Church of the Holy Cross, Stateburg, SC

On January 9 Donna and I took an afternoon drive out around Sumter and Camden. I had just learned of the burial site of Joel Poinsett and wished to visit it, so that was the only real destination, and from there we explored a bit and found a couple more neat places.

Poinsett is the man for whom the Poinsettia flower is named, as he is the one who introduced it to our country. In November we visited a bridge near Greenville that is named for him. The church where he is buried is beautiful and is just a short piece north of Hwy 378 on Hwy 261, just west of Sumter.







A pair of buzzards was perched atop the steeple for a while.


We continued up Hwy 261 to the town of Boykin, which is really a step back in time. There is a functioning mill, a general store, a broom-making shop, a couple of restaurants, and the Swift Creek Church, built in 1827. The shops had closed down for the day, so we just enjoyed a drive through and a visit of the church.


Continuing north on 261, just north of Hwy 378 is the burial place of General Thomas Sumter; it is in a small "park" along with the graves of a few close family members that is accessed via a short road off the main road.


We saw this little guy out there:


Before heading back toward Columbia we drove through Camden and headed up Hwy 521 to the Camden Battlefield, site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1780. Not much to see other than a monument - no trails that I know of.


We managed to squeeze quite a bit into those few hours! Very fun adventure.