The district straddles both Abbeville and Greenwood counties and is found at the junction of Abbeville County Road 33, Greenwood County Road 112, and Greenwood County Road 47.

As part of the Cedar Springs Historic District, the Frazier-Pressley House is listed in the National Register. It is described as follows:

The Frazier-Pressley House is a three-story, stuccoed brick building, believed to have been constructed as a residence for Captain James W. Frazier in 1852-1856. The building is composed of three octagonal sections connected by a hallway that circumscribes the central three-story octagon with a three-story portico defining the facade (south elevation) and a two-story stuccoed brick ell at the rear.

The portico of the Frazier-Pressley House features four three-story brick pillars with pilaster responds at the junctures with the house. The brick is laid on a diagonal bias, with vertical channeling resulting. The capitals of the pillars are cubical with recessed brickwork creating stepped diamond panels. A veranda is carried by the pillars at each level.

According the local tradition Captain James Frazier constructed his three-story brick plantation home between 1852 and 1856. in 1875 Frazier’s daughter Tallulah and her husband, Dr. Joseph Lowry Pressley, acquired the house. Dr. Pressley had served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of major. After his discharge he continued to serve the people of the Cedar Springs community as a doctor and teacher of medicine and dentistry. The central room on the third floor of the house served as his office.

The two-story gable-roofed log building adjacent the the Frazier-Pressley House was probably built c. 1820. Local tradition holds that the building was a stagecoach stop and inn on the road from August, Georgia, to Abbeville and Edgefield. It is likely that the stopping place was established in this location because of the community already developed around the Cedar Springs Church.

The Frazier-Pressley House is exceptional in that it is built around three octagons. These three octagonal elements are connected by a hallway circumscribing the central octagonal core of the house by a massive three-story portico, whose three tiers of porches are reached by seven entrances, all with transoms and sidelights. The composition and plan of the Frazier-Pressley House are believed to be unique in the United States.

Many thanks to Bill Fitzpatrick of Taylors, for sending us his photos of the Frazier-Pressley House. Bill enjoys the singular distinction of being the only person ever to have visited all 1,400 of South Carolina’s National Historic Landmarks. He has published several helpful e-books which serve as invaluable travel guides to the Palmetto State.

Of all the landmarks he visited, this home is one of Bill’s favorites. He explains, “I have special fondness for Cedar Springs, for it turned out to be the reason I did all of this. A fellow at a local camera shop was talking about the incredible, three-tiered, eight-sided abandoned plantation home about an hour or so south of Greenville. He knew it used to be on the border of the Cherokee Nation, so with no more information than that, I eventually found it. Only, and happily, as you can see, it is in the process of being improved. I never violated the privacy rights of homeowners, so like all other historic home shots, I took this one from the street.”

Cedar Springs Church was formerly organized between 1779 and 1780 by Dr. Thomas Clark, a seminal leader of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. For many years, the church shared a pastorate with Lower Long Cane A.R.P. Church. The Cedar Springs farming community was prosperous during this time, and the churches had a congregation of 500 members between them.

Abbeville County was once considered part of South Carolina‘s frontier, and many settlers came here seeking new fortunes. In turn, the opening of our country’s western territories, from the 1820s to the 1830s, lured many Abbeville families away.

Still, many families remained in Cedar Springs and became Confederate soldiers and officers. Unfortunately, nearly half of Abbeville County’s male population was killed during the war. This had far-reaching implications as families and farms struggled to survive during the Reconstruction.

The Great Depression devastated those local farms that survived Reconstruction. The passage of time has allowed the Sumter National Forest to swallow up many traces of Abbeville and McCormick County‘s rich farming heritage.

Special thanks to Mark Clark, an Abbeville native who currently resides in Winnsboro, for providing much of this historical information. Mark aptly notes that “the survival of both the Cedar Springs and Lower Long Cane churches speak to how fleeting wealth can be.”

Mark attended a service at Cedar Springs Church in May 2011 and says, “The church is air-conditioned and even features a small elevator to allow the disabled to move between the sanctuary and fellowship hall. The sanctuary itself is quite cozy and pure, being devoid of stained-glass windows. The former slave balcony in the rear of the sanctuary has been closed in and converted to three small Sunday school classrooms. It wasn’t until halfway through the service that I realized Dr. Loyd Melton (the pastor) wasn’t using a microphone of any kind. The acoustics in the sanctuary are perfect! The untouched purity of the sanctuary left quite a favorable impression on me.”

Burt had become friends with Jefferson Davis before the Civil War. After fleeing Richmond on his way to Georgia at the close of the war, Davis stopped at his friend’s home where he held the last meeting with his Confederate cabinet on May 2, 1865.

