2 Briggs Avenue

City Directories and History: Constructed in 1910, the Methodist Church was designed by well known architect, Charles Coker Wilson.

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In a sketch on the town of Summerton appearing in The Manning Times, June 26, 1889, I learned that the Rev. Hartwell Spain was editor of this paper at one time, and had in his employ a correspondent who used Lizzie Clarendon as her pseudonym. She is credited as the first person to use the name Summerton for this nearby town.

The following homes might be said to have formed the nucleus around which the town grew, the settlers being those who owned plantations on the Santee where mosquitoes became such a plague that they built summer homes further up state, but still in Clarendon County, and the theory also exists that the town Summer-town was first called that by summer residents. When my family moved to Summerton in 1898, there was already a well-laid-out “square” around which the dwellings were built.

On the south side of this square was a house thought to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest in town. I shall call it the Richbourg house, because my information provided by a living relative starts with Nathan Richbourg and W. W. Richbourg. John Ashby Richbourg married Annie Belle McCollum of Sumter and they occupied the house until Mr. Richbourg’s death in 1883. His widow, and the other brother W. W. lived on in the home. The Widow Richbourg later married Morgan Sabb Cantey; she had acquired a family as he had; and the combination seems to have been a happy one, particularly after the birth of a daughter to Mrs. Cantey. During my years in Summerton, I have known the children of both marriages. Lately it has been known as the Cantey home because those of the Richbourg name had either died or moved away. The house was for some reason very quaint-looking, and yet it followed a fairly familiar pattern: rectangular in shape, with piazzas that ran around three sides, with a smaller one separating the main part of the house from the kitchen. Each of the two stories had four rooms. Luke Godwin of Summerton is the present owner. Some remodeling has added to its attractiveness. This house faces Church Street. (Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)

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Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.