Does Kingstree Moss Still Grow in Detroit?

Now and then, I run across a news/feature article from the past and find myself wondering if the thing that caught the writer's attention is still relevant today. Usually, there's no way to find out, but the question still remains. Here is one of those articles I ran across last week. It was originally published on Saturday, December 20, 1958, in the News & Courier.

Spanish moss drips from a crape myrtle on Academy Street in Kingstree.

The headline reads: Kingstree Moss Adopts Michigan, which sounded a little odd, as moss isn't present in all of South Carolina, much less in the upper mid-west. I well remember when my cousins who lived in Columbia were small and how entranced they were by the moss every time they visited here.

The story stated, "Evidently Lowcountry moss is a hardy cold-weather native, despite its avowed fondness for the sunny climes of Carolina.

"A batch of it is growing heartily in snow-swept Michigan.

"Mrs. John D. Britton reports she packed some flowers in Lowcountry moss last summer and mailed the box to a friend in Detroit. The moss was hung on a tree in her friend's yard, more as a dare than anything.

Bessie Swann Britton

"A few days ago came the reply that the moss was not only living, but was thriving.

"'As soon as the weather turned cold at Thanksgiving, the moss got greener,' the friend wrote. 'Since then it has been snowed on and blown by icy winds in a temperature three degrees below zero. If it is dead, it is the liveliest dead thing I ever saw.'

"She thinks it may be the moisture in the air from Lake Michigan that accounts for the moss's hardy state."

I wonder a bit about either the writer's or Bessie Britton's friend's geographical knowledge, as Detroit is on the other side of the state from Lake Michigan, and any moisture in the air would have likely come from Lake Eerie or Lake St. Clair, but that discrepancy doesn't keep me from imagining that somewhere in Detroit there may be a tree still covered in Spanish moss sent there by Bessie Swann Britton 62 years ago.

Mysterious "Racket" at the Colonial Inn

 Here's one of those stories you run across from time to time that gives you a laugh–and, in this case, also makes you shudder. This one answers the question of a mystery at the Colonial Inn that had plagued its owner, Mrs. Tena Nelson, for some time. The Colonial Inn was the name the Nelson House went by in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. The house, one of the oldest in Kingstree, stood on the southeast corner of the Main and Academy intersection. The story was printed in the October 20, 1933, issue of the News & Courier, making it very timely to post this on October 21, 2020.

The Nelson House, also known as the Colonial Inn.

Source: Library of Congress

"A queer "racket" has been going on in the Colonial Inn here of late, but, at last, it has come to light. Every night or so, Mrs. Tena Nelson, proprietor, heard a noise out about the kitchen. Several mornings she found broken eggs or shells scattered about the floor. 

"Then, the other night she decided to see what it was all about, and she caught the racketeer right in the midst of his racket. A large wharf rat was making himself at home in her pantry while he nibbled at the end of a sweet potato he held in his paws. A littler further sleuthing revealed this same rascal had been stealing the eggs from the basket in the pantry.

"Mrs. Nelson acted as judge and jury, to say nothing of executioner, and the bad fellow was dispatched. But he seems to have been the chief of his "gang," for eggs are continuing to disappear, and from others here and there come complaints about the depredations of wharf rats.

Christena Balster Nelson

Source: Ancestry.com

"They are described as being almost as large as a half-grown kitten, and as egg-thirsty as a full-grown dog, and hound dog, at that.

"Now those who are annoyed with this pest are wondering how he got up here away from his natural habitat."

Kingstree Welcomed Many Tourists in 1930

This week we'll take another look at Kingstree's Winter Colony. This time the article is from the December 17, 1930, issue of the News & Courier under the headline "Baruch and Ralph Pulitzer Parties Hunt Williamsburg." The sub-head reads: Men and Women May Be Seen Tramping Fields Daily Accompanied By Highly Bred Dogs; DuPonts Bring Friends to Preserve.

Bernard Baruch shown with birds after a hunt.

Source: Baruch College Archives

"The tourist season hereabout is in full swing. Hardly a day passes that visitors from states farther north are not seen, clad in hunting togs, accompanied by highly bred dogs, somewhere about the woods and fields. Bernard M. Baruch has brought several parties of his friends and guests to hunt quail on his preserve in the Indiantown section while guests of Ralph Pulitzer at his hunting lodge, Burrows Hall, are enjoying the birds on his preserve in this same section.

"Among others who have been hunting in Williamsburg County within the last week are: Mr. and Mrs. Howard Haddon, Robert Goelet, Baxter Jackson of New York, and Miss Betty Tater of England. These were guests in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Epps. They found partridges in plenty on the old McElveen place in the Bethel community. They found sunshine and balmy weather, both of which appealed to them equally as much as did the partridges.

"Another party composed of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene DuPont, of Wilmington, Delaware; Mr. and Mrs. Ervin of New York; Mr. Nightingale of Boston, and Mrs. Dibble of Philadelphia, have been guests of Mr. and Mrs. Epps while on a hunting trip in this section. Mr. DuPont, who is a member of the DuPont-Emerson Company, holds a lease over 6,000 acres of land as a hunting preserve about eight miles out of Kingstree on the Charleston highway. They returned each day with bag limits and reported the shooting fine. The women of the party are said to be almost as good shots as the men.

"Visitors from other states come for other purposes than sports in the field. Reports from various of the tourist homes show that the great and the near great pass through, some stopping for a night, some for a weekend, and some for a longer visit. At the Green Villa, Capt. Singer of the United States was a visitor who liked Kingstree and the climate so well that he decided to stop over for a weekend. Capt. Singer was accompanied by his wife and his daughter, Miss Helen Singer, who had recently returned from abroad where she had been studying. Dr. Hallock, an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist of Saranac Lake, NY, with Mrs. Hallock also were recent guests of the Green Villa.

