Story and History of the Pacolet Memories Website

Introduction

This site is strictly a personal memory.  It is not intended to be a complete history or even totally factual.  It is my own memory and impressions of Pacolet and Pacolet Mills, its people and the locations that existed 60 years ago.  As I got older, I came to realize how unique and special Pacolet and the surrounding area had been when I was a child.  At the same time, I realized that a great number of the places and people that I remember existed only in my memory.  Almost all of the Pacolet Mills buildings and structures, except the houses, have been torn down.  It occurred to me that if people my age did not write it down, then the story of  this rich blend of people, places and events would be lost forever  to today’s children and those to come in the future.

I will be the first to admit that these memories look at the past of Pacolet through rose colored glasses. But, indeed, as a child that is how I saw my world.  It is almost trite to say it but Pacolet Mills in the 1940’s and early 1950’s was almost like one large and extended family.  Back then, in my memory, adults really were adults.   They made things happen.  They were almost always kind to children and other adults.  They worked hard and made a world for their kids that was safe, fun and to me, continuously entertaining.  These memories will not be a critical analysis of the conditions of the times.  They will be the recollections of a small boy that at the time believed that he lived in a southern version of the Garden of Eden.

This is not the official website of the Town of Pacolet. That can be found at http://www.townofpacolet.com/.

Gone

It is hard to describe to a young person what the Pacolet Mills community was like in the 1940’s and early to mid-1950’s.  It is all gone now.  Never again will the people go to work day and night – on three shifts – in the Old and New Mill. The hum of the mill machinery that could be  heard almost over all the mill village is gone and there is an unusual silence to older ears.

Gone is all the activity that took place in the Hall. Gone forever are the Skating Rink, Pool Hall, Company Store, Drug Store, the Movie Theater and the Girls Club.

Never again will the Ball Park ring with the cheers for the Pacolet Trojans home team and the crash of the bat as Red Ellison hit one of this towering home runs.

There is no sound from the once very popular Swimming Pool. The Swimming Pool itself has disappeared and has been replaced by trees and bushes. It is hard to imagine the pool as it was and all of the enjoyment it brought to an entire generation of Pacolet folks.

Hotel Hill is now just a hill without its hotel. The remaining bare stone foundations give a scant clue to the hospitality and homelike atmosphere that once existed there.

Hundreds of Pacolet Mill’s children spent a great part of their life in the Pacolet Mills Elementary School, across the road and up the hill from the hotel. It is impossible to estimate the influence that the school had on countless Pacolet lives. It had serious teachers with what they believed was a very serious educational mission. Now, the school and those teachers are all gone.

In Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell describes a way of life in Georgia that was swept away with the wind of the Civil War. While not accompanied by the violence of war – a way of life in Pacolet Mills was indeed swept away by the Mill’s closing and the loss of most of its treasured buildings and activities.

Background
Throughout the South, particularly the Upcountry of South Carolina, a way of life has almost disappeared within the short span of twenty five years. In this time, the textile industry in the South has almost ceased to exist. It has moved overseas to locations around the world. The South Carolina towns and villages associated with the textile industry have been seriously impacted. The changes brought about by the disappearance of the cotton mills have affected many small towns and their people almost like wartime. The main industry in most of these towns has been destroyed. Thousands of people have been affected.  Some changed to other lines of work at lower salaries. Some moved to follow textile work at another place as long as it would last. Some went back to school to learn another skill. The hardest hit were those in their 50’s and 60’s that had never worked at anything but the textile business. All were hit hard and almost all had a sense of having been betrayed. Both the state of South Carolina and the Federal Government were nowhere to be seen handing out millions of dollars in “stimulus money” when the Upstate textile industry was being destroyed.

There was much good and not so good about the textile industry. There was also a great amount of misunderstanding about life in and around the mill villages among those outside the area even in South Carolina. The purpose of this website is keep the memories of the Pacolet area alive and to try to provide insight and understanding of one mill town, its people and its institutions.


