Old Santee Canal Park, Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Quote about the canal project - “a laudable and important design – it gives me great pleasure to find a spirit of inland navigation prevailing so generously. No country is more capable of improvements in the ways than our own.”

George Washington

Joe and I decided to escape for a night and decided to go camping at Short Stay Recreation Area which is a camping area for military folks in Moncks Corner. I will write more about the camping there is a later post. Moncks Corner is a great little town with so much to offer and some of the friendliest people around. We did a little research before going and found this park which we thought looked interesting. As we drove up to the gate, we noticed it wasn’t a state park. When we went to pay the entry fee, they gave us a discount for being retired military. That was a nice gesture even though it only costs three dollars to enter the park but it meant something to us that they recognized those who are serving or served in our armed forces.

Berkeley Museum

We pulled in and parked in the parking area right across from the Berkeley County Museum which is located just inside the gate. This museum is located in a beautiful building with ramps for the handicapped and steps leading up to the double door entryway. It is graced with a lovely wrap around porch and dormer windows. The first thing we noticed when we entered the museum was the three old carriages in the main room that were beautifully preserved. An elderly man came out from the back and greeted us. He introduced himself as Wayne, a volunteer of this museum. He was a delightful elderly man with lots of knowledge of this local area. He started by pointing out the floorboards and told of how they rescued this wood from an old building and showed us how to tell if a year was a hot year or a cold year. He made just looking at the floor boards interesting. He walked around with us and gave us a little history of the canal, pirates that once lived in this county, and the fascinating story of Little David, a Civil War-era torpedo boat.

He explained that Little David was built by T. Stoney in a private venture in Charleston, South Carolina in 1863. Later the Confederate States Navy took control of it. The boat was a cigar shaped boat and carried a 32 by 10 inch explosive charge that weighed about 134 pounds. This boat was semi-submersible and slightly resembled a submersible submarine but she could not go under water. This boat was powered by anthracite coal which burns with no smoke. Wayne, explained in great detail and with much vigor about the night of October 5, 1863 when Little David was commanded by Lieutenant William T. Glassell and three other men. They cruised out of the harbor of Charleston undetected to do a sneak attack on the USS New Ironsides, which was an ironclad steamer. The men on on New Ironside didn’t know what was coming at them as they had never see such a thing. Little David got within 50 yards when the watchman on the ship called to her but the only response was Lt. Glassell’s blast from a shotgun while David kept going. Her spar torpedo detonated on the starboard side of the ship as it struck the ship. The water from the blast shot up in the air and put out the coal fire in Little David making them dead on the water. Glassell and two crewman abandoned ship but one man stayed on board as he couldn’t swim. Then one member came back to Little David and got the boat steamed up again. Two of the men drove Little David back to safety. Glassell and another seaman were captured. Wayne told us it was more or less a suicide mission for the men in that little torpedo part sub since the top of the boat was just a thin sheet of metal. USS New Ironsides was not sunk but Little David did quite a bite of damage to that ironclad ship. It was interesting history we had never heard before and Wayne was a great story teller.

Prehistoric teeth and note the miniature elephant on the right.  Not real - just saying

Then we moved on and were looking at another display that showed cat and dog teeth and skulls from prehistoric days. Wayne told us that he felt bad as he had lied to a group of school kids when he said everything in the case was authentic. Then he pointed out a miniature elephant and told us that wasn’t authentic. He looked over at us and said, “Have you ever seen a live elephant that small.” We just laughed.

Blackbeards flag and other pirate flags

South Carolina's early flags

He had stories for everything and lead me into the room with the pirate flags and showed me which flag flew over Blackbeard’s ship. He told us Blackbeard may have been born in Berkeley. There was also a display of the South Carolina’s early flags.

Francis Marion "Swamp Fox"

He was also proud of the fact that Francis Marion, the famed “Swamp Fox” was born in Berkeley County and also fought to protect it in the American Revolution. He was born in 1732 and died in 1795.

