The Essence of Kingstree

Imagine you are assigned to design a postcard. What image would you use to depict the essence of Kingstree's best qualities? Participants in the two public-input sessions hosted by Main Street, South Carolina, on February 15 brainstormed a number of postcard-quality images. Not surprisingly, Black River was the first image mentioned at both sessions.

Black River on a calm evening at Gilland Park, still known to many as the Scout Cabin.

Black River has long been an image central to the community. Way back in June, 1910, the local correspondent to The State newspaper entered Kingstree in that paper's contest for "The Best Town in South Carolina." In his entry, he noted, "The best stream in the world for for fishing–Black River–runs through the corporate limits of town." The State responded by printing, "When attention is directed to Black River, full of bream, flowing through Kingstree, perhaps it is not necessary to mention anything else."

Modern day residents, however, insist Black River provides more to the community than excellent fishing. Some say the "Sportsman's Paradise" brand Kingstree has used for many years is too narrow. They believe "Sportsman's Paradise" is too closely associated with hunting and fishing and doesn't adequately convey the availability of kayaking, canoeing, and the desire for nature trails.

Other suggestions for postcards included both the Williamsburg County Courthouse and the old Carnegie Library building, now home to the Williamsburgh Historical Museum. Built in 1823, the courthouse on Main Street has seen a number of renovations, the latest about four years ago. Designed by Robert Mills, it is one of the few Mills' courthouses in South Carolina where court is still held. The library, built in 1917, on Hampton Avenue is one of 1,689 libraries in the United States constructed with funds donated by Scottish businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It served library patrons until 2000 when a new library was built on Jackson Street.

The Williamsburg County Courthouse on Main Street in Kingstree.

The Williamsburgh Museum on the corner of Hampton Avenue and Mill Street.

Architect Randy Wilson, who conducted the exercise at the Main Street meeting, said he doubts if more than handful of communities throughout the country are fortunate enough to have both a Robert Mills building and a Carnegie library. Mills, the first federal architect, is best known for designing the Washington Monument, and U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, DC,  the Fireproof Building in Charleston, and numerous courthouses and jails in his native South Carolina. In 1883, the second floor of our courthouse burned; however, the first floor was unharmed, a testament to Mills' fireproof construction.

Participants considered the Kingstree Depot, built in 1905, another location worthy of a postcard. The depot, during the early 1900s, was a hub of activity as farmers shipped agricultural products to northern markets every day. Residents from many areas near Kingstree caught the train here for business or social visits to larger cities. Today, the Town of Kingstree owns the depot, and it serves as the Main Street, Kingstree office. The Front Porch restaurant also calls the depot home as it once again becomes a hub for downtown activities.

The Kingstree Depot, Summer 2017.

The historical marker at the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1966 speech.

The old Tomlinson High School football field, the scene of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s May 8, 1966, speech, was also suggested. Fifty years later, on May 8, 2016, an historical marker was unveiled at the site. Dr. King's 1966 speech has become known as the "March on Ballot Boxes" speech, as he encouraged South Carolina's black citizens to exercise their right to vote, which had been guaranteed by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Another image suggested to depict Kingstree's best qualities was that of "family." Participants described Kingstree as a place of family fun, values, quiet, friendly people–a place to get back to basics in which families have a love of community and small town living.

Families and friends gathered last July at the depot to celebrate the first Kingstree Live event.

Residents show their friendliness and hospitality by waving at the passing AMTRAK.

AMTRAK stops four times daily in Kingstree.

Last August, families again gathered, this time at the recreation center,

 with friends and visitors to watch the total eclipse of the sun.

Kingstree's historic homes were another suggestion. Three Kingstree homes are on the National Register for Historic Places: The M.F. Heller house on N. Academy Street; the Scott house on Live Oak Avenue, and the Col. J.G. Pressley house on W. Academy Street. Randy Wilson noted that there are other older homes in Kingstree which also provide a feeling for the town's historic roots. The Heller house recently opened its doors as the Heller House Inn bed and breakfast.