I invite you to send your own memories, photographs and stories of Pacolet. The story of how and why your ancestors came to Pacolet to live and work is particularly solicited. An entire section of the website will be devoted to the families of the area. I also ask you to please send corrections and additions to the information given. Much of this is based on my memories after 60 or even 70 years and might not be completely - or even partially - correct. Send information to me via email at gteaster@pacoletmemories.com or by regular mail to the address given at the bottom of the page.

Besides personal memories, I have relied on several very interesting books for information about the Pacolet area. I recommend these books to anyone wanting more detailed information relating to Pacolet and the surrounding vicinity. A list of these books can be seen at Reference Books.

 This section highlights new and recent developments about Pacolet and its people. This section will also give details about new stories added to this website and it will also be a place where upcoming community events can be posted. Click on the link above to read this.

1940 and 1950  Federal Census for Pacolet now available on this site.


The main subjects covered by this website are covered by the broad categories below. Clicking on these links will give you more detailed information about that subject including additional links to sub-stories. 
THE PACOLET AREA MUSEUM - This important facility will help keep the memory of Pacolet's past alive.

SHARE YOUR MEMORIES
- Send us your memories for the website and read what other folks have sent.

RICK ROWLAND'S ART ABOUT PACOLET

THE NEIGH NEWSPAPER - Efforts are underway to have each issue of The Neigh here. Now complete through 1952.

THE HISTORY OF THE PACOLET AREA
GRINDAL SHOALS
TOLLESON'S TAVERN
GOLD RUSH

THE SOAPSTONE QUARRIES

HISTORIC ROADS


PACOLET HISTORY BOOKS PRODUCED BY THE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THE PACOLET AND GLENDALE AREA
       
            MORGAN'S MARCH RE-ENACTMENT

THE PACOLET RIVER
THE BRIDGES
THE ISLAND
BROWNS BRANCH AND BRIDGE


THE TOWNS AND THE GOVERNMENT

THE FAMILIES

PACOLET  STATION
THE RAILROAD
PACOLET STATION POST OFFICES
PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL AND OTHER PACOLET STATION SCHOOLS
       ( HELP ESTABLISH A PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIAL READING GARDEN)
LIST OF ALL THE GRADUATES OF PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1929 - 1976
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CLASSES AND MANY INDIVIDUALS OF PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1929-1976
LIST OF MOST OF THE FACULTY OF PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1929-1976
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE FACULTY OF PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1949 -1957
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE FACULTY OF PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1958 -1976
THE CANNERY AT PACOLET HIGH SCHOOL
WHAT PACOLET STATION WAS LIKE IN THE PERIOD 1909-1915
LIVING IN PACOLET STATION IN 1942
MAPS OF PACOLET STATION
CENTRAL PACOLET
           MAPS OF CENTRAL PACOLET

PACOLET MILLS   
THE BUSINESS HISTORY OF PACOLET MILLS
THE PEOPLE
THE MILL WHISTLE AND THE PASSING GENERATIONS
IT WAS SO COMPLICATED!
CHILD LABOR
PACOLET MILLS, THE BEST MILL VILLAGE IN THE SOUTH - ARTICLE, OCTOBER, 1921
THE HOUSES
THE COAL PILE
MARYSVILLE
THE DUMMY

