The Pacolet River Flood of 1903
On June 6, 1903, a great disaster struck
the entire Pacolet River valley. It
killed many people and did massive
damage to the mills and the community. Click
on this link, Pacolet Flood, to read more details. This account is
based on Volume 1
of The History of Pacolet and articles from the
Spartanburg newspaper.
There is another interesting account of the flood that was in
the February, 1980, issue of Sandlapper magazine. The
article, written by William M. Branham, can be read at The Great
Freshet of 1903. We want to
express our thanks to Sandlapper for
the use of this article. Thanks also to Jim
Turner for bringing this
article to our attention and furnishing us a copy.
The following two photographs were taken looking towards the area of "The Flat". They were taken from two different
locations
and at slightly different times. The photos were taken from generally
in
the vicinity of where the Pacolet townhall
and
the Rescue Squad building is today.
Some of the stories published
about the flood proved to be inaccurate. One such
story stated that Mary Ernest Massey was lost along with four of her
children. Her grandaughter, Bobbie Mikesell, has written us to set
this story straight. Read her
account at Mary Ernest Massey.
After a period of nearly 100
years, there is finally a monument to those lost and affected by the
flood. On November 15, 2011 a monument to the victims was dedicated.
The monument is located near the bridge that goes over the Pacolet
River on Highway 29 near the former site of the Converse textile mill.
The idea for the monument started with Gary Henderson, a former Spartanburg
Herald
Journal reporter. His grandfather witnessed the
flood when he was 9 years old. Henderson had written several stories
about the flood. The actual monument was built by artist Ron Longsdorf.
Read the article on the monument from the Spartanburg Herald
at
Flood Monument Article. See more photographs at Flood Monument.
Recent
Photographs
Photographer Bob Johnson has
recently photographed parts of Converse and Clifton that were affected
by the flood as they look today. See his photos at Converse and Clifton.
This web site has been
started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet. The web
master and person to contact about putting information on the web site
is me, Gerald Teaster. Contact me at:
gteaster@pacoletmemories.com
or by telephone at (843) 873-8117. My regular mail
adress is:
1311 Jahnz Ave.
Summerville, SC 29485