The house was purchased by James Stark in 1913, and his daughters Mary Stark Davis and Fanny Stark McKee were its last residents. The house was donated to the Abbeville County Historic Preservation Committee in 1971 by Mary Stark Davis. Located at 306 North Main Street, the home is now open for tours.

The home, which is also called the Armistead-Burt House, is listed in the National Register where it is described as follows:

The Armistead Burt House is significant to Civil War history as it served as the location of President Jefferson Davis’ last Council of War. Despite a number of military surrenders in the preceding months, Davis was determined to continue the struggle for an independent Confederacy. He planned to rally the troops in Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor’s Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana, cross the Mississippi, and join with forces there.

Davis was steadfast in this resolve when he reached Abbeville and took up quarters at the home of his personal friend, Major Armistead Burt. During the meeting in the southeast parlor with John C. Breckenridge, Braxton Bragg, Generals Duke, Ferguson, Dibrell, and Vaughn, Davis was advised that any attempt to continue the war would inflict more misery on the South, striking the death knell of the Confederate government. Because of this final meeting, Abbeville is known as the “Grave of the Confederacy.”

The two-story frame house, built in the 1830s, is Greek Revival in style. Four square columns support a pedimented two-story portico. Floor-length shuttered windows open onto the main portico on either side of the front door. Ornamental brackets surround the home’s entablature.

The acreage contains an original separate kitchen outbuilding. The gardens were designed in the 1830s by an English landscaper named Johnson. The narrow entrance drive, originally a carriage road, circles before the front steps where a dismount stone still stands.

SCIWAY sends a special thanks to both Mark Clark and Bill Fitzpatrick for their help in creating this page for the South Carolina Picture Project. Mark Clark is an Abbeville native who currently resides in Winnsboro, and he contributed both a photo and much of the historical information above.

Bill Fitzpatrick, who hails from Taylors, took the photo at top in 2012. Bill enjoys the singular distinction of being the only person ever to have visited all 1,400 of South Carolina’s National Historic Landmarks. He has published several helpful e-books which serve as invaluable travel guides to the Palmetto State.

In time the building became a movie theater, but eventually it closed altogether. Fortunately, the late 1960s saw efforts to revive live theater in Abbeville and restore the beautiful old Opera House. Little by little, money was raised, restoration work progressed, and in 1978, the Opera House once again had a summer theater season.

Today Abbeville’s Opera House is fully restored to its turn-of-the-century splendor with two modern concessions to comfort – air conditioning and rocking chairs! The curtain is raised and lowered using the same rope-pulled rigging system as in 1908, making it the only “hemp house” remaining in South Carolina.

At the turn of the century, vaudeville was in its heyday, and so was Abbeville’s Opera House. The hall hosted musicals, Broadway shows, the Ziegfeld Follies, and famous entertainers of the day such as Jimmy Durante and Fannie Brice.

In the early days of

In 1927, The Jazz Singer was the first “talkie” to come to Abbeville. Soon afterwards, the theater converted to movies only. Business boomed through the 1930s and 40s, but changes in ownership, the economy, and a lack of public demand forced the house to close in the 1950s.

It wasn’t long before theater lovers in Abbeville organized a community theater group and began to raise funds for the restoration of the Opera House. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town was the first show produced after the restoration was completed in 1968.

Today, the Opera House attracts more than 20,000 visitors to Abbeville during its winter and summer seasons. Located on the town square across from the courthouse, the Opera House is open weekdays from 8:30 AM to 5 PM for self-guided tours.

Mark Clark, an Abbeville native currently living in Winnsboro, remembers when his high school senior class presented the play, You Can’t Take It With You, at the opera house in 1982. He was cast in the small role of Wilbur C. Henderson, an I.R.S. agent sent to collect back taxes from a character who doesn’t believe in paying them. “I was nervous,” Mark says, “but once I got in front of the bright lights, I couldn’t see the audience so I relaxed and performed my part. The experience gave me a healthy respect for Broadway actors who always have to get it right on the live stage.”

Visit the Abbeville Opera House’s website here.

Much of Court Square is listed in the National Register. The square gets its name from the historic Abbeville Courthouse, which stands proudly beside the Abbeville Opera House on South Main Street. At one end of the square – which is actually more of a rectangle – you will find a replica of Big Ben’s iron bell. On the other end, you will find the Abbeville Fountain, which offers respite for cats, dogs, and horses.

In the middle of the square rises the Abbeville Confederate Monument. The Abbeville Livery Stable and the historic Abbeville Trinity Church are both within easy walking distance.

The square is home to many festivals and events, such as “Flicks on the Bricks,” an outdoor movie series hosted by the City of Abbeville during the summer. Speaking of movies, one interesting thing to note is that Abbeville’s square was featured in Sleeping with the Enemy, starring Julia Roberts. You can see it when Robert’s character, Laura, is traveling on the bus.

