Introduction
This site is strictly a personal memory. It is not intended to be a complete history or even totally factual. It is my own memory and impressions of Pacolet and Pacolet Mills, its people and the locations that existed 60 years ago. As I got older, I came to realize how unique and special Pacolet and the surrounding area had been when I was a child. At the same time, I realized that a great number of the places and people that I remember existed only in my memory. Almost all of the Pacolet Mills buildings and structures, except the houses, have been torn down. It occurred to me that if people my age did not write it down, then the story of this rich blend of people, places and events would be lost forever to today’s children and those to come in the future.
I will be the first to admit that these memories look at the past of Pacolet through rose colored glasses. But, indeed, as a child that is how I saw my world. It is almost trite to say it but Pacolet Mills in the 1940’s and early 1950’s was almost like one large and extended family. Back then, in my memory, adults really were adults. They made things happen. They were almost always kind to children and other adults. They worked hard and made a world for their kids that was safe, fun and to me, continuously entertaining. These memories will not be a critical analysis of the conditions of the times. They will be the recollections of a small boy that at the time believed that he lived in a southern version of the Garden of Eden.
This is not the official website of the Town of Pacolet. That can be found at http://www.townofpacolet.com/.
Gone
It is hard to describe to a young person what the Pacolet Mills community was like in the 1940’s and early to mid-1950’s. It is all gone now. Never again will the people go to work day and night – on three shifts – in the Old and New Mill. The hum of the mill machinery that could be heard almost over all the mill village is gone and there is an unusual silence to older ears.
Gone is all the activity that took place in the Hall. Gone forever are the Skating Rink, Pool Hall, Company Store, Drug Store, the Movie Theater and the Girls Club.
Never again will the Ball Park ring with the cheers for the Pacolet Trojans home team and the crash of the bat as Red Ellison hit one of this towering home runs.
There is no sound from the once very popular Swimming Pool. The Swimming Pool itself has disappeared and has been replaced by trees and bushes. It is hard to imagine the pool as it was and all of the enjoyment it brought to an entire generation of Pacolet folks.
Hotel Hill is now just a hill without its hotel. The remaining bare stone foundations give a scant clue to the hospitality and homelike atmosphere that once existed there.
Hundreds of Pacolet Mill’s children spent a great part of their life in the Pacolet Mills Elementary School, across the road and up the hill from the hotel. It is impossible to estimate the influence that the school had on countless Pacolet lives. It had serious teachers with what they believed was a very serious educational mission. Now, the school and those teachers are all gone.
In Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell describes a way of life in Georgia that was swept away with the wind of the Civil War. While not accompanied by the violence of war – a way of life in Pacolet Mills was indeed swept away by the Mill’s closing and the loss of most of its treasured buildings and activities.
Background
Throughout the South, particularly the Upcountry of South Carolina, a way of life has almost disappeared within the short span of twenty five years. In this time, the textile industry in the South has almost ceased to exist. It has moved overseas to locations around the world. The South Carolina towns and villages associated with the textile industry have been seriously impacted. The changes brought about by the disappearance of the cotton mills have affected many small towns and their people almost like wartime. The main industry in most of these towns has been destroyed. Thousands of people have been affected. Some changed to other lines of work at lower salaries. Some moved to follow textile work at another place as long as it would last. Some went back to school to learn another skill. The hardest hit were those in their 50’s and 60’s that had never worked at anything but the textile business. All were hit hard and almost all had a sense of having been betrayed. Both the state of South Carolina and the Federal Government were nowhere to be seen handing out millions of dollars in “stimulus money” when the Upstate textile industry was being destroyed.
There was much good and not so good about the textile industry. There was also a great amount of misunderstanding about life in and around the mill villages among those outside the area even in South Carolina. The purpose of this website is keep the memories of the Pacolet area alive and to try to provide insight and understanding of one mill town, its people and its institutions.
I invite you to send your own memories, photographs and stories of Pacolet. The story of how and why your ancestors came to Pacolet to live and work is particularly solicited. An entire section of the website will be devoted to the families of the area. I also ask you to please send corrections and additions to the information given. Much of this is based on my memories after 60 or even 70 years and might not be completely - or even partially - correct. Send information to me via email at gteaster@pacoletmemories.com or by regular mail to the address given at the bottom of the page.
Besides personal memories, I have relied on several very interesting books for information about the Pacolet area. I recommend these books to anyone wanting more detailed information relating to Pacolet and the surrounding vicinity. A list of these books can be seen at Reference Books.
This section highlights new and recent developments about Pacolet and its people. This section will also give details about new stories added to this website and it will also be a place where upcoming community events can be posted. Click on the link above to read this.
1940 and 1950 Federal Census for Pacolet now available on this site.
The main subjects covered by this website are covered by the broad categories below. Clicking on these links will give you more detailed information about that subject including additional links to sub-stories.
PACOLET MEMORIES WEBSITE GIVEN AWARD - Pacolet's Town Council passes Resolution of Appreciation and Thanks for the Website
