Two hundred years ago, the upstate South Carolina town of Pendleton was the place to live. Today, it’s thriving in new and history-rich ways.
Photo Above: Ashtabula Plantation houses Pendleton history.
Photo Courtesy of Pendleton Historic Foundation.
It could only happen in Pendleton, the story of how I found my way to the Village Green.
It had been a long drive from western Virginia to upstate South Carolina, and I’d walked from the Liberty Hall Bed and Breakfast toward downtown, where I’d been told I’d find the Pendleton Historic Foundation office. But I’d missed a turn, and when a car pulled into a nearby driveway, I asked the driver for some help.
“It’s down a couple blocks,” he smiled. “I’m heading there myself in a little bit—I’ve got a meeting with someone writing about us.”
Which meant, I understood immediately, that I’d asked Pendleton Mayor Frank Crenshaw for directions to the meeting at which we were both due.
© Joan Vannorsdall
That’s how it is in this upcountry South Carolina town of 3,500, where I heard over and over again that people are just plain nice . . . and care a lot about one another . . . and about their town. Mayor Crenshaw puts it like this: “The people here are our biggest asset. Pendleton’s a special place.”
That it is. Pendleton is a town that’s expertly run, beautifully preserved and well-storied. And is home to shops and restaurants that draw visitors from all over South Carolina and beyond.
And yes . . . 233 years of history.
The Historic Foundation Center sits at one end of the Town Green, strongly reminiscent of New England village greens. Originally a log cabin built as the town jail (which had a gallows and stockade in front of it), the refurbished building houses a gift shop and the office of John Perkins, executive director of the Pendleton Historic Foundation.
“I have a constant flow of people in here. We had 6,500 visitors last year from 41 states,” Perkins says.
A summary of Pendleton’s long history doesn’t do it full justice: For that, you’ll need to read Jacqueline Reynolds’ 276-page “Recollections & Reflections of Pendleton, South Carolina: Timeline of Village History 1785-2020.” Reynolds moved to Pendleton in 2000 with her husband, a graduate of nearby Clemson University, and her book carries detailed accounts of plantation owners and homes, schools and businesses, churches and cemeteries, businesses and factories. It’s the place to go to learn about Pendleton’s renowned historical figures, including John C. Calhoun, Samuel Maverick and Thomas Green Clemson. “Recollections and Reflections of Pendleton” includes records of the antebellum slave population, as well as the work done by freed slaves after the Civil War. Reynolds’ historical recall is encyclopedic, and she’s the perfect complement to Mayor Frank Crenshaw’s forward-looking commitment to his hometown.
“When I was a kid, they were still producing and growing cotton here,” Crenshaw says. “Today, we’re the only town in Anderson County with a full-time planner on staff. We’re committed to our Downtown Master Plan, which is strongly pedestrian-friendly.”
And it shows. Late on Friday afternoon, the sidewalks are full, and the six restaurants around the Green have people waiting for tables. Even the storefront names are spot-on alluring: the Blue Heron Restaurant and Sushi Bar; Swamp Fox Distilling; Newtique Boutique; Green Heart Awakening.
At the far end of the Green stands the oldest Farmers Society Hall in America, where 200 years ago, gentleman planters gathered to exchange news and innovative farming techniques. The Society still meets on the upper floor
© Joan Vannorsdall
—and on the ground floor, the 1826 Bistro serves locally sourced seasonal dishes that draw rave reviews.
Pendleton has a well-stocked bookstore in the old Hunter’s Store, with a well-chosen regional collection and large children’s section. Owner Amy Albright is committed to holding author events in her shop—recently Ron Rash did a reading and signing.
Around the corner on Exchange Street, the Art Gallery on Pendleton Square is hosting its Second Friday gathering, where artists and patrons meet and talk art and life. Down the street, Mama Rae’s Ice Cream Shoppe is selling ice cream in every shape and combination you can imagine, and everyone seems pretty happy—even the people waiting in line for a restaurant table.
A few blocks off the Green sits 200-year-old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, surrounded by a churchyard containing the graves of John C. Calhoun’s wife, Florida Bonneau; Thomas Clemson and wife Anna Calhoun Clemson; and Confederal General Bernard Bee (who allegedly gave the name “Stonewall” to General Thomas J. Jackson at the First Battle of Bull Run). It’s a beautiful place to wander, shaded by ancient trees with their own stories to tell.
And a couple miles up Old Greenville Highway from the church stands Ashtabula Plantation, one of three original plantation homes now owned by the Pendleton Historic Foundation.
“It’s a constant restoration project,” Foundation Director John Perkins says. He points to the partially painted, odd blue ceiling on the veranda. “This color—it’s haint blue. Originally made from crushed indigo plants. The low country planters brought it with them when they came to the upcountry . . . it was supposed to scare away the ghosts,” Perkins says.
He shares that the plantation was raided in April 1865 by Union troops searching for Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Cabinet after Appomattox.
© townofpendleton.org
And yes, you can’t stand on the veranda of this plantation home, looking at massive live oaks on the expansive lawn, and not think about “Gone with the Wind.”
Pendleton tells its long, deep story very well—it’s no wonder the entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places. But know that it’s also looking forward, with a full and walkable downtown, partnerships with nearby Clemson, and a thriving manufacturing economy in surrounding Anderson County.
It’s a beautiful balance of what was . . . and what can be.
The story above first appeared in our July / August issue.
