During a hot July 2007 weekend, I decided to tour some of the historic places in Sumter, SC. While there is a ton more history in Sumter than what I show in this tour, I wanted to show our viewers some of what Sumter has to offer. To visit all these sites, you should block off about a 3 hour chunk of time. This will give you time to stop and really see these places and time to get semi-lost.

Just a little Sumter County History

Picture Gallery
I have compiled some pictures of this tour. You can find view the Sumter Historic Places gallery by CLICKING HERE.

Map of the Sumter Historic Tour
With one click of the mouse you can see a map of the places I visited. Click HERE to see the Map of Sumter History I created just for Sumter - Shaw Virtual Business Net viewers.

Additional Commentary and Links

Horatio, South Carolina: Horatio is a small town about 20 miles from Sumter. The drive out to Horatio is through rural farmland and forests. With a population of about 7,000 people Horatio seems a lot smaller than it is. Lenoir’s General Store has snacks, fruit, and plenty of other goodies.
1. http://www.bestplaces.net/zip-code/Horatio_SC-72906200000.aspx

Historic Markers in Sumter, SC

Hill Hills Baptist Church: Located on Meeting House Road in Sumter and has a good turn-off and parking lot to view this historic landmark. There is a graveyard and well maintained site. The church is fenced off and you might not be able to go inside the church. But it’s still a good place to visit.
1. http://www.knowitall.org/schistory/IndexResults.cfm?picRefs=I71
2. http://www.rootsweb.com/~scsumter/highhillschurch.html

General Thomas Sumter Monument: Tucked away in the back part of a small subdivision, this little “park and memorial” is a fine place to visit. Picnic tables and history! Watch out for the dogs that guard the entrance to this park. They will chase you both driving in and out of the park. The dogs pretty much stay near their owners home so once inside the park you are safe.
1. http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=XFA126-014
2. http://patriots.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/the-swamp-fox/

Beech Creek Battles: Just a historic market at the corner of Highway 261 and Raccoon Road.
1. http://members.aol.com/y2ktyrant/hh.html

Sumter Memorial Park in early Oct 2006

Holy Cross Church: This grand old structure is well worth visiting. Too bad you cannot go inside this church built in 1852. The reason could be explained in the following article:
http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/opinions/displayOpinion.cfm?caseNo=4198

Furman Academy: That’s right, Furman College has some of its roots in right in Sumter, South Carolina. While there is only a historic market to remember this old school site, at least there is something! Be careful of stopping near this historic marker. There is very little parking room on this road. But there is very little traffic on the road to make it a little safer.
1. http://library.furman.edu/about/libhist.htm
2. http://www.baptistheritage.com/directory/histsites/nc-sc.htm#sc
3. http://www.furman.edu/

The Mill on Loring Mill Road: Just a nice old building I believe to be an old grist mill.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gristmill
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_pond

So, there you have it. A historic tour in Sumter, SC that should be at least semi-interesting to the history buff in and around Sumter. Or this might be something to do on a day with nothing to do. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and maps.

Others Out There in Sumter?
Got some pictures of historic spots in Sumter County? Want to write about the history of Sumter? Let me know and I can post the pictures or your article. Contact me by using our Contact Us page.

Why don’t car salesmen and women have websites? I cannot ever recall coming across a car salesperson’s website and this baffles me. Now that I think about it, why don’t we call them “car agents” instead? Plenty of real estate agents have websites and they work on a “commission only basis” just like most car salespeople. The more they sell, the more money they make. So why are there no, “Buy a car from me” websites?

The dual agent…cars and homes

Are Real Estate and Car Agents Different?
So what is the difference between the car salesperson and the house salesperson? Real estate agents tell us that their knowledge and experience will help us through the home buying process. Every car salesperson I’ve meet seems to have the same attitude. They know the cars they are selling and are dedicating themselves to helping you buy that car.

What’s the Difference - Homes or Cars!
I’ll tell you the difference. Limited choice of who I deal with. If I want to buy a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in Sumter, I can go to ANY real estate agent. They can show me all the latest homes in the area. But if I want to buy a Ford Mustang or a Nissan Titan I can only go to that specific car dealer. My choices of “car agents” are limited to that specific car dealer’s salespeople. I’m basically forced to deal with the stable of “Car Agents” at that dealership. I know nothing about “Car Agent X” before I start looking for a car. And I’m going to hand over $15,000 or much more to this “Car Agent X”? Why shouldn’t I have the same choice as when looking to buy a home?

Who is this salesperson?

Experiment Sumter and You Shall Grow
In my “Free as in Free Beer Blog” posted on July 21, 2007, I gave hints on creating a blog website. So, should I expect car salespeople to rush out and promote themselves with a blog? I’m realistic and know maybe one or two salesmen might read this and say “Hey, tomorrow I’ll look into this “Salesperson Blog” website idea”. Of these two salespeople, “tomorrow” will never come for one of them. The other salesperson might delve into the idea. But what if that “one” salesperson did make it through the idea process and moved on to the execution phase? They will grow…grow their bank account with their sales commission. They will also grow their local reputation. Maybe they might even get that sales referral and/or that coveted repeat customer sale three years from now.

