Some areas that the trail goes by are Jefferies Creek Park and Freedom Florence Recreational Park. To learn more about the Florence Rail Trail and other areas it connects, please see this PDF brochure.

SCIWAY contributor RB Davis tells us that “Florence’s railroads were busy during the Civil War transporting troops, artillery, and supplies as they made their way through Florence and onto Richmond, Charleston, and Savannah. The railroad carried wounded Confederate soldiers to Florence’s Wayside Hospital, and brought captured Union soldiers to the infamous Florence Stockade, which has been incorporated into the Rail Trail System and is under reconstruction as a historical location.”

Not into sports? The Florence Recreational Complex has a picnic shelter and a beautiful five-acre pond for fishing. There are many walking and biking trails within the park, including the Leatherman Center Fitness Trail which leads to the infamous Confederate States Military Prison. This prison held up to 18,000 Union soldiers – 2,800 of whom died.

Many thanks to Robert Davis for providing this information and photo which he took in November 2010.

For more information about the Florence Recreational Complex, make sure to visit their main website.

Non-profit community organizations whose purposes are educational, civic, charitable, or cultural can use the meeting rooms in the library for free. Just stop by the library and fill out a meeting room application form to see what days and times are available. You can also open and print the form here (PDF).

The Florence County Library system has a Main branch (seen in this picture), five branch facilities, and a bookmobile. County libraries in our state are mandated by state law and run by a Board of Trustees, who are selected by local county councils.

The library has something going on almost everyday of the week! You can see their calendar of events for information on free movie nights, book clubs, free computer classes, and much more.

Robert B Davis of Florence took this picture in April 2009. You can see more of Robert’s work on his blog.

Get more information about South Carolina libraries.

All of these projects are part of a large effort to make downtown Florence the social, economic, and cultural hub of the city.

Robert Davis of Florence took this picture of Dargan Street in April 2009. He writes: “On the left, just in view, is the Florence Art-Trails Gallery. Within the gallery is the studio of award-winning sculptor Alex Palkovich.”

You can visit Robert’s website to see more of his pictures.

More photos of the Jeffries Creek Nature Park can be found at Jeffries Creek Preservation Project.

The original owner, William Rogers Johnson, was a successful physician, planter, and legislator who later served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate. When Walter Rankin acquired the house in 1902, his wife quickly dubbed it “The Columns” in honor of the 22 Doric columns that support the structure. The house is also sometimes referred to as “Carolina Hall,” due to the fact that it was used as the model for the plantation house in the 1934 movie Carolina.

The Rankin-Harwell House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974.

Many thanks to Robert B. Davis of Florence for sharing this photo.

The South Carolina Encyclopedia has an informative article on tobacco barns in the Pee Dee region.

Please visit Robert’s website to see more of his photos.