The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-06-06
ANDERSONVILLE, S. C.
The Past and Present of this Historic
Town.

The Past and Present of this Historic
HartweU Sun.
Ofall the lovely places, mono can be
more picturesquely beautiful at this sea-
son of the year than historic old Ander.
sonville.
The wild flowers are now in full bloom
filling the air with delightful fragrance
and even in the balmy atmosphere itself
there seems 10 be a breathing sweetness
The sight Of this place is suggestive o1
a picnic, and certainly a more appropri.
ate spot could Ut be found than under
the umbrageous and stately oaks, aud
wide.spreading olms, that fringe the
banks of the Tugalo and the Seneca, two
beautiful rivers which here unite to form
a greater, and roll in solemn, majestic
splendor to meet the daahing waves of the
mighty ocean.
The names of these rivers are of Indian
origin, and each has q Specification which
is literally fulfilled, if the Interpretation
as we understand it be correct. Tugalo,
in Cherokee terminology, is said to mean
"rough.Aowing," and the name is not
amiss. This riveris formed by the con.
fuence of the Tallulah and Chs,ttooga in
the Blue Ridge region. "Tallulah" itself
means "terrible"-a wonderfully fit ap.
pellation, as any one who has gazed upon
the awful grandeur of its roaring cata'
racts, can testify. The "seneca" Vas SO
named because, unlike her boisteroua
brother, her waters glide gently and
languidly, and are almost unbroken by
shoal.
The waters of the Tugalo are limpid.
while the Seneca's are ever turbid. This
difference is very marked where they flow
together, and is said to be noticeable as
far down as Mcdaniel Shoals, eight miles
below.
Saturday last your correspondent and
Mr.. o. G. Brown drove over to this old
place to learn some of the "reminiscences.
which have been handed down for sever.
al generations, in reference to this once
prosperous and enterprisiDg town. al
the same time we were to take in the
Townville picnic, and so to speak "kill
two birds with one stone."
The picknickers had not arrived when
we got there, so we went direct to the
house of Hon. E.. P. Earle. Here we
met Mr.. Earle and his accomplished
sister Miss Fannie Earle, both Of whom
enlightened us much about the history Of
Anderaonville., Many of the facts we
obtained we're in such shape that they
could not be used in an authentic histori-
cal sketch, still it may be interesting to
our readers to give some of them.
ANDERsoNvILLE
was at one time considerable town, with
many stores and shops, and was the
market for large area of country sur.
rounding. Pole boats made regular trips
to and from Augusta, and some vent as
high up the Tugalo as Shelor's Ferry,
bringing groceries and dry goods, and
returning laden with tobacco. Tobacco
was then the staple crop Of this section.
and much of it was brought here to be
inspected and sold.
The tobacco WAS packed in large hogs
heads at the plantations, then an axle
was put through the centre, and shafts
attached the horse or OK as the case
might be was hitched up and the hogs
head rolled to town in this way and mar.
keted.
Andersonville must be an hundred
years old, or more.
We talked with an old man who came
here fifty years ago, and the town had at
that time passed its zenith. There was 8
line of business houses, shops and resi-
dences from the Georgia ferry nearly
across to the Seneca Ferry, distance of
at least half a mile. The cellars may
still be seen, and Judging from thei,
dimensions the houses must have been Of
good size.
Very few Of the originalbuildings now
remain. One, still used as storahouse
is standing. The old mill, factory, and
one or two dwellings have also ithstooi
the elements to this day.
GUN FACTORY.
The foundations of the old gun foun
dry are still intact, but the structure
itself was torn down two or three years
ago.
Elias Earle lived here in the early par
of the century.
he was member of Congress many
years, and government contractor fol
the manufacture of arms for the war 0.
1872.
The iron ore vas mined below Ander
son, and smelted at Centreville, ther
brought here and made up.
The metal proved to be very inferior
and the manufacture was after time
discontinued. We were shown some o
his correspondence relative to the con
tract.
MIR. Earle made his journeys to tn,
Capital through the country in his bug
gy.
At one time there was fouriahinl
FEMALE ACADEMY
at this place, and this was probably the
educational as we'll as commercial centre
for large part of South Carolina ant
Georgia.
Streets were laid off, several acres Wer
set aside for park, and doubtless An
dersonville was assuming city.like airs
But she was doomed the innovation o
railroads superseded troublesome ant
slow poleboat transportation and she los
bor rraetira Hor dootrunt;on hoo mn