Trust?

Helping You Help Yourself
I’m a great believer of helping others help themselves. I will be glad to set up an easy to use blog for the innovative “Car Agent”. Something they can put right on their business card. Something they can point to and say to the prospective car buyer “go to my website and read about me and what I think about that Dodge Charger or Chrysler Aspen“.

Trust!!!!!!

Catch 22 - 24 Hours a Day
There is a catch with this deal though. The number one catch is Car Agent X will have to write about him or herself. They will have to be willing to write about the products they sell. They will have to keep their blog up to date. The biggest catch to my offer is there is a fee for me helping you help yourself. The fee is likely less than the commission you make on one car. Ooops, the other catch is this information will be available not 22 hours a day but 24 hours a day. Your website never closes. So when “Car Buyer B” decides to look at your business card at 11:00PM he can access your informative website/blog even though you are sleeping. Imagine selling a car while you are asleep.

Contact me at:
http://ourcarolina.com/modules/contact/
Do you think your employer can do a better job promoting and advertising “you”? Then a “Car Agent” Blog isn’t for you. Maybe you just need a little assistance promoting yourself.

I’m not saying that the Internet hasn’t caught on in South Carolina or Sumter. But there is a definite lack of South Carolina blogs. Blogs dealing with business, politics, hobbies or even “your thoughts” are hard to find from people in South Carolina. Only you can prevent a Blogless South Carolina.

Curves to blogging.

Curves on the Blogging Road
Free blogging software and free on-line blog applications are readily available. You can have your own on-line blog from a variety of websites out there. And for the most part you only need a computer and an Internet connection. The learning curve for creating and maintaining your very own South Carolina or even Sumter Blog is not very steep. Later on in this article/blog I’ll give you some links to places to get a free blog.

Time and Fame is Relative
It may take a half of an hour a day experimenting for a week or so before your good enough to publish your newest blog with all the goodies like pictures and links. But for a basic “no pictures and no links” blog, you can be up and published on the Internet in less than an hour. No really…it’s a 30 minutes process to become a famous South Carolina blogger.

Why Blog?
Good question, but there is no answer to this new age question. Blogging will not cure cancer. It will not make you much richer unless we’re talking about richer in spirit. I can say blogging helps spread local news and ideas that would be bottled up inside that brain of yours. For my Sumter viewers? There are a number of subjects that could be covered in “Your Blog”. New taxes, potholes on Broad Street, your new job, that great new pick-up truck you just bought…the list could go on for ever.

Blog about this????

Tell Me Mister Wizard
Where to get your free blog.
- Google’s Blogger found at https://www.blogger.com/start
- WordPress found at http://wordpress.com/signup/
- Vox found at http://www.vox.com/

There are many other places to get your “gratis” blog. Search around and find the one that suits you.

30 Days to ?
In just 30 days, we, the residents of Sumter and South Carolina could form a strong Internet information network. But as Smokey “the high tech” Bear says…Only you can prevent a Blogless South Carolina.

Map of Land
Here is a link to a map of the lands I’m blogging about in this post. If Sumter County won’t map it, I will.
Click here to see the maps and more information.

Possible location of New Subdivision?

Queens Grant Subdivision Rumor
The big planned subdivision called “Queens Grant” development may either be on hold or cancelled completely. Will this mean 300 less new single family homes will be built in Sumter in the short term? Only time will tell.

So Called Eden’s Estate Subdivision
Truth: The Sumter County Council has been discussing a new planned subdivision I call Eden’s Estates. This is a 300+ home subdivision planned by the family of one of our Sumter County Councilmen.

Rumor: I thought I read somewhere that some of this land was in the Shaw AFB flight path and subject to “better restrict or lose the base” restrictions? I think there was a third reading on this issue on the June 19th, 2007 or July 9, 2007 County Council Meeting.

Excerpt from County Count Meeting Minutes: “A Request To Rezone +/135 Acres From Agricultural Conservation (AC) To Residential 15 (R15) Located On The West Side Of Black River Road, North Of The Intersection Of Black River Road And Edens Road. Tax Map # 1910001002 ; 1910001021 ; 1910002010 (Part).”

Old house near Meeting House and Kings Hwy

Kings Meeting House Subdivision
Truth: The Sumter County Council has been entertaining the idea of a new subdivision on Hwy 261 and Meeting House Road for quite some time. I will call this new subdivision The Kings Meeting House Subdivision.

Looking up Meeting House Rd from Hwy 261

The public got their say about the possibility of 30-80 new homes / town homes being built on this semi-rural farmland. The public, at the citizens that live near this property are not too happy about this development. In any case, the Sumter County Council unanimously granted third reading approval. The one caveat was “the development should include a tree buffer between this subdivision and the neighboring homes”.

Rumor: While not a rumor, my thoughts are:
With so many local residents speaking against this subdivision at the June 12, 2007 County Council Meeting, the owners of this land might want to back off a little. A subdivision located in a place that the “locals” aren’t happy make for poor neighbors and a bad place to live.

