Laurens County’s “red-letter day” was Friday as it relates to the on-going effort to preserve Revolutionary War heritage in the county and, by extension, in the state.
The first site-designating sign for Laurens County 250 was unveiled at Gray Court’s Culbertson Backcountry Settlement.
State Sen. Danny Verdin acknowledged that Covid had set us back, but he looks forward to the days when “we have hundreds of people on this site.” He refers to the popular Pioneer Days event played host to by Culbertson Backcountry Settlement in September.
“History is part of our Good and Godly heritage,” said Verdin, reference Psalm 44 which talks about what the people’s children and grandchildren will learn through oral history and artifacts.
The settlement includes authentic log cabins, a church where shape note singers have performed, a livery, a school, and a nearby cemetery. Dianne Culbertson and her late husband Charles and Sara Jane Armstrong have made this settlement a labor of love for many years.
Laurens County will have 5 important sites accessible through The Liberty Trail, a connection of 78 historic sites throughout South Carolina that will be drive-able and/or bicycle-able. The State of South Carolina has invested, so far, $17 Million into this tell-the-story effort and the counties have been provided with $7 Million for their efforts, through the SC 250 Committee.
“Every story is different,” Culbertson said.
In Laurens County, the story of Revolutionary War skirmishes and battles and the hardship of 1780 will be told through signs at 14 sites. Laurens County already has an important state historic site – Musgrove Mill State Historic Site, near Clinton – related to the Revolutionary War.
It is expected that people from throughout the world will be coming to America to study the Revolution before, during and after the anniversary.
Events nationwide will culminate on July 4, 2025 – the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In leading Friday’s observance in prayer, Culbertson said, “Thank You for our ancestors who founded our new nation.”
Culbertson Backcountry Settlement was founded in 2002 by the Gray Court-Owings Historical Society. The Laurens County Council authorized money that will install signs at each of the 14 important sites in Laurens County.
“Some of them are under water and some of them we can’t find,” said Ernie Segars, chairman of the Laurens County 250 Committee. “But they will be designated somewhere nearby.”
Four permanent sites will be established – Culbertson settlement, Hammond’s Store, Hayes Station, and Rosemont Planation.
A major exhibit of Revolutionary War sites artwork will be installed and housed at the Laurens County Museum.
“This is a red-letter day for us,” Segars said of the first sign (and QR code for a countywide map) installed at a designated site. The committee also has a Laurens County Chamber of Commerce-designed website.
“Dreams do come true,” said Sara Jane Armstrong. As a representation of pre-Colonial life, Culbertson Backcountry Settlement is “as good as it gets,” she said.
“Each of these logs was touched by a man or a woman more than 250 years ago,” Verdin said. The settlement is near the old stagecoach stop on the Georgia Road that carried settlers from Virginia and the Carolinas to Georgia – “in Virginia it’s called the Carolina Road,” Culbertson said.
“Our 250 committee wants to tell the story of everyone that was here,” Culbertson said. At the state level, the theme is “It Took Us All,” she said.
“And look at what they built. We have a wonderful country.”
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