The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, Where Every Quilt Tells a Story

Sep 18, 2019 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365

It all started in 2009 with one quilt square mounted on the Oconee Heritage Center in Walhalla.

The Greater Easley Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting for their new quilt square on September 13th.

Today, the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail has more than 250 quilt panels mounted on barns, businesses, homes, and public buildings across Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties. One of the most recent squares was mounted on the building of the Greater Easley Chamber of Commerce on September 13th—a replica of a mid-19th century quilt pattern known as Noon Day Lilies.

The idea was based on similar quilt trails in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Oconee County was the first county in South Carolina to embrace the quilt trail concept after a group of dedicated citizens came together to establish the Oconee Heritage Quilt Trail in an effort to promote Oconee County. The first quilt square was sponsored by the Wynward Point Ladies Group and was mounted on the Oconee Heritage Center in Walhalla in the fall of 2009.

The quilts are unique designs and each painted quilt panel is a copy of an existing quilt that usually has some historical connection with the sponsoring family or organization. The quilt panels are painted by volunteers on weather-resistant wooden panels using quality outdoor paint.

The tagline of the project is, “Every Quilt Tells a Story, and Every Story Leads to a Discovery”—and the stories of each quilt can be found on the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail website. The current owner of the quilt that is replicated on the Greater Easley Chamber of Commerce comes from several generations of Pickens County residents; the quilt was a prized possession of her grandmother, the daughter of a circuit rider preacher who established several churches in the area.

Resting Place, by Gail Sexton, is at 306 Main Street in Pickens

Another quilt, called “Resting Place,” is the design of Gail Sexton, who made her first quilt in 1971 but did not begin quilting in earnest until the mid-1980s. So, while many of the quilt squares have a historical significance, others are the creations of contemporary quilters who have taken an interest in keeping the art form alive.

A pdf map of the quilt trail, along with GPS coordinates, can also be found on the website. Please keep in mind that these quilt squares are on private property and should be viewed and photographed from public roads. Many owners may allow a closer look if you ask their permission.

A festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail—called the Airing of the Quilts—will be held in downtown Westminster on October 5th.

Article by Sherry Jackson, with updates by Sharon Purvis

Revolutionary War Sites in the Upstate

Sep 11, 2019 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365

Did you know that there were more battles and skirmishes fought right here in South Carolina than in any other colony during the Revolutionary War? And you can visit the sites, immersing yourself in our state’s—and our country’s—history.

Kings Mountain National Military Park

Dubbed “the turn of the tide of success” by Jefferson Davis, the battle of Kings Mountain was the first major patriot triumph after the British invasion of Charleston and was an important American victory. The significant battle took place on October 7, 1780 and although only an hour long, it changed the course of the Revolutionary War.

The 4000-acre park is one of the largest revolutionary war sites in the country. Located near Blacksburg in Cherokee County, the park features a 1.5 mile battle trail, an exhibit area, and a 26-minute film that shows every 45 minutes.

The park is free and is open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (it stays open until 6:00 p.m. on weekends Memorial Day through Labor Day).

Cowpens National Battlefield

The battle at Cowpens was a major victory for colonial forces and was key to the surrender of British Commander Cornwallis that ultimately led to the end of the war in 1783.

The 845-acre park features a Visitor’s Center, the battlefield area, a walking trail, and an auto loop trail.

Check the web site for fees, hours of operation, special events, and park holidays.

Ninety Six National Historic Site

This site actually is home to two Revolutionary War battle sites that claimed the lives of over one hundred settlers. The first Southern battle of the war was fought here. The Visitor’s Center has a twenty minutes film which depicts the battles and an exhibit gallery.

The Visitor’s Center is free and open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. except for New Year’s Day, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving Day. The grounds are open daylight to dusk.

Check the web site for fees, hours of operation, special events, and park holidays.

Historic Brattonsville

This is considered to be one of the most important and heavily visited historical sites in South Carolina. With over 775 acres and 30 buildings, it’s steeped in Revolutionary history.

The Battle of Huck’s Defeat was an important event in the Revolutionary War and was fought at Brattonsville. In 1780, a British Legion under the command of Captain Christian Huck was dispatched by loyalist Lieutenant Colonel Turnbull to destroy Whig militia camps in the area. Huck was also given instruction by Turnbull to capture Colonel William Bratton (and others) who had just returned home to enlist more recruits for the war. The Whigs heard of this plan, rallied against the British soldiers and won the battle, killing Captain Huck in the process. This battle is believed to have revived the morale of the people in South Carolina and was the beginning of a series of victories including battles at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, which eventually led to the British surrendering at Yorktown in 1781.

Historic Brattonsville, located in York County, is open Tuesday through Saturday: 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Keep in mind, though, if you are going on a Saturday, the interpreters usually leave around 3 p.m. Check the web site for admission prices and special events.

