“Historic places hold a basket of memories for a multitude of individuals….”
A preservationist submitted an excellent research paper on the Red Store in Calhoun County, S.C. for posting on the pages of Roots and Recall. This young man had been researching the abandoned store building as part of his preservation training and had completed a wonderful essay on its history. Enjoy linking to the page below and see what an impact this history has on you. The beauty of his work is not only the historic materials he collected from misc. archives, including the Caroliniana Library, but others as well and the memories of numerous others who have been impacted by the store. For instance, he had no idea, when he sent in the paper that it would have an immediate impact on R&R’s co-founder, W. B. Fairey. It was the Red Store that he often passed as a child, on his way to visit relatives, in rural Calhoun County. The Red Store was the place which he and his siblings recognized as they were getting close to their destination and the location which had been described as an old stage stop by their mother on numerous occasions. The site was also noted as the site their mother had occasionally disembarked the commercial bus and awaited the arrival of her future husband, as she visited in his parent’s nearby home.
- Red Store
- Edisto Memories – Peter’s Point
- Brookgreen Gardens
The Red Store is only one of many sites throughout the pages of R&R, which may impact members and users. Was it the local store, the church, the school, the hospital, or the abandoned house that had a major impact on your recollection? No matter what it was, each of us holds memories of visiting grandmother’s house, walking into the country store to buy a bottled drink and a moon pie, or quickly blazing a trail to the abandoned building to discover its secrets prior to your friends arriving. The collective stories and memories of these places fill the pages of R&R, but there is much more room for you to post your images and recollections so that they may be shared with many others. You perhaps think they are your memories alone but in reality they are held jointly with many others, who also wish to hear your version. Don’t be shy, share them!
A deceased friend, Ms. Pinky, delighted in telling the story of her very prominent father’s preparations to travel to Murrells Inlet, S.C. for a summer vacation. Living in Lancaster, S.C., she recalled with trepidation the memory of her father roping a crate full of live chickens to the top of their touring car. As she recalled, the last thing he did before we hit the road was load the chickens. This was her signal to seat herself in the floorboard of the car, so none of her friends, could see her in such circumstances. In her words, “it was simply unsophisticated to have chickens on top of the car.” This childhood memory impacted everyone who ever heard it, for I can no longer travel to Lancaster or even Murrells Inlet, without conjuring up her description of the expensive touring car, traveling down the country roads of S.C., with a crate full of chickens. This was back in the 1930s, Murrells Inlet only had one small store and no paved roads then or even in the 1950s, when I too traveled that same route through Lancaster, S.C. and on to our family’s vacation spot, not knowing that twenty odd years earlier, Pinky had been so embarrassed by her family’s need to take poultry on their vacation.
Memories are for sharing….the Red Store’s are preserved on Roots and Recall, we to want to post yours!
R&R NOTE: We must sincerely apologize to members who have been very patently awaiting R&R’s Dejaunt tour program. This feature was initially conceived and designed to bring opportunities for daily back-road excursions and family outings, related to the history of S.C., tied to the pages of R&R. At first we thought, oh just provide a few linked sites related to misc. subjects, so easy! But as we began working on the design and format, it quickly became all to clear this is a massive undertaking, one that needs far greater planning and implementation than current resources allow. It seems history lovers have discovered the website; usage has doubled in the past year, including double the material donations, queries and comments. So, don’t give up on Dejaunts, we will eventually provide it in a professional manner for all to enjoy. Just not today!
From the Porch – Blog @ RootsandRecall.com – 7.13.17