The Settlement at Grindal Shoals
Grindal Shoals is a ford on the Pacolet River in what is now Union and Cherokee Counties. The shoals is upstream from where South Carolina Highway 18 now crosses the river. Morgan’s American army was camped here before they began to retreat from Tarleton before the Battle of Cowpens. The first European settlers on the Pacolet River settled in the vicinity of Grindal Shoals. The ford gets its name from John Grindal, the first European settler to live there and own the land. Not much is known about him. He settled at the Ford around 1755 and was the first of an eventual flood of settlers to come to the area. Some time after this, the noted Patriot, Colonel Elijah Clark, led a group from Virginia to the vicinity. They settled and built their homes near Grindal Shoals along both sides of the Pacolet River. They soon spread up the Broad River and Thicketty Creek.
Elijah Clark was a noted hero during the Revolutionary War. However, by the time of the War he had moved from Grindal Shoals to settle on the Georgia frontier.
Grindal Shoals was an important crossing during the Revolution. A considerable sized settlement formed here after the War. Besides the farmers there were grist mills, stores, lawyers and even a small textile factory. For a variety of reasons, this settlement did not prosper and by 1885 most traces if it had vanished. There are many people living in the Pacolet area today whose ancestors came and settled at Grindal Shoals long ago. Some of these names are Bailey, Coleman, Fowler, Hodge, Littlejohn, James, Nuckolls, Goudelock, and Wood.
Rick Meehan has family connections to the Grindal Shoals Sportsman's Club. This club owns the historic property of Grindal Shoals. Rick has compiled information from the Internet that relates to Grindal Shoals and it can be seen at Information on Grindal Shoals.
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.