Musgrove Mill State Historic Site

The battle that took place at Musgrove Mill on August 19, 1780 was a short (about 30 minutes) but very bloody battle. In fact, Isaac Shelby, a Colonel who fought both at Musgrove Mill and Kings Mountain stated in his memoirs that the battle at Musgrove Mill was the fiercest battle in which he ever fought. The brief battle was between a small detachment of Colonial Patriots and a larger group of British Loyalists. But despite the odds, the Patriots were victorious and the battle was considered an important turning point in the war.

The park is free and is open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Oconee Station State Historic Site

There were no revolutionary battles fought at Oconee Station, but its claim to fame is that it served as a military compound and trading post. The stone blockhouse was used as an outpost by the South Carolina State Militia from 1792 until 1799 as is the only remaining building of the fort Oconee Station.

Walnut Grove Plantation

Located near Roebuck, this plantation was established in 1765 from a 550-acre land grant. The Moore family, who owned Walnut Grove Plantation, were active Patriot supporters and allowed the militia to muster there during the war. Loyalist William Cunningham killed three Patriot soldiers sheltered at the plantation in 1781.

Walnut Grove is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. They are closed Mondays and holidays and hours change November through March so it’s best to check their website for hours and admission fees before you visit.

Also, as you are driving around, be on the lookout for historical markers. There are 495 U.S. Revolutionary War historical markers in South Carolina alone. For a complete list, visit the Historical Marker Database.

by Sherry Jackson

Table Rock Tea Company: Growing American Tea

Aug 21, 2019 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365

When you think of the mountains of Upstate South Carolina, do you think of tea growing country? If not, Steve and Jennifer Lorch of Table Rock Tea Company want to change that.

Right now, both Steve and Jennifer have day jobs while they live and work on the property in Pumpkintown, intentionally growing the business slowly and steadily, with just an acre of tea plants right now. But they have plans to build up to 5 acres in the next few years, and in 10 years or so, there are plans to purchase the neighboring property, which will give them more land to plant and another building to house a café and bakery.

Right now, though, the focus is on germinating the seeds from the plants they have so that all of the future plants will come from their own property, without having to import seeds—and on growing, making, and selling tea.

Mature seeds of the tea plant

Making the most of other income-generating opportunities, Table Rock also sells honey from the bees they keep to pollinate the tea plants in their Christmas gift boxes, and there is a camp site on the property that is rented out nearly every weekend of the year.

Additionally, the Lorches have created a tea consortium so that others can help them grow and process more tea than they can do on their own. Because that one acre is all the two of them with their day jobs want to manage, the consortium allows anyone within an hour radius to buy plants from the Table Rock greenhouse. “They own the land, they own the plants, and we buy the leaves back from them,” Jennifer says. The hour radius allows for the freshest leaves to be used to make the tea.

The seeds are harvested in November, right when the plants go dormant for the winter, and they are mass-germinated in bins in the greenhouse: an inch of soil, 1,000 seeds on top of that, and then another inch of soil. The bins are covered and placed in a smaller greenhouse inside of the greenhouse, where they stay warm through the winter before the little plants pop out in the spring.

Around 20,000 plants will survive to be planted in the ground, of which 5,000 will be sold to tea consortium members.

The spring volunteer days bring students and visitors to the property to help plant the seedlings in pots to keep growing for another year in the greenhouse before they can be sold to the consortium or planted on the property. Future Farmers of America students come for a couple of hours and can plant 1400 plants in that time. “We couldn’t do it without them,” Jennifer says.

Harvesting the tea is a labor-intensive job, as it’s done by hand to get only the bud, or “flush” of new leaves for the best flavor. After harvest, the leaves go on a withering bed for 10-20 hours—just so the leaves get limp, but not dry. What happens next depends on whether they are going to be made into green tea, Oolong tea, or black tea—but all of those tea types, as well as white and yellow tea, start with the same leaves.

Steve and Jennifer do all of the harvesting and processing on their own for now, but they are dreaming big for the future. “Here’s our big dream: We want the Upstate to be known as tea country, just like Napa Valley is known as wine country,” Jennifer says.

If you’re interested in visiting yourself, click here to find out how!

Some tea facts:

• ¼ pound of dried tea comes each plant each year, which is 50 cups of tea. At 4000-5000 plants per acre, that’s 50,000
  

  Mature tea plants

  cups of tea from one acre

• Only tea that comes from tea plants is a true tea. Although we refer to herbal teas, they are technically “tisanes,” but we have come to call any beverage that is steeped “tea.”
• There are two ways to decaffeinate tea: one is a chemical process (which is what large companies like Lipton and Tetley do), and the other is to steep for 20 seconds and then pour off the water, which loses about 80% of caffeine. Chemically decaffeinated tea still has about 3% caffeine.
• A pound of dried tea has twice as much caffeine than a pound of dried coffee, but a cup of coffee has more—because it takes 20 grams of coffee to make a cup, but 2 only grams of tea.
• Tea leaves are serrated and waxy and naturally caffeinated, so the plants have no natural predators—deer, rabbits, raccoons all leave it alone.

by Sharon Purvis

A sampling of the products for sale at Table Rock Tea Company

View of Table Rock from the camp site.