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Seay House Saturday

August 21, 2010, 10:00-4:00
106 Darby Road, Spartanburg, SC; seayhouse@spartanburghistory.org or 864-596-3501
Join us on this Saturday at The Seay House, Spartanburg's oldest home. Located at 106 Darby Road just off Crescent Avenue, this home showcases the dwelling of a local farmstead managed and maintained by three maiden Seay sisters in the late 1800s. Come relax for an hour or two on this historic property!

The Seay House is open by appointment year-round and on the 3rd Saturday of the summer months except July. Sponsors allow us to open at no charge to the public, though visitor donations help us maintain the property.  Special thanks to Linda Powers Bilanchone for sponsoring August’s Seay House Saturday.   The Seay House is one of 3 historic homes maintained by the Spartanburg County Historical Association.

Lunch & Learn Spartanburg

August 27, 2010, 12:30-1:30 pm
West Wing Conference Room of the Chapman Cultural Center
$5 at the door; Lunches welcome; Reserve at 864-596-3501 or njefferies@spartanburghistory.org
Dr. Jeff Willis will share images and stories from the life of J. Frank Collins, Spartanburg Architect and Artist.  Lunch & Learn Spartanburg is a presentation of the Regional History Museum.

Nature Trail Dedication at Historic Price House

August 28, 2010, 10:00 a.m.
Adults $10.00; Ages 6-17 $5.00; Ages 5 & under free.

Special guest at the dedication will be Spartanburg native, Wofford College alumnus, and South Carolina Educational Television nature expert Rudy Mancke, who will lead his famous "microtour" at the nature trail site.  You will also be able to enjoy guided tours of the historic Price House.

Built through the efforts of Eagle Scout candidate Martin Groke from Spartanburg's Troop 2 at First Presbyterian Church, the trail will help us provide Spartanburg County residents with opportunities to hike, off-road bike, bird watch, exercise outdoors, or simply commune with nature.  Additionally, we can provide Spartanburg County children with opportunities to learn natural history and science in an outdoor setting.  Come to Rudy's tour and support our effort.

For more information, please contact Zac Cunningham, Price House director, by phone at 864-576-6546 or by email at pricehouse@spartanburghistory.org. 

Friday Campfire at Walnut Grove Plantation

Summer Day Camps 2010

History In Your Backyard
Location: Regional History Museum
For Ages 7 thru 9, June 14-18, 2010, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
For Ages 10 thru 13, June 21-25, 2010, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
Students learn how archaeologists uncover artifacts and use the information they gather to discover who lived in that place.  It's not all about Indiana Jones, but the cool fragments we dig up can tell us things about the history that happened in our own backyard.  Camp focuses on the basics of archeology and local history.  Students learn how to set up digs and find artifacts in the ground.  Includes trips to the Historic Price House, the Seay House, and the Spartanburg Area Conversancy's Cottonwood Trail.

Spartanburg's Military History
Location: Regional History Museum
Date: July 12-16, 2010, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
Ages 8 thru 13
Spartanburg County has a rich history connected to our country's military.  From the battles of the American Revolution to the training camps located here during World Wars I and II, students will learn about the impact that local people and places have had on our nation's military history.  Camp includes visits to local military sites such as Camp Wadsworth, Camp Croft, Cowpens Battlefield and the American Legion Museum as well as interaction with veterans.

Junior Historian Camp
Location: Regional History Museum
Date: July 26-30, 2010, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm
Ages 12 thru 15
Students learn how to research their ancestors and uncover their family history using techniques that real historians would use.  Camp focuses on genealogy, creating history with local resources and includes site visits to the Spartanburg Public Library, a cemetery and the County Court House as well as walking tour of Spartanburg.

Day camps at the Regional History Museum cost $100 per child. Contact Nannie Jefferies at 596-3501 or njefferies@spartanburghistory.org for more information or to register.

Camp Colonial: A Living History Camp at Walnut Grove Plantation
Location: Walnut Grove Plantation
Date: June 15-17, 2010, 9:00 am to Noon
Students work and play the colonial way while learning about the life and times of the Moore Family of Walnut Grove Plantation.  Day 1 focuses on The Colonial Kid's Life and includes a tour of the plantation's schoolhouse, quill writing lessons, and weaving and candle-making activities.  Day 2 examines The Slave's Life and the crucial role played by enslaved people on plantations like Walnut Grove, particularly their role in growing and preparing food.  Planned activities include a kitchen tour, hearth cooking and basket making demonstrations, and a garden tour and fence building exercise.  Finally, Day 3 introduces students to The Soldier's Life and features a tour of the main house as well as interaction with a Revolutionary War reenactor.  Students will practice militia drills, "forage" for food on our nature trail, and learn about medicine in the 1700s.  Nearly all camp activities feature hands-on components that allow students to use skills learned to make something they can take home.  Each day will feature time for reflective writing as well.

Camp Colonial is recommended for children entering 4th or 5th grades in the upcoming school year but any child between the ages of 8 and 13 is welcome.  The camp costs $60 per child. Contact Zac Cunningham at 576-6546 or walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org for information or to register.

Regulator Day at Walnut Grove Plantation

Saturday, June 19, 2010, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm (Rain or Shine)

1200 Otts Shoals Rd, Roebuck

Admission: adults $6.00; ages 6-17 $3.00; ages 5 & under free

In the 1760s, gangs of outlaws marauded over the South Carolina Backcountry rustling cattle, stealing horses, raiding plantations, robbing travelers, torturing citizens, and breaking into homes.  With no local law enforcement and a colonial government in Charles Town initially unable to protect faraway frontier residents, Backcountry citizens took matters into their own hands.  Known as Regulators, these residents formed militias of well-armed Rangers to confront lawlessness and disorder.  Many in the colony felt this Regulator Movement to be a great success while others despised it as vigilantism of the worst sort.  Its consequences would later help fuel the region's brutal partisan warfare during the American Revolution.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, 2010, come to Walnut Grove Plantation to learn more about this first attempt at creating law and order on the South Carolina frontier.  Reenactors from the South Carolina Rangers will portray Regulators and will demonstrate the weapons and tactics used to tame the region.  Tours of the plantation house, kitchen and academy available throughout the day.  Visitors can also see the Moore family cemetery, walk the site's nature trail, and see the plantation's outbuildings.  Picnics welcome!

For more information, call 864-576-6546 or email walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org

Downtown Spartanburg Walking Tour

Begins at Regional History Museum, 200 E. St. John St., Spartanburg
June 26, 2010 - 10:00 to 11:30 am

Admission: $10 adults, $5 students
Limited to 30

Downtown walking tours begin at the Regional History Museum and proceed to East Main Street, through Morgan Square, down Magnolia Street and back along St. John Street.  Participants will have a chance to see historic photographs that depict historical views of downtown Spartanburg from where they were taken.  Additionally, we'll hear fascinating and often humorous stories about downtown and its occupants.  Downtown has changed a lot since 1787, and there is no better way to see it than by standing in the places where history happened!  Tours will be canceled in the case of inclement weather.  Custom tours for school and civic groups also available.

To make reservations or for more information, contact Brad Steinecke at 596-3501 or by emailing bsteinecke@spartanburghistory.org.

Colonial Gardening at Walnut Grove Plantation

1200 Otts Shoals Road, Roebuck

Admission: adults $6.00, ages 6-17 $3.00, ages 5 and under free.

Walnut Grove Plantation's vegetable and herb gardens served as crucial food sources for the Moore family.  Meet Gardener Tim Foster and his assistant gardeners as they share plants, techniques, and tastes of the colonial- and revolutionary-era garden.  The plantation's gardens and fields probably fed others besides the Moore family.  Patriot and Loyalist militia alike frequently foraged food from farms and plantations like Walnut Grove.  Throughout the day, local reenactors from the South Carolina Rangers will demonstrate camp cooking techniques as well as fire making skills and other military survival techniques. Militia drills and weapons demonstrations will occur as well.  Blacksmith Bruce Mills will be forging tools for the garden and plantation at Walnut Grove's forge.  Tours of the historic buildings will be available throughout the day.  Bring a picnic and make a day of it!

For more information, call 864-576-6546 or email walnutgrove@spartanburghistory.org.

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