Blackville SC Heritage Trail This is a self
guided tour. For
information on guided tours of these and other
places of interest |
Court House
Square/ Old Depot |
Blackville was the county seat
from 1869-1874. The new court house was a
two-storied, red brick structure.
After the county seat was returned to Barnwell,
the building was used as an opera house, private
school, and finally as the public school for white
students.
|
Healing Springs
Baptist Church |
The church was organized by a
small band under the leadership of the Reverend
Nathaniel Walker, the first pastor, who gave the
land
on
which the church was built. The present sanctuary, begun in 1853, was designed and supervised by Israel Walker, a descendant of the founder. Israel Walker also carved the original pulpit. The pews, sills, and much of the lumber were hewn by slaves and have withstood the ravages of time; however, the pews have been replaced by modern ones. Since additional room was needed, four rooms were added in 1940, and the sanctuary was remodeled in 1967. It is from this church that many churches in the area evolved.
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Farrell-O'Gorman House |
Just prior to the Civil War,
Patrick Farrell came to South Carolina from New
York to be educated by a relative. He joined
the Confederate Army and fought for the South.
He acquired large land holdings and also became a
merchant. He built this large home for his
family in 1875. He and his son were
responsible for several of the brick buildings on
Main Street, including the Shamrock Hotel.
The family was also influential in the Sacred
Heart Catholic Church. Of Irish ancestry
himself, Patrick Farrell sent to Ireland for a
young man named O'Gorman to help in the business.
This young man married Mr. Farrell's daughter, and
they inherited the home. South Carolina's
Catholic bishops visited in the home so often over
the years that the family calls one suite of rooms
the Bishops' Suite. This lovely house has
been home of six generations of the Farrell and
O'Gorman families.
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Market Hall |
The first floor of the building
was erected in 1859 on the first property owned by
the town.
The lower part of the structure was made of
handmade brick of local clay and baked in the sun.
The original purpose of the building was to serve as a market. It is said that when there was fresh meat for sale, a bell would be rung, and people would hurry to purchase what they needed. Thus, the name Market Hall. The second floor was added later and has been used as a school, a town hall, a theater where Blackville citizens enjoyed magic lantern shows, a library, and the first floor housed the fire truck. The James H. Hammond Museum was dedicated here in 1970. |
The Simon Brown
House |
The house was built about 1849.
Simon Brown came from what is now Poland, and his sons became prominent planters and merchants. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had thirteen children. The house is said to have been spared from being burned by Union troops in February, 1865, when Mrs. .Brown waved a Masonic flag from the upper porch. The commanding officer recognized the sign and ordered that the house be spared. Members of the Brown family continued to reside in the house until the 1930s.
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Tabernacle
Baptist Church |
The church was organized in the
year 1894 by one hundred nine members who emerged
from the Macedonia Baptist Church for the purpose
of organizing a house to worship God and "to be
filled with love and harmony." The first
building was demolished by a storm in the early
1900s, and this building was erected and used as a
house of worship until 2004. This was one of
the first brick buildings to be constructed for an
African-American congregation in this area.
|
Hagood House |
This house was built circa 1850
by Dr. William H. Hagood, a brother of Governor
Johnson Hagood. The house is built of sawed timber and hand-hewn beams. Victorian trim and several rooms were added after the original construction. Dr. Hagood served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army. During the Union Army's visit to Blackville, Mrs. Hagood and her eleven children were forced to live in ne room of the house. Invading soldiers used the rest of the house as a temporary infirmary for their wounded, according to information related by a Hagood descendant. Wagons were parked under the house, and when the army moved out, they took rugs from the house to line the beds of the wagons for the wounded. They set fire to the house, but former slaves, who remained on the property, put the fire out and saved the residence.
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Sacred Heart
Catholic Church |
The church was built in 1898.
Formerly on this site was a frame building called
Saint Matthew's Church. St. Matthew's burned
in 1887, only three years after it was built.
Sacred Heart is a brick Gothic structure with
beautiful stained-glass windows, which were
imported from Germany. One window depicts
the Nativity and another the Agony in the Garden
of Gethsemane. Near the altar are two
statues imported from Munich, Germany, one of the
Sacred Heart and one of the Virgin Mary.
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Blackville
United Methodist Church |
The Methodist Advocate declared
the church to have been active prior to 1841.
However, 1856 is the established date for the
Blackville circuit's becoming a part of the
Orangeburg District. It is said that while
in Blackville, Union troops housed some of their
horses inside the church. The foundation of
the first building is part of the current
building. The church was partially destroyed
by fire in 1887, had temporary repairs, and was
reconstructed in 1897. The church is
beautiful in its simplicity.
|
The Mathis
House |
The house was erected by Charles
Mathis, a planter who experimented with new crops.
He is thought to have been the first to plant cantaloupes in the area. He purchased the property and built the spacious well-appointed home circa 1889. There is a brick, cellar-type room under the back of the house, which is thought to have served as a warming kitchen and a place to store perishables. |