Before leaving, I had to buy a little book on “Little David” for our son-in-law, Darren who is a Navy Submariner. Wayne convinced me that any submariner would enjoy this book. We bid Wayne farewell, wishing him well, and headed out. He was a great tour guide who shared his wealth of knowledge with us and was an awesome story teller. Thanks for the tour Wayne.

Little David

Just outside the museum there there is was a full scale model of Little David. What an interesting looking boat and so small. It is hard to imagine four men in something that little.

Pollinator Project

Across the parking lot from the museum, they have set up a Pollinator Project which has a bunch of raised bed gardens and shed. Their aim is to offer a safe habitat for all pollinators by planting plants that are native to this area. Of course, we are here at the beginning of March so no planting has been done yet with still a threat of frost.

Majestic Live Oak

Walking around we notice some very old Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss. There was a children’s play area with an ancient live oak with a huge trunk. We wondered how old that tree was. This beautiful park is also loaded with lots of wild life. If you are a bird watcher, you can pick up a flier that lists all the different types of birds that are native here that you may see.

Interpretive Center 

Inside of Little David

Scary large Alligator

Cute baby alligator

The entrance to the Interpretive Center was creatively designed as the Canal would have looked. We loved the hearing the water falling down the brick walls and into a reflecting pond area on either side of the walkway. What a beautiful and unique design. As we walked in, the first thing we noticed was a huge 30 foot live oak that towers up to and through the ceiling. Then we saw the replica of “Little David where you could see what the inside looked like. Amazing. They also has a replica of what the canal looked like with its complete history. They had a baby alligator in a tank to watch as well as a huge alligator skin and head to look at. This was another very interesting spot to see but only no Wayne to show us around.

Stoney Landing House

When we left the Interpretive Center we headed over to see the Stony Landing House which is dated from 1843. This home was built on a part of the 12,000 acre Fairlawn Barony. Fairlawn was granted to Sir Peter Colleton who was the son of Lords Proprietor John Colleton back on September 7, 1678. There have been many notable people who lived here including Dr. St. Julien Ravenel, who was a natural historian and designer of the Little David, and Rembert C. Dennis, state senator from 1943 to 1988. They were setting up for a wedding so we made our visit there brief to get out of their way. The views from the house were lovely looking over the river from the upstairs porch. Just imagine what it was like to live at this beautiful home when it was first built. What at a fabulous venue for an outside wedding.

Floating Dock

We strolled down to the river and walked out onto the floating dock. It was beautiful there looking out at the calm water. It was so peaceful and quiet there with only an elderly gentleman at the end of the pier enjoying his day by fishing.

Osprey nest

Walking the Canal Trail on the lovely boardwalk trail that follows along the Trailrace Canal and through the woods, we saw much wildlife and beauty. There are many overlooks to check out with great views of the river along as well as overlooks of Biggin Creek with the cypress trees and swampy woodlands. At these overlooks on the Biggin Creek you can see Ospreys in their nests as well as blue herons, wood ducks, and alligators. This is an easy pleasant trail that goes to where the Old Santee Canal was located. Old Santee Canal was America’s first canal.

Beautiful Biggin Creek and swamp forest

The construction of this canal started in 1793. More than 700 laborers worked for seven years to dig out this canal with picks and shovels. The canal was 22 miles long, 30 feet wide and 5.5 feet deep. It must have been quite the project. They designed it so it could handle a 34 foot rise through three locks and a 69 foot fall through seven more for a net difference of 35 feet from the Santee and Cooper Rivers. In the early days mules and horses would pull barges down the canal from the towpath. The canal was used for sixteen years and did well. In the busiest year 1830, 700 barges and boats traveled through the canal. When the railroad was built to the city of Camden in 1846, it brought an end to the use of the canal. The canal sits mainly under Lake Moultrie and is now only visible in the upper portions a little in the southernmost section of the waterway.

On the way back, we took the Woodland Trail which was exactly that. It was not an easy trail but had pretty flowers and ferns growing in the woods. In areas this trail was steep and muddy from all the rain. We had a thoroughly enjoyable day exploring this park and would definitely recommend taking some time there. Thank you Wayne for enlightening us and making this an even more special day for us. Check them out at www.oldsanteecanalpark.org. God bless. Till next time.