The Story Begins

I first moved to South Carolina about ten years ago, and to Honea Path about nine. I fell in love with the “little town with a big heart” and quickly discovered its southern hospitality knew no limits. I became a regular face at the Jennie Erwin library and picked out my favorite tables and breakfasts at every restaurant in town.

Early Chiquola Mill

Then I discovered the Chiquola Mill. You can’t miss it. The wreckage of the old mill looms over Honea Path. It seems like each street eventually winds up facing the mill or its little houses. One day I got lost back on the narrow and twisting streets surrounding the mill. It was fascinating and also a little scary. I was driving a huge truck and I couldn’t turn around without risking running over people’s mailboxes. I also kept getting stuck in dead ends so… turning around kind of had to happen. Not a great first impression.

The long minutes spent trying to turn that massive truck around gave me time to study the rubble of the old mill and wonder what exactly had happened to cause the shutdown and destruction of something that could have pulled tourists in from miles away. But while I wondered, I didn’t ask questions. Some things you just know aren’t comfortable topics. Honea Path had been so welcoming to me and I didn’t want to repay that kindness by sticking my nose in where it wasn’t wanted.

But then, I kind of stuck my nose in anyways. This project is proof. I got lost on the streets around the mill about three years ago. Since then, things changed in my life. For one thing, I started college. I stopped spending so much time at the Jennie Erwin and instead spent my time in the library on campus at Lander University. If traffic cooperates it’ll usually take me about an hour to drive from Lander to Honea Path. That’s a pretty long trip. Slowly, I stopped visiting Honea Path and started forgetting about the mill simply because I never saw it. Then, one day last month, I received the details for a research assignment required to complete one of my honors level courses.

Basically, I needed to find a partner for the project. Then, we needed to find a local story, research it, and present it in its full form. I partnered with Madison, a friend of mine and someone I knew I could count on to dig deep into researching the perfect story. While the partnering was easy, choosing the story was not. We were stumped and almost ready to settle on something boring and generic when I remembered the old mill. I suggested it, Madison liked it, and the story began.