2011-05 Hagood Mill

We discovered Hagood Mill a couple years ago.  It is an 1845 Grist Mill and Folklife Center operated by the Pickens County (SC) Museum. We learned there is a monthly festival the 3rd Saturday of each month, so we made sure to go this May while staying at nearby Solitude Pointe.  We had a nice afternoon touring the exhibits and talking with the demonstrators. 

There was a military historical  exhibit by the SC State Guard (not the National Guard).

I enjoyed talking to and admiring the work of a man re-caning a chair.

This young man gave a great explanation of his Civil War reenactor uniform, guns, and a replica of a rare Confederate rapid fire cannon.

I was fascinated by the demonstration of a flint knapper as he showed how to make flint arrow heads, axe blades, etc.

This lady had the hottest job as she demonstrated cooking over the open fire in a cabin fireplace.

We love to see handmade quilts.  This always reminds us of the quilts made by my Mother and Grandmother.

All the time we were wandering around, we enjoyed some great country and bluegrass music performed by two different groups.

Another gentleman was dressed as one of the Revolutionary War "Over the Mountain Men" who defeated the British at the battle of Kings Mountain, (This is another interesting place to visit in the SC Upstate.)

 

We highly recommned a tour of Hagood Mill, especially on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

The next post will cover one more demonstrator we met just as we were leaving.

2011-05 Mr. Joda Snipes - Hagood Mill

Our final highlight at Hagood Mill was our time talking to Mr. Joda Snipes about his wood carvings.  We came upon Mr Snipes as he was beginning to put away his carvings, but he took time to answer our questions and entertain us with his stories and singing.  He was a great story teller.  We especailly enjoyed his story about his Santa Clause carving. (Click the play button to view.)

One of his specialties are hand carved "music spoons".  Here are a couple of short videos of Mr Snipes playing his spoons.

Hagood Mill

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

We met a nice lady who had been camping here for a month. She told us about Hagood Mill in Pickens, SC, which is about 40 miles from the campground. We wanted to look around the Pickens area, so we drove over to tour the mill and the Pickens County Museum. Both are well worth a visit.

Hagood Mill is a grist mill built around 1845. It operated commercially until 1966 and is now a branch of the Pickens County Museum.

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

Several other buildings have been relocated to the site including two log cabins. The first one below dates from 1791.

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

There is also a steam operated 1890 Cotton Gin.

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

Plus a visitor’s center and gift shop, blacksmith shop, simulated moonshine still, and an outdoor stage.

Of course I had to photograph some of the pretty flowers.

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

I still had some wildflower seeds left from our trip to the Vermont Wildflower Farm. I gave these to the gentleman at the visitor's center. He was happy to get them and promised to plant them. They should look nice in this setting.

Another interesting artifact was a soapstone rock where early American Indians had started carving rock bowls. You can seem the beginnings of the bowl shapes in the rock.

From 2010-05 Hagood Mill, SC

Every 3rd Saturday of the month, the mill operates to grind corn or wheat. In addition 20-30 artisans come to demonstrate old time skills like blacksmithing, weaving, yarn spinning, basket weaving, making moonshine, etc. The cotton gin is also operated. Various local bluegrass and country musicians give performances on the outdoor stage. We were sorry we did not know about this event since we were here the 3rd Saturday in May. We plan to come back sometime to attend this monthly festival.