The inviting front porch of the Heller House Inn.

Although not on the National Register, these Live Oak Ave. homes 

exhibit Kingstree's Southern charm.

All photos by Linda Brown

Another question posed to citizens attending the February 15 meetings was what words or phrases they'd use to put on their postcards to entice recipients to visit the area. Back in 1910, "Greater Kingstree" was the slogan used. Every improvement was hailed as working toward a "Greater Kngstree." Among the words suggested on February 15 were: down home, friendly, and historic. Two phrases offered were "Family-friendly smiling faces," and "Kingstree is in the middle of nowhere but at the center of everything." Randy pointed out that in looking at a map, he, too, had noticed that Kingstree is within an hour or so's drive of Moncks Corner, Sumter, Florence, Conway, and Georgetown, while Manning, Andrews, Hemingway, Johnsonville, St. Stephen, and Lake City can be reached in 30 minutes or less. One participant at the morning session said she had moved to Kingstree specifically because of its accessibility to other areas. 

Main Street Program Offers Holistic Approach to Revitalization

Kingstree welcomed three visitors from Main Street, South Carolina, last week. Beppie LeGrand, manager of the Main Street, South Carolina, program; Randy Wilson, architect and owner of Community Design Solutions; and Jeff Shacker, a Field Services Manager in the Upstate and Midlands for the Municipal Association of South Carolina, spent last Wednesday and Thursday meeting with a large number of residents and office holders, as well as conducting two public sessions, visiting businesses, and taking both riding and walking tours of Kingstree as part of their baseline assessment of the town to kick-off its participation in the Main Street program.

Architect Randy Wilson presides over one of the public sessions.

Jeff Shacker and Beppie LeGrand are in the background.

Photo by Linda Brown

The program uses an holistic approach to transform and revitalize communities into the best towns they can be. "You can only authentically be Kingstree," Randy said at the public sessions, "but we want you to be the best Kingstree possible." Both Beppie and Randy compared the approach used to a four-legged stool. They emphasized that if any one leg of the stool is removed, the whole structure becomes unstable.

The 8 a.m. session drew a small, but very engaged group. 

T.Y. Williams, far left, filmed the proceedings.

Photo by Linda Brown

The four legs of the Main Street program include organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality.

According to the Main Street, America, website, organization creates a strong foundation for sustainable revitalization by cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources. This will encourage all organizations in town to work toward common goals established for Main Street, Kingstree.

Promotion will use festivals and events to draw not only tourists but also residents downtown to re-establish it as the heart of the community. A goal of promotion is to create a positive image that will showcase Kingstree's unique characteristics.

Design will support preservation of historic buildings downtown, while enhancing the layout of sidewalks and streetscapes. Randy noted that while he can find franchise businesses in any community he visits, "I can't find a depot like the one here or the building that used to house the historic Nettles Hotel (on Main Street) anywhere else." 

He said that a town lives or dies by the health of its sidewalks, that unless people find what they see on the sidewalks fabulous, engaging, or entertaining, it doesn't much matter what the buildings look like. "You won't often hear an architect say this," he said, "but experience trumps architecture every single time."

The economic vitality leg will seek to assist new and existing businesses by creating a supportive environment through economic and financial tools. The team stressed that this effort will not compete against other businesses and industry in the area but will seek instead to create complementary businesses that overall will provide a robust business climate.

William Freeman, Director of Main Street, Kingstree, encourages

those attending the public sessions to get involved in the program 

by offering ideas or volunteering their time and talents.

Photo by Linda Brown 

William received a compliment from one gentleman at the morning public session. This man is in the process of locating a business on Main Street. He said the deciding factor for his coming to Kingstree was William's attitude. "William told me," he said, "'We want you in Kingstree, and we will do whatever we can to help you succeed.' That's what convinced me to come here."

