955. Today a marker has been erected at the original site in front of the Masonic Lodge, once the academy's administration building. Students from Coulter have made careers in almost every walk of life, including doctors, lawyers, teachers, businessmen and ministers. Each spring the Coulter Memorial Academy Reunion is held in celebration of the school and its alumni.
Cross Keys House
Union, SC 29379
Built by Barham (Barrum) Bobo between 1812 and 1814, this priceless piece of history is one of the best examples of Colonial Georgian in the upstate. It was a working plantation and came under the stewardship of the Union County Historical Society, with the assistance of the County of Union, in October 2006. Presently consisting of more than 20 acres, the site is being restored in a plantation re-creation effort. Original buildings have been repaired and three log cabins from around the county have been moved to the site. Each spring the visit of President Jefferson Davis, CSA, is reenacted. For more information or to arrange a tour call the Union County Museum.
Dizzy Gillespie Homesite Park
This park celebrates the life of the "King of Jazz". It features eclectic steel benches and a trumpet sculpture designed by Cheraw students under the direction of South Carolina artist Bob Doster who also fashioned the stainless steel fence depicting the score of "Salt Peanuts". A state historic marker details highlights of his life. The inscription reads "John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie" was born in a house on this site on Oct. 21, 1917. His family lived here until they moved to Philadelphia in 1935.
Dizzy Gillespie Memorial and Statue
Jazz king Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) virtuoso trumpeter, composer and founder of modern jazz is now playing a long term gig in his hometown of Cheraw. A seven foot bronze statue of Gillespie-cheeks bulged to play his trademark bent horn-was unveiled in October 2002 on the 85th anniversary of his birth on the Town Green. Born John Birks Gillespie, Dizzy attended the public schools in Cheraw and graduated from Robert Smalls School in 1933. It was in Cheraw that Dizzy first played in a band and first performed in public. Because of his musical talents, he received a scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Dizzy and his family attended Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church (c. 1915) on Greene Street. As a child, Dizzy was fascinated by the movies. He became so adept at sneaking in to see the shows that the theater manager gave him the job of keeping the other kids from doing the same. His pay was that he got to see the movies for free. The theater, built in 1920, was then called the Lyric Theater. Recently renovated, it is now known as The Theater on the Green and is used for live performances. The statue was designed by internationally known artist Ed Dwight. Cheraw also celebrates Dizzy's life with the South Carolina Jazz Festival the third weekend in October. For more information or a free self guide to Dizzy Gillespie-related sites, contact the Cheraw Office of Tourism.
Dr. Thomas E. Lucas House, (c. 1868)
Chesterfield, SC 29709
This house was built for Dr. Lucas, a member of the State Legislature. According to legend, he made the money to build the home while serving as a doctor to Union troops stationed in town following the Civil War. Private Residence.
Emmett Scott School & Neighborhood Center/McGirt Auditorium
Rock Hill, SC 29730
In 1919 a bond election was held to raise $75,000 to build a combined grammar and high school for black children in the southern part of Rock Hill. The school was built in 1920 and its first principal was Professor Frank Neal. It was named for Emmett J. Scott who became secretary of Tuskegee Institute in 1898 and served as Assistant Secretary of War during WWI. In 1970 the school was closed. The City of Rock Hill purchased the property from the school district and dedicated it as a neighborhood center in 1973. Special tours by appointment.
Enfield (c. 1815)
Cheraw, SC 29520
Built around 1815 by General Erasmus Powe, a veteran of the War of 1812, as a wedding present for his daughter Martha, and her new husband, John Ellerbe, this home was the headquarters of General Oliver Howard in March 1865, second in command to General William Sherman, a most convenient arrangement since Sherman took over the house next door as his headquarters. A part of the 213-acre Cheraw Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Private residence.
Evergreen Cemetery (Chester)
The largest and oldest cemetery (c. 1858) in the city has an area set aside for Confederate War soldiers. Included are a memorial marker, two headstones of known soldiers of the Confederate War, and 55 headstones of unknown soldiers. There is also one grave of a Union soldier who died in Chester on March 14, 1866.
Fairfield Institute Marker
This grade school and normal institute for African Americans was founded in 1869 by Reverend Willard Richardson (a white minister from Delaware of the Northern Presbyterian Church). Richardson, the school's first principal, intended for the institute to be a place to prepare African-American men for the ministry. By 1880, however, one hundred of its students were studying to be teachers and only twenty to enter the ministry. Despite the fact that the Fairfield Institute was thought of as a distinguished preparatory school, it suffered severe financial problems. In 1888 the school closed its doors and merged with Brainerd Institute in Chester. The original site of Fairfield Institute is located one block west of this marker.
First Presbyterian Church (c. 1832)
Union soldiers made the pulpit area into a bandstand and danced in the interior. The Confederates had used the church as a hospital.
Flint Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery
Fort Mill, SC 29708
The second oldest church in the Fort Mill Township, Flint Hill was organized in 1792 near the spot where it now stands. Buried here are veterans of all the wars this nation has fought from the American Revolution to the War in Vietnam.