SCIWAY thanks frequent contributor Mark Clark, an Abbeville native who currently resides in Winnsboro, for submitting this picture. Mark writes, “The first job I ever had was working for the Abbeville Drug Company, which used to be located in the building at the far end of this picture. I stocked the shelves and delivered prescriptions to customers in town. Although Abbeville is a very small town, I quickly found that I knew very little about where the streets were without the help of a city map. Of course, since everyone in Abbeville knows everyone else, I quickly got to know most of my customers and learned a little about myself as well.”

Photographer Kelly Harvey says that “we were on a trip to an area state park and traveled to Abbeville for the day to do some shopping and have lunch. We ended up returning that evening for dinner. This was my first trip to Abbeville and thought the downtown area had a great vintage shopping area and both restaurants were wonderful. I just saw the clock in front of the courthouse and thought it made a great photo!”

Mark Clark says that he “remembers accompanying my father to vote when I was only six years old. Some of the older kids had climbed up on the courthouse columns to play. Not being old enough to vote or care about it, I decided to join the other kids on the columns.

“I lost my balance and fell off of the second column from the left, breaking my left arm. Thereafter I just contented myself to the less exciting act of voting when I became old enough to do so.”

The current stable was built in the late 1870s on the site of the original building and is located within walking distance of several other Abbeville landmarks including the Abbeville Trinity Church, the Abbeville Opera House, and the Abbeville County Courthouse.

In 2010 the Livery Stable was renovated as part of the Trinity Street Enhancement Project. Today, the stable is home to the Abbeville County Farmers Market and can also be rented for special events.

See a picture of the Gaston Livery Stable, a similar brick barn located in Aiken.

The interesting jungle gym pictured below was located on the front lawn of the old school. Years ago the train and its caboose were restored and moved to Long Cane Primary School.

SCIWAY thanks Mark Clark, an Abbeville native currently residing in Winnsboro, for sharing these photos.

Mark writes, “I always did well in school, but I found it dreadfully boring and spent many a day playing on this train under the shade of two tall oak trees. It seemed schoolwork was never as exciting as fighting train robbers. My father and grandfather both worked on the railroad in Abbeville, so the train had deeper emotional meaning for me than it did for most of the other kids.”

McGowan’s brigade of South Carolinians participated in the costly Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in May of 1864. The brigade, along with another one from Mississippi, was charged with defending a bulge in the Confederate battle line. The bulge was known as the Muleshoe Salient for its distinctive shape.

McGowan’s Brigade was charged with defending the angle facing westward. Fierce hand-to-hand combat with Union Army Major General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps raged for over twenty hours through darkness and drenching rain. It was during this battle that wounded men would fall down, be pushed into the mud, and drowned.

Over 10,000 men from both sides would die in this battle, giving it the name the “Bloody Angle.” The S.C. State Senate passed a Concurrent Resolution on April 11, 2007, urging the federal government to authorize a monument memorializing McGowan’s Brigade. The monument was dedicated at the Virginia battle site in spring of 2009.

Many thanks to frequent contributor Mark Clark, an Abbeville native currently residing in Winnsboro, who submitted this picture and great description. Mark says that he “remembers an errant motorist crashing into and destroying this cannon’s predecessor when I was a young boy many years ago. The town’s unique military history and sense of community allowed me to enjoy my brief military service in the U.S. Navy as a young man. To me this picture sums up the bucolic beauty returning soldiers came home to following the horrors of war.”

Although most well known for his stance supporting the now defunct institution of slavery, John C. Calhoun was an accomplished politician in his day. Calhoun was President James Monroe’s Secretary of War from 1817 to 1824 and is remembered for doing away with the military’s patronage system in favor of a modern bureaucracy. He also served as President John Tyler’s Secretary of State from 1844 to 1845. In 1957 he was named one of the five greatest senators in U.S. history by the U.S. Senate, sharing company with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.

Calhoun eventually sold this house and purchased a home in the Upstate area that he named Fort Hill. He lived there with his wife, Floride, and their three children. His daughter Anna Maria married Thomas Green Clemson and when she died in 1875, Clemson inherited the home and over 800 acres of land.

Upon Clemson’s death in 1888, the Fort Hill estate was donated to the State of South Carolina for the purpose of building an agricultural college. Today that land is the site of Clemson University.

This house is adjacent to the Abbeville Recreation Center facilities and was hidden behind overgrown foliage for many years.

SCIWAY thanks Mark Clark, an Abbeville native currently residing in Winnsboro, for submitting this picture and great historical information. He writes: “I went to the recreation center for many years as a boy never realizing a house like this existed in Abbeville. The Johnsons cleared the property and the whole town was amazed at the hidden jewel that had been discovered. The house was painstakingly restored by the Johnsons and is my favorite house in Abbeville.”