"At the Columns have been Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lenhardt of Old Fort, NY. Mr. Lenhardt is a musician now playing in the Daytona Beach orchestra. He was formerly a member of Sousa's Band, having played the piccolo and flute.

"Another guest of interest at the Columns was a New York artist of some note. He amused persons here by telling of his summer home he had built in Maine according to his own ideas of comfort. It seems it aroused considerable curiosity among the natives until they learned the fact that he was an artist, then they were no longer interested, claiming artists are a "crazy bunch" anyway and what more would you expect?

"Among the guests registered of late at The Florida have been Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ingersoll. Mr. Ingersoll being the son of the famous watch-maker; Judge Cleary and Mrs. Cleary of Miami, FL; William MacGrail, manager of the South Harrison Hotel of Clearwater, FL; and Mrs. Hailan Prapp, president of the Women's Club of Miami.

"The Cottage Tea Room still receives many passing visitors of interest. Bits of conversation gathered while these are about the tables give the impression that the majority of the visitors from points farther north find the climate of coastal Carolina agreeable.

"B.M. Baruch's name leads the list of interesting visitors on the register of the Kingstree Hotel, while just across the street at the Charles Henry Hotel are names of guests from Maine, New York, New Jersey, and some of the mid-west states. One couple from New York recently came to spend one night and remained one week. They have been going to California, they told the management but decided to try Florida this winter. They left, planning to return to Kingstree for a month. They went into the outskirts of town where cotton was still to be found in the fields and picked some of that and gathered pine cones to take back home with them. They expressed themselves as delighted with the climate here and the natural scenery.

"A party of fifteen making the trip from New York to Miami on one of the big buses have already made arrangements with the Charles Henry Hotel to prepare plate lunches on the twentieth of this month as Kingstree is the point they have selected for their lunch hour.

"A party of North Carolina sportsmen recently stopped at the Charles Henry while they enjoyed a hunt in the nearby preserves. They returned to North Carolina with more than one hundred birds and said there were plenty more in the fields.

"At the Dixie Cabins a few nights ago was a Russian artist whose specialty is portraits. He has a studio in New York City. There, too, stopped this week a couple from New York state who have been going to California for the winters. They are trying out Florida this year but like the climate so well in this part of South Carolina that they are not anxious to travel farther south.

"Service station men claim that not as many are going south this winter as went last, but they think the greater number will come later. The conversation of many passing through centers on the widespread depression about which opinion varies. Some express themselves as feeling optimistic toward the outlook, while others say they can see no gleam of light ahead. There are tales of being routed south via other roads, but some state that Route 17, since it has been discovered and tried out, will alway prove the most popular route south, it being nearer and better than other routes suggested farther up the road.

Carolyn Van Blarcom

"Another tourist of distinction recently in Kingstree was Miss Carolyn Van Blarcom of New York City, who is author of several books that have proven popular with the reading public and of stories for certain of the "big four" magazines. Miss Blarcom who has traveled extensively about the world is especially interested in the study of the southern Negro from his tribal ancestors of Africa. Miss Blarcom was at one time health editor of Delineator."

Note: Route 17 mentioned in this article is today's US Highway 52 (Longstreet St.) The Cottage Tea Room, opened in 1929 by Mrs. T.C. Jacobs and Mrs. W.N. Jacobs, was located in the old Jacobs home on the corner of Main and U.S. Highway 52, where Hardee's is now. A side porch of the house had been converted into the tea room with screens and was lighted by wrought-iron lanterns. Tables, chairs, and buffet were painted Chinese red with black trim. 

Tourist Camp Added Accommodations for Visitors in 1929

As more and more Northerners spent a portion of the winter in Kingstree, and as some tourists began coming through Kingstree all year long, many residents began to open their homes as rooming houses to accommodate them. Additionally, in 1929, S.D. Guyton began building cabins on a tract of land at the northern boundary of the town. The Charleston News & Courier ran a story about Kingstree's preparations for the upcoming Winter Season on September 13, 1929.

The King's Tree Inn would eventually take over the location of the Dixie Tourist Camp, later 

the Dixie Cabins.

"S.D. Guyton has opened up a tourist camp at the northern boundary of the town where the coastal highway enters the alternative route through Kingstree via Fourth Street. This is called the Dixie Tourist Camp. It lies between the coastal highway and Fourth Street, a good part of it including a grove of oaks and hickories. Three acres have been included so far, and three cabins have been constructed. There will be thirty or forty in all when the camp is completed. Lights and water and modern conveniences are to be had.

The tree trunks have been white-washed, and the undergrowth cleared out. Already the cabins have been claimed by tourists who may be seen going about their business of making themselves comfortable.

The Poplars is no longer standing but was located on the corner of Kelley Street 

and Second Avenue.

Source: Williamsburgh Historical Museum

That Kingstree will offer the strangers within her gates all the hospitality they may desire this winter is evidenced by the number of homes opening their doors to the public as it rolls through. The fad for naming these places of accommodation is increasing. Electric and other newly painted signs may be seen here and there announcing such names as The Pines, Wildwood, Five Oaks, The Flag, The Poplars, The Columns, and others that simply announce rooms to be had.

The Columns still stands on Academy Street. It has been restored and is

today a private residence.

The tourist traffic has continued in a fairly satisfactory manner all through the summer. Some are even now spending several days in town, and foreign cars are to be seen every day passing through.

Note: The Coastal Highway is now US52, but was then Highway 17. Fourth Street is now Third Avenue. Also, does anyone know where The Pines, Wildwood, Five Oaks, or The Flag were located?