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Real events too strange to have made the textbook.
Fountain Inn, SC
A statue honors Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, the Fountain Inn native who lost a leg in a cotton-gin accident and became a celebrated one-legged tap dancer. Bates later appeared repeatedly on national television and operated a major Black-owned resort in New York.
Charleston, SC
A small grave outside Poogan’s Porch honors the neighborhood dog for whom the restaurant was named. Poogan reportedly wandered from porch to porch before adopting the restaurant as his home, and staff and guests have since attached ghost stories to the beloved canine’s memory. Restaurant: https://www.poogansporch.com/
Plantersville, SC
Only the Gothic Revival front wall and tower remain from a church begun just before the Civil War and completed years afterward. The main body was demolished in 1966 after becoming unsafe. The National Register property is privately owned, so visitors should view it only where lawful and not assume public entry.
Lake City, SC
Lake City honors hometown astronaut Ronald McNair, who died aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, with a dedicated memorial park. The site connects a small South Carolina community directly to one of the defining tragedies of the American space program.
Greenville, SC
A jet displayed in Cleveland Park honors Greenville native Rudolf Anderson Jr., the only American killed by enemy fire during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Anderson was shot down while flying a U-2 reconnaissance mission over Cuba in 1962.
Saint Helena Island, SC
Tabby walls are all that remain of a chapel built in the 1700s for plantation families who lived too far from Beaufort’s main parish church. Fire destroyed the chapel after the Civil War, leaving a stark shell and adjoining cemetery beneath Lowcountry trees.
Charleston, SC
A small monument marks the area where the “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet and members of his crew were executed in 1718. Bonnet’s strange career—from wealthy plantation owner to inept pirate associate of Blackbeard—makes the quiet waterfront location unusually rich in pirate history.
Walhalla, SC
Workers began boring this railroad tunnel through Stumphouse Mountain in the 1850s as part of an ambitious route through the Blue Ridge, but construction ended before the tunnel was completed. Visitors can walk into part of the dark unfinished passage, which later became useful for aging Clemson blue cheese.
Walterboro, SC
A memorial at the former Walterboro Army Airfield honors the Tuskegee Airmen who trained here during World War II. The site preserves the connection between this quiet Lowcountry airfield and the pioneering Black pilots whose service helped challenge segregation in the U.S. military.
Charleston, SC
Dense vegetation, leaning stones, elaborate monuments, and deliberately overgrown paths give this historic churchyard a distinctive appearance. Charleston folklore connects the cemetery with ghost stories, including traditions surrounding the mysterious “Lady in White.”
