Comments on City of Dust: Hollywood, South Carolina

Hi,Thanks for the update on the Palmetto House. I...

2008-07-22T00:13:00.000-04:00

Hi,

Thanks for the update on the Palmetto House. I'm very glad to hear it's been rehabilitated. I added a note to the original post alerting folks that the restaurant has re-opened and is under new ownership.

Thanks again!

John

As of 2008 the Palmetto House has new owners and h...

2008-07-19T01:47:00.000-04:00

As of 2008 the Palmetto House has new owners and has been restored. It now functions as a restaurant/meeting hall. You should make note of that in your article, since in the way it is written one could misconstrue the actual present owners with the (former) ones you allude to.

Hey John,The link is at: http://www.northofthesava...

2008-02-19T17