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.
Bigfoot has a place in the Upstate’s storytelling, from accounts of strange encounters to Westminster’s annual festival. Published reports from this region are available for readers to examine. Those records show what people said they experienced; they do not establish the existence of an unknown animal. The interest lies in reading the stories closely enough…
For generations, residents of Pumpkintown and the South Carolina Upstate have reported sightings of mysterious large cats in the mountains. Are mountain lions really roaming the forests around Table Rock and Jocassee, or is it simply another local legend? We explore the evidence, the sightings, and the mystery that refuses to disappear.
From Cherokee chiefs and Revolutionary War heroes to natural springs, mountain legends, and pioneer families, many of the names found around Pumpkintown have fascinating origins. Discover the stories behind some of the most recognizable names in the Oolenoy Valley.
Why is it called Stool Mountain? The answer may be one of Pumpkintown’s oldest unsolved mysteries. Explore the legends, theories, and forgotten history behind one of the Upstate’s most unusual mountain names.
Before hikers and tourists discovered the beauty of Pumpkintown, prospectors searched these same mountains for gold. Explore the forgotten mines, hidden settlements, and treasure-filled streams of the South Carolina Upstate.
Long before hikers climbed Table Rock, local storytellers explained the mountain through legends. Discover the tale of the witches who swept the granite clean, the mysterious Old Man of the Mountain who dined from a stone table, and Molly Hanks, the enigmatic “witch” of Wildcat Hollow whose name still survives in the Oolenoy Valley today.
From mysterious lantern lights and ancient cemeteries to Civil War legends and mountain folklore, Pumpkintown’s winding backroads have inspired ghost stories for generations. Whether fact or folklore, these tales remain part of the community’s rich mountain heritage.
A traveler once crossed the fertile Oolenoy Valley and declared he had never seen so many pumpkins in his life. More than two centuries later, the name he gave the community still remains. Discover the fascinating story behind Pumpkintown, South Carolina’s most unusual place name.
According to Cherokee folklore, a giant once used Table Rock as his dining table and neighboring Stool Mountain as his seat. Discover the fascinating legend behind two of South Carolina’s most recognizable mountain peaks.
