Abbeville, South Carolina

“In Abbeville, SC it is illegal to spit in the town square.”

a friend

Abbeville is only 62 miles from Augusta and is a nice country drive through numerous small towns.  Abbeville was settled by French Huguenot settlers in 1764 and named it after a town by the same name in France. The village of Abbeville was donated by Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens and had a freshwater spring. The population is roughly about 5,500 and has a very unique history of being the birthplace and end of the Confederacy. On November 22, 1860, a meeting was held at “Secession Hill” where the idea of secession from the Union was launched and a month later South Carolina was the first state to secede. On May 2, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis stopped here and in the parlor of the Burt Stark Mansion officially acknowledged the ending of the Confederate government.

The town square is lovely with historic building lining the road around the square. Many of the building have dates on them and are in great shape. You get the feeling you have gone back in time. The sad part of this town is we were here about a year ago and many more stores were still open downtown. Now many have closed and it made us sad and we pray the town will come back to life as it has in the past. We still found it and interesting town and enjoyed seeing the sites.

In the town square is a Confederate memorial. There is also a Humane Society Alliance Fountain that was installed in 1912 and is made of Bronze and surrounding it is Maine granite. The two levels were for watering the horses in the upper fountain and the lower one was for dogs and cats. This is original and has been in the same place since it was put in the town square.

There was also a large bell that was installed in Court House Square and I’m not sure of the story but I do know they were having a ceremony when we were there honoring Confederate soldiers from Abbeville that had died in the Civil War. They read the names and after each one – rang the bell. Then a prayer was said. What a nice memorial for those men.

We walked down to see Trinity Episcopal Church on Church Street and had hoped to go inside to see the beautiful stained glass windows we had heard about and the organ. It was locked up so we couldn’t. This is a beautiful church but in need of repair. It is being renovated thankfully as it is a gem of a church. It was designed by George Walker, an architect and was started in 1859 and completed on November 4, 1860. He designed it in a French Gothic style and stuccoed the bricks to protect them since the locally made bricks were very porous. When doing this it cast a pink hue from the clay. The steeple measures 120 feet. It is beautiful and stands out in this quaint town.

The Livery Stable on Washington Street is a beauty also. Today it was closed but we have come on a Saturday when they have a Farmers Market inside and when it is very busy. This replaced the old wooden Livery Stable from the 19^th century that was burned in a fire. This is where you would go to rent a horse while in town. The original one was built in 1840 and burned down in 1872. The new one was built in the 1870’s and was used to sell livestock.

The Abbeville County Courthouse was completed in 1908 and is a two story brick building that was built in the Beaux-Arts classical style. It is a lovely building with City Hall attached as well as the historic Abbeville Opera House built at the same time. Check out my blog on the Opera House which is an amazing theater that has kept all its charm even through renovations.

The Belmont Inn, right across from the Abbeville Opera House was opened in 1903 and was then known as the Eureka Hotel. It was built in a Spanish style. This was used by all the acting troops who came to the Abbeville Opera House to perform. This is a lovely building and has a restaurant inside.

The Burt Stark Mansion is a beautiful mansion that was built in the 1830’s in the Greek Revival style and is an important part of history. Please check out my blog on this mansion as well. This is a large mansion with pretty grounds to see right off of Main Street.

Abbeville is a very historic town and well worth a visit. I believe it will be renewed again with many new stores so hold on. This town is worth it. We will be going back to see a play, stay at the Belmont Inn, go the inside of the Episcopal church, and to see this town come back to life. Till next time.