Both Beppie and Randy emphasized that Main Street is focused on building up a solid core of support for transforming the commercial district. Randy, who is also a part-time minister, quoted Proverbs 29:19, which says in a modern translation, "Without vision, the people are unrestrained." He said the word translated as "unrestrained," gives the impression of going in too many directions. The idea behind Main Street is to create a big vision which allows people to lay down their individual concerns for the good of the whole.

Beppie LeGrand shares a light-hearted moment with the audience.

Photo by Linda Brown

Beppie also noted that at first there will not be much physical evidence of change taking place. "Don't expect to see results in a month," she warned. "There will be a lot of work going on behind the scenes, building slowly, making things make sense."

The team will take the information they gleaned from their two-day survey and incorporate it into recommendations which they believe will best serve the town in moving forward with the revitalization effort.

A much larger crowd attended the evening public session. 

They, too, offered many good ideas and observations.

Photo by Linda Brown

Those who participated in the public sessions ranged in age from retirees to elementary school students. All were encouraged to offer their opinions, and all did so, abiding by Randy's rule to offer your opinion without debating anyone else's.

The final question asked of both groups was, "Are Kingstree's best days behind it, or do they lie ahead?" Both morning and evening participants strongly agreed that the best days lie ahead, to which Randy, the minister, added at the evening session, "And the people of God all said...." and the "congregation" responded with a fervent and heartfelt, "Amen!"

A gorgeous sunset greeted those leaving the evening meeting,

 perhaps signaling better days ahead.

Photo by Linda Brown

Update: The completed "Love Where You Live" message discussed in last week's post and complemented by pictures from school children and library patrons can be seen on Main Street in the display windows of the old Marcus Department store. 

Photo by Linda Brown

Further Speculation on the King's Tree: Edwin C. Epps (1873-1945) compiled his reminiscences of Kingstree as a memoir. On the final page, he notes, "It has been said that every boy reared in Kingstree is a good swimmer, which I think is practically true until this day. In my early boyhood almost any part of Black River was used as a swimming pool, and one of the safest places was near the old wooden bridge at the foot of Main St. At low water near the base of this old bridge could be seen the roots and decayed portions of what once must have been a huge tree of some kind, and rumor was often repeatedly claimed that this was the stump of the King's Tree. However, this rumor was just as often disputed. I remember particularly that Capt. (George Purvis) Nelson claimed the authority for disputing such a claim. His contention was that the King's Tree stood some distance east of the old stump, and was near the side of Main St., then only a road leading down the hill to the river's bank." [For those of you who remember Mary Catherine Kinder, Edwin Epps was her father.] 

Love Where You Live

On a sunny February Thursday, Rod McCants is spending his lunch break painstakingly painting letters on a boarded-up Main Street window. When it's finished, the message will encourage everyone who notices it to "Love Where You Live."

Rod, who works at Jenkinson, Jarrett & Kellahan and is a member of the Main Street, Kingstree committee, wants Kingstree residents to think about what they love about living here. He's recruited school children and library patrons to draw pictures of what they like best about their home town. He'll post the resulting artwork inside the glass display window next to the one on which he's painting his message.

Rod McCants concentrates on painting the letter "L" on a boarded-up window.

Photo by Linda Brown

"I think anything we can work on together helps bring us together as a community, " Rod says. "And when we start thinking about what we love about our town, we can then think about how to make those things better and then how to go about getting some of the things we'd like to see here that we don't have now."

Soon, he's joined by his friend, Jay Swicord, who begins filling in a block of the background behind the letters with bright green paint. Eventually, the background will glow with blocks of many colors.

Jay Swicord adds green paint that will be part of a colorful background for the message.

In the not too distant past, the windows Rod and Jay are working on held merchandise displays for Marcus Department Store. How many can remember when Marcus, Cato's, C. Tucker's, Belk's and Silverman's all sold clothing on the north side of East Main Street in Kingstree, and all their display windows were filled with colorful examples of their seasonal merchandise?

Main Street in Kingstree in 1969 was a bustling thoroughfare.

