Saluda River Columbia SC

by Lisa Wooten

Title

Saluda River Columbia SC

Artist

Lisa Wooten

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Purchased: 2019

Featured: I Wish I Were There 5/13/2015

saluda river factory ruins
The Garden�s River Trail leads visitors from the Saluda River Bridge along a paved path to the ruins of the old Saluda River Factory. One of South Carolina�s oldest textile mills, the factory was constructed out of granite blocks sometime around 1830, and ultimately became one of the largest cotton mills in the South. At one point, the company that owned the factory utilized 64 slaves to help operate the mill. Several other businesses were located next to the factory including a general store, gristmill, tavern and several boarding houses. This area makes up the Saluda Factory Historic District.
The Saluda River Factory struggled financially throughout its history and was sold several times. This misfortune continued when Union troops set it ablaze during Sherman�s occupation of Columbia. On the eve of the burning of Columbia, Sherman and his troops set up camp on a point just above the factory. They began their assault on the city from this ridge on February 17, 1865. A huge boulder, known as �Sherman�s Rock,� still remains and is visible along the Garden�s Woodland Walk.
Following the Civil War, the mill was reconstructed, only this time a wood-frame structure was built on the original granite foundation. An accidental fire destroyed the mill for a second and final time on the afternoon of August 2, 1884. From the paved path and covered pavilion on the River Trail, visitors can see remnants of the granite foundations of the mill, picking house and millrace. One of the more striking features of the mill ruins is a keystone arch immediately adjacent to the path. Careful observers may also notice drill marks on many of the boulders along River Trail and Woodland Walk. These marks are the result of a drilling process that split apart the huge rocks in order to produce the blocks of granite used in building the original mill.
The Saluda River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 200 mi (320 km) long, in northern and western South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree River, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean. The Saluda River is formed about 10 mi (15 km) northwest of the city of Greenville, on the common boundary of Greenville and Pickens Counties, by the confluence of its north and south forks, each of which rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains very near the border of North Carolina:

The North Saluda River flows generally south-southwestwardly through northern Greenville County, past Marietta.
The South Saluda River flows generally southeastwardly on the Greenville-Pickens County border, receiving the Oolenoy River and the Middle Saluda River, which rises in Jones Gap State Park and flows generally southward through northwestern Greenville County.
From this confluence the Saluda River flows generally southeastwardly through the Piedmont region, through or along the boundaries of Pickens, Greenville, Anderson, Abbeville, Laurens, Greenwood, Newberry, Lexington and Richland Counties, past the towns of Piedmont, West Pelzer, Pelzer, Ware Shoals and West Columbia. It joins the Broad River in Columbia to form the Congaree River. Wikipedia

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April 28th, 2015

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