Cheraw SC

A couple of weeks back Donna and I made a day trip Cheraw, SC to check out their historic downtown. We enjoyed a peaceful, laid-back drive up Highway 1 and stopped along the way in McBee to pick up some of Mac's Pride's wonderful peaches and blackberries. Yum!

We stopped by the chamber of commerce in Cheraw, where they'll gladly lend you the keys to the lyceum and to old St. David's Church. In walking over to the lyceum with keys in hand, we encountered the Inglis-McIver Law Office, built in 1838.


We also encountered this statue of Dizzy Gillespie, who was born in Cheraw. Later in the day we visited the site of his boyhood home; the house is no longer there, but the site has been turned into a memorial park with various works of art spread throughout it.


Neat old style barber pole.


The Lyceum was built between 1810 and 1825. Over the years it has been used as a courtroom, a library, a telegraph office, and as an office for both Confederate and Union armies; it is now home to a well-stocked museum depicting Cheraw's history.


Old St. David's Church, built around 1770. It was used by both Patriot and Loyalist troops during the Revolutionary War and by both Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.






This is a functioning organ with foot pedals that operate the bellows. I cranked out a couple of decent-sounding melodies on it.






Lots of folks from throughout the years are buried here, including some Fraser Highlanders from Scotland that died fighting in the Revolutionary War.






Neat little spider we encountered outside. Not sure what it is; anyone know?


In the cemetery is the first monument created in memory of soldiers killed in the Civil War.

On our way home we encountered this rainbow over Camden.


So, Cheraw was a pretty fun place to explore. There are a couple of good-sounding eateries downtown that serve only lunch, and we unfortunately didn't get there quite in time to visit them. Maybe next time!