THE COMPANY PASTURE AND COW STALLS
THE PACOLET FLOOD
THE YMCA  (THE HALL)
THE FLAT AND THE CAFE
TAXIS
RECREATION
SWIMMING POOL
BOY SCOUTS
    MORE ABOUT PACOLET BOY SCOUTS
    EAGLE SCOUT LIST
   CUB SCOUT PACK 290
GIRL SCOUTS
DR. HILL AND THE CLINIC
MISS FULLER
    PACOLET MILLS DEATH LIST
    MORE ABOUT MISS FULLER
    PACOLET SERVICE MEN'S NEWSLETTER
MRS. CORRIE FERNANDEZ - NURSE
THE DENTIST
THE PACOLET MILLS SCHOOLS
    PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF THE CLASSES AT PACOLET MILLS ELEMENTARY  
BASEBALL
THE BALL PARK
THE HOTEL AND HOTEL HILL
THE 4TH OF JULY BARBECUE
SKYWRITING
PACOLET MILLS'  SITES ON THE  NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
MAPS OF PACOLET MILLS
PACOLET MILLS IN GEORGIA
ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PHOTO FROM PACOLET AND JONESVILLE IN  1961
A TIGHTWAD CHRISTMAS
THE CHURCHES

PHOTO ALBUMS - (New Feature)

A SAD DISCOVERY AND MYSTERY

AN UNUSUAL DRONE VIEW OF PACOLET MILLS

PACOLET PLACE NAMES AND LOCATIONS

VETERANS - An attempt is being made to list every veteran that ever served from the Pacolet area.

PACOLET NICKNAMES

THE PACOLET FIRE DEPARTMENTS

THE PACOLET MILLS RESCUE SQUAD

THE POLICE

THE  SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
        BURGESS TOWN
        CAN HOLLOW
        GOUCHER
            THE GOUCHER AIRPLANE CRASH
            THE CRASH MYSTERY IS SOLVED.
        HAMMETT GROVE
        HARVEY TOWN
        KEG TOWN
        PUMPKIN CENTER

        WHITESTONE

WORLD WAR II
CAMP CROFT
THE QUARRIES

FEDERAL CENSUS FOR PACOLET
        1940
        1950

STORES AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE PACOLET AREA IN THE 1940'S AND 1950'S

Pacolet and the Outside World - Newspapers, Radio, TV, Telephones, Telegrams, Etc.

DO YOU KNOW?

THE PASSING OF MARY LEE MCKINNEY TEASTER -  It is with extreme sadness that I share this news on the Pacolet Memories website. My wife, Mary Lee McKinney Teaster, passed away in February after a long and debilitating illness.  I cannot begin to put into words how much I miss her.



Complete Table of Contents

Almost all of the stories and articles on this website are listed as links on the page, Contents. They are all also listed as links in individual articles that are listed above. However, the Contents page shows links to all of the stories, including sub - stories, in one place. The exceptions to this are some "pdf" data files that still must be reached through the link on the main subject page.


        Contact Information:

        Gerald Teaster
        1311 Jahnz Ave
        Summerville, SC 29485

        email - gteaster@pacoletmemories.com

       
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.
See more information about my Pacolet connection at Gerald Teaster.  If you are interested, you can click on Work Biography to see my work experience.

 

Help Preserve Our Textile Heritage
Join the efforts of The Textile Heritage Center. This organization is committed to creating greater awareness of the contributions made by Southern cotton mill people. Their current publication of "The Bobbin and Shuttle" has two stories about Glendale. Information about joining their organization and buying a copy of the Bobbin and Shuttle is on their website at:
http://www.textileheritage.org

Cliffside Mill in North Carolina was much like Pacolet Mills. Residents have started a fascinating website to tell the story of their people, town and their past. The site has movies taken in 1937 and 1940. These movies tell an intimate story of the community and the people as they went about their lives. Although taken at Cliffside, life in Pacolet Mills was very similar. The web site is:
http://remembercliffside.com/

TheStartex/Tucapau Historical Society has an interesting website relating to the Startex mill and community in South Carolina. It is :
http://www.startex.org/history.htm


Junior History Press also sponsors a website to tell the story of our neighboring community of Glendale, SC. It can be seen at:
http://glendalesc.com/


The City and County of Greenville, SC were long at the center of textile production in all of the South. They are in the forefront of preseving our textile heritage. Visit their interesting web site at:
http://scmillhills.com/default.aspx