Kingstree High School, Garnet & Black, 1969

Displays in store windows didn't catch on in Kingstree until 1901 when Gagg, Oliver & Co., located in a building on the southwestern corner of Mill and Academy streets put up an Easter display that was the first of its kind here. Later that year, Louis Jacobs wreathed the display window of his Academy Street store in black crepe to mourn the assassination of President William McKinley. William H. Carr, who managed the Kingstree Hardware Company, also on Academy Street, began to use regular window displays to draw business to his store. In 1904, shortly after the store's opening, he built a five-foot, solid-steel replica of a battleship, which was displayed in the window. In 1909, J.B. Alsbrook designed, built and displayed in the hardware's store's window both a late-model airship and later a model automobile constructed of hardware items available for sale in the store. This innovation is window displays was in keeping with Kingstree Hardware's slogan: We lead, others follow.

The ad Gagg, Oliver & Co. was running in The County Record in April 1901.

Kingstree Hardware Co.'s ad in The County Record, November 1909.

It's not reasonable to imagine that five clothing stores will ever again exist on one block of Main Street, but it is possible for Main Street to flourish again with a mix of shops and businesses geared toward meeting the needs of Kingstree's residents in the 21st century. We need, however, to remember that this won't happen overnight. Lasting change usually comes incrementally with each new development building on those that have come before.

Bringing new life to our downtown also means that community members must devote time and attention to making it happen. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty because whether you're planting flowers or a dream, they won't blossom unless they're planted in fertile soil and then cultivated over time. We don't just live in places; we also make them.

Volunteers already get their hands dirty in keeping Main Street planters filled with blooms.

Photo by Linda Brown

It's really not hard to love where you live. It can be as easy as picking up that piece of litter you see on the sidewalk, volunteering to help with a project like painting a colorful reminder on a boarded-up window, or even finding out what steps you need to take to start your own small business. One thing you can do this week–tomorrow even–is attend one of the public meetings Main Street, South Carolina, is hosting at Town Hall. The morning meeting is from 8-9:30, with the afternoon session from 5:30-7. 

So on this Valentine's Day, as you shower your loved ones with hearts and flowers, remember also to think of ways to give a little love to the downtown heart of our community. Love where you live!

UPDATE: After last week's post, my old friend and former classmate, Joe McKnight, directed me to an 1857 news article in the Lancaster Ledger, written by someone who had stopped in Kingstree while on a trip to Charleston. He was shown the site of the old King's Tree and told that it had died prematurely because during the American Revolution those who opposed the King took target practice on the tree. So many rifle balls were buried in the tree's fibers that it rotted from within. 

And on Guy Lombardo's performance at the Pre-Harvest Ball, my friend and former co-worker, Marcy Benton, tells me that her grandparents, Willie Sena and Cliff Moore, attended the dance. Her grandmother always told the story, adding that Kingstree had one of the worst rain storms she could ever remember that evening.

A NOTE ON COMMENTS: Please be aware that anonymous comments will not be posted.

A Unique Town Uniquely Named

As the oldest inland settlement in South Carolina, Kingstree–even today–bears witness to an array of characters and events that have shaped its history. Those early Scots-Irish settlers who cleared land on the Wee Nee, or Black, River in the 1730s established a village first known as Williamsburgh. But, as these things sometimes go, people soon began referring to it as The King's Tree. According to tradition, there was a real King's tree, a lone, tall pine on a high bluff overlooking the river. It had not been cut because it was marked–set aside by the King of England for use as a mast on a ship in the Royal Navy. Whether or not it ever served its royal purpose is lost in the mists of history, but the name King's Tree, or Kingstree, stuck, and by the mid-nineteenth century the town was chartered under that name, with Williamsburg becoming the name of the county for which Kingstree serves as county seat.

The name is apparently unique as the late Edward Harrell, then a town councilman, discovered when he conducted extensive research to determine if any other town in the world bore the name Kingstree. He found a company in Chicago whose name included the word "Kingstree," a ranch in Texas, a building in Columbia, but it quickly became obvious that they were named for our town. His research found no other town worldwide with the name Kingstree.

This marker attests to Kingstree's long heritage. Erected by the Margaret Gregg Gordon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, it stands at the approximate site of the original King's Tree and commemorates its significance to the town's history.

Photo by Linda Brown

This small town, like so many others, has struggled over the centuries to find its niche in the world. In 1926, as townspeople began planning for the town's bicentennial in 1932, they felt the town needed what today we call a "brand," but they called a "soubriquet." Looking back to the town's royal heritage, they came up with the idea of dubbing it "The Royal Town," and adopting the slogan, "A Royal Welcome to a Royal Town." Over the years, a number of entities played on the the Royal Town image, including the Peacock Grill, whose slogan was "Find the Royal Bird in the Royal Town." We don't know much about the Peacock Grill except that it was doing business in May 1930, when Vivian Baker and Camilla Plowden hosted a bridge party there. The decorations for the party were in green and yellow, matching the furniture and draperies of the grill, according to a write-up in The State newspaper. Dedication to the image of the Royal Town may well be the reason that Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians were invited to perform at Kingstree's Pre-Harvest Jubilee in 1941.

The Peacock Grill was run by Lillie Baker and Mabel Harper. It's interesting that no specific address is given, simply that it is located sixty-four miles from Charleston.

At the Pre-Harvest Jubilee, sponsored by the Jaycees, in June 1941, Kingstree residents and guests danced to the sweet music of Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. The Jubilee was held in one of the tobacco warehouses. 

Both cards courtesy Williamsburgh Historical Museum

The royal town theme was used in several other areas including the semi-pro Kingstree Royals baseball team of the late 1940s - early 1950s; Royal Dry Cleaners on Hampton Avenue; and today's Royal Knight Apartment complex on Reed Street.

Royal Dry Cleaners was located at 200 Hampton Avenue for many years. Today the building is occupied by Cassandra Williams Rush's African American Arts and Collectables, but the reminder of "Royal Cleaners" can still be seen on the facade.

Photo by Linda Brown 

The Royal Knight Apartment complex, located on Reed Street just off Nelson Boulevard, appears to be the only entity that currently makes reference to the town's royal heritage.

Photo by Linda Brown 

Kingstree and Williamsburg County have long attracted outdoorsmen to hunt in the woodlands and fish in the rivers. Many northern industrialists, following in the footsteps of Bernard M. Baruch, bought plantations in the county and spent time here enjoying the natural bounty of the woods and streams. In the late 1960s or early 1970s, the town began calling itself "The Sportsman's Paradise." Radio station WKSP's call letters stood for "Welcome to Kingstree, Sportsman's Paradise," during its tenure on the air. The seal for the Town of Kingstree incorporates both elements of the King's Tree and the Sportsman's Paradise.

The design for the Town of Kingstree's official seal incorporates the King's Tree, the Black River, wildlife, agriculture and the timber industry. 

Photo by Linda Brown 

In 2018, the Town of Kingstree is entering a new phase of its story–that of a Main Street community. Being chosen to join the Main Street, South Carolina program, and by extension, Main Street, America is a great honor for the town. It also means that over the next three years of "bootcamp" and beyond, residents will be called upon to implement changes that will help us keep our identity, yet move us forward by encouraging small business ownership, attracting tourists to the area, and instilling pride by renovating buildings, changing the downtown landscape, and working together.

No matter what we call it, The King's Tree, The Royal Town, or The Sportsman's Paradise, for many of us, it is simply home. Over the coming months and years, may we learn to look at it with new, more appreciate eyes for what has gone before, what we have now, and what is yet to come.

NOTE: A team from Main Street, South Carolina will be in Kingstree February 14-15 to conduct a baseline assessment as a part of Kingstree's initiation into the program. The public is invited to meet with them on February 15 from 8-9:30 A.M. or from 5:30-7 P.M. to ask questions, offer input, and learn more about what lies ahead. Both of these gatherings will be held in Council Chambers at Town Hall, 401 N. Longstreet Street, Kingstree, SC 29556.