The Island
At one time, the Pacolet Mills community had its own island getaway. Well, it really wasn’t very big but it still was technically an island. It existed during the 1930’s, 40’s and at least during the early 1950’s. I’m not sure when it disappeared into the river but it is not there now. It was located several hundred yards downstream from the present bridge just before the curve where the river goes out of sight. It was on the northern side of the river. It was really a point of land that jutted out into the river. What made it an “island” was that the river had washed a narrow channel through this point of land. It was probably less than 10 feet wide and very shallow and you could easily wade across. I don’t remember the island itself being very big, probably less than a half acre.
But it was plenty big enough for lots of adventures. There were many camping excursions to the island and lots of folks, including adults, used it for fishing. When you were on the island you were actually out in the current of the river and not very far above the water level. For 14 year old boys, camping on the island was as remote as camping in Africa.
At one time, there had been a wooden Boy Scout hut built on the “mainland” not too far from the island. By the 1950’s, the hut had disappeared but lots of people still remembered it. The area around where the hut had been was used for games of “Fox and Dogs” at night during the camping trips.
The island was a wonderful asset for the boys of Pacolet Mills.
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.