On the other hand, the owners could legally place about 30 mobile homes on this land with little or no review process.

Excerpt from County Count Meeting Minutes: “A Request To Rezone +/29.94 Acres From Agricultural Conservation To Residential 15
(R15) Located At N. Kings Highway And Meeting House Road. Tax Map # 0930001024
; 0930001025; 0930001027; 0930001028; 0930001030; 0930001031; and 093030001032.”

A No Response, No Action County Council
Way back in November 2006 I started a mini-campaign to get additional information posted on the Sumter County website. In March/April 2007 I got some response from my government. Since this time, my local government seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

In this case I specifically asked the County Council to add a map to their Council Meeting Minutes. The old way of describing where a plot of land is located is by listing the County Tax Map Numbers (See the “Excerpt from County Count Meeting Minutes” in the above paragraphs). No one has addressed how a regular citizen can easily find the location of items discussed by our government with the Tax Map Numbers. But if Sumter County Council took the initiative (and my request) citizens wouldn’t have to wonder. Makes one wonder if our County Council even knows where the land in question is located.

Home sales figures for Sumter County, South Carolina shows the real estate market is still slumping. There were only 118 Single Family Homes sold in the Sumter area during the month of June 2007 or a 16% sales decline compared to figures in June 2006.

As I drive around the Sumter, SC area, I get the feeling that builders are catching on to these figures also. In the newer subdivisions, there is a lot less building going on. The one exception I see this is in the Banberry Subdivision where new homes are sprouting faster than weeds on my front lawn.

Banberry Estates before the rush hour?

Average Price of Homes Falling in Sumter
The average price of all single family homes sold in the Sumter area fell to $139,989 for June 2007. This represents a 2% decrease in the average selling price of homes when compared to last year. What does this mean to the homebuyer and home sellers in Sumter? That home you bought last year is now worth less than it was when you bought it. For home sellers it means you most likely will have to drop your current asking price to sell it in a reasonable amount of time. This trend is not unique to the Sumter area. Almost the entire nation is seeing a real estate recession. Will 2008 be a better year?

Halfway House Figures
The Median Sale Price of homes is also down in Sumter. During the first 6 months of this year, the median home sales price was $101,750. From January through June 2006, the median sale price was $106,500. This figure tells me that the homes that are selling are the lower priced homes on the market.

It’s official!!!!! The Item Newspaper and Toumey Hospital are now a part of Sumter County Government. What???? Don’t believe me? According to the Sumter County Website, The Item and Toumey are listed under the “County A-Z Department / Services Listing“.

The Smoky Back Room Hand Shake?
This may seem a little picky but why are “companies” like our local newspaper and hospital given top billing on our local government website? Who decides what companies our Sumter County government will endorse and what companies are just kicked to the curb? Were these endorsements agreed upon in some dark little office in the county administration building? Or did I miss “that” public meeting where our County Council argued the finer points of endorsing one business over another?

Less Taxing Decision?
There can be no disputing the facts that the Sumter County website is funded by my tax dollars, your tax dollars and our tax dollars. So it seems only fair that the Sumter Virtual Business Net website should get a link on the Sumter County “County A-Z Department / Services Listing” portion of the website. Why doesn’t every local business that has a website get a link?

Of the People, By the People and For the People
I might throw my full support behind Sumter County’s endorsement of The Item newspaper and Toumey Hospital if these businesses paid for the endorsement and lowered my taxes. But we all know that will never happen. I might even accept Sumter County’s continued back room commercial endorsements if their own website was updated and contained better information. But instead we have a local government that does the wink and a handshake agreement hoping no one will notice. What was it that Abraham Lincoln said? “Government of the people, by the people, for the local special interests in Sumter South Carolina, shall hopefully not be noticed and not perish from the website”.

That’s right Sumter…Farmers Telephone Cooperative is “On Stop” and has been for months and months. What does “On Stop” really mean in the telephone industry? Well it really means “One Stop - All Your Communication”.

“On Stop” or “One Stop”?

About 8 months ago I noticed a typographical error in the FTC ad on the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce website. I waited and waited for this error to be fixed. I was sure a company like Farmers Telephone would catch the error and get it fixed. Finally I gave up, figuring FTC just never noticed the error.

Contacting FTC
I contacted FTC customer service on May 21st, 2007 via e-mail. I explained their ad on the Chamber of Commerce website contained an error. The reply was “Thank you, I will look into it”.

Why Bother?
You may ask, “why bother concerning yourself with minor errors?” on some website? Good question and maybe I shouldn’t have bothered. I contacted FTC strictly as a courtesy. A company may not notice a typo and figured they would want to know AND fix the error. I’d hope someone would discreetly notify me if there was long standing typo on this website. You know…“do unto others” type of thing.

It’s been well over one month since I brought this error to FTC’s attention. They are still “On Stop”. Why bother being discreet! I’m moving on but still stirring the pot.