SCIWAY thanks Jim Bryan for sending us this historic picture and information.

Some years later, the congregation moved to the Zion Branch community near Old Allendale, where members built their first sanctuary and adopted the name Zion Branch Baptist Church. They continued to worship there until 1875, when a new sanctuary was constructed and renamed Happy Home Baptist Church.

The current structure, a brick Gothic Revival building, was constructed in 1911, replacing the wooden frame sanctuary. Happy Home Baptist Church received its state historical marker in 2011.

SCIWAY thanks Mike Stroud of Bluffton for this picture, which he took in November 2011.

Nena Barnett of Simpsonville took this picture in July 2010. She says that “as we were traveling the back roads of South Carolina we came across this cute little post office. It was in a rural neighborhood, and even though it looks like a doll house, it is a functioning post office.”

Here is a map to the post office:

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Lamar describes the scene for us, “Driving through Allendale, one cannot help noticing the grand old buildings along the main streets. The one pictured here has loads of character and has long been a favorite of mine. Fortunately the architectural treasures in this part of town are rapidly finding new life as chic boutique shops.”

As the sign indicates it has been closed for a while, and its gas pumps removed. The single pump island is intact except for some wildflowers which have pushed through cracks in the cement. Although its highway commerce is gone, Ulmer has been around for many years and from all indications its industrial and agricultural production are still going strong.

Many thanks to Lamar Nix of Seabrook who submitted this picture and information.

It sits at the end of a long avenue with gardens situated in the median. The gardens are being replanted and manicured which makes the view even grander.

Lamar Nix of Seabrook, who took this beautiful photo, has this to say about the old store, which closed down some time back: “Today it is a pleasing landmark to passersby on the ‘Atomic Road’ (SR 125) between Allendale and Beech Island, punctuated by pretty wildflowers in the springtime. Maybe there will be a place again in commerce for this country store; at least we hope that it will not crumble from neglect and be lost to history.”

Many thanks to Ann Helms of Spartanburg. She says that “this is the Charleston & Western Carolina Railroad depot built in the 1800s when the town post office was called Sanders and the train stop was called Campbell’s Station. With the growth of the railroad, the town was incorporated and renamed Fairfax in 1893. The railroad remains an important part of the city today.”

SCIWAY thanks Lamar Nix of Seabrook for submitting this picture. He says that “folks in Ulmer like that old time religion. The Great Salkahatchie Baptist Church, formed in 1790, suits them just fine. Located in uptown Ulmer, it looks to be the center of attention on Sunday mornings. It is in fine form, especially for such an old church. It is near to the settlement of Buford’s Bridge which dates to the early 1700s, just across the Salkahatchie River.”