Before Lake Keowee became one of South Carolina’s most beautiful lakes, the valley below was home to Cherokee towns, frontier history, family farms, and generations of local residents. Discover the forgotten world that still rests beneath the water.
Founded by formerly enslaved families in 1865, Soapstone Baptist Church and the historic Liberia Community preserve one of the most remarkable stories in Upstate South Carolina. Discover the church, schoolhouse, cemeteries, and legacy hidden near Table Rock and Highway 11.
Before Lake Jocassee covered the valley with deep blue water, four wild mountain rivers joined together to create the Keowee River. Discover the waterfalls, communities, farms, and natural wonders that once filled the lost Jocassee Valley beneath the lake.
Every summer, bright orange daylilies transform the roadsides of Pumpkintown and the Table Rock foothills into ribbons of color. Most people admire their beauty, but few realize these flowers may be living reminders of forgotten homes, farms, and communities that once dotted the landscape. Discover the history behind the Upstate’s famous “ditch lilies” and why they continue blooming long after the people who planted them are gone.
Most visitors know Poinsett Bridge as South Carolina’s oldest surviving bridge. Few realize it carried traffic for more than 135 years and was once part of an ambitious highway project designed to connect Charleston to the mountains. Here’s the forgotten story behind one of the Upstate’s most remarkable landmarks.
From Pumpkintown and Sugar Tit to Nine Times, Ninety Six, Possum Kingdom, and Tigerville, South Carolina is filled with communities whose names tell remarkable stories. Explore the history, folklore, and local legends behind 30 of the state’s strangest place names.
In 2025, wildfire swept across the slopes of Table Rock Mountain, creating dramatic scenes visible throughout Pumpkintown and northern Pickens County. Discover the story of the fire, the response, and how South Carolina’s most famous mountain is recovering.
Before Table Rock became South Carolina’s most visited mountain park, Carrick Creek was already carving its way through the Blue Ridge. Today thousands of visitors cross its bridges and admire its waterfalls, but few know the creek’s role in the history of Table Rock State Park.
Long before Highway 178 and the Foothills Trail, travelers crossed the mountains near Sassafras Mountain on the Emory Gap Toll Road. Portions of this forgotten route still survive today, hidden beneath one of South Carolina’s most famous hiking trails.
Nestled beneath the shadow of Table Rock, Pumpkintown may seem like a quiet rural community tucked away in the foothills. Yet for generations, the landscape itself helped make Pumpkintown a natural crossroads where routes from Pickens, Table Rock, Cleveland, Dacusville, and the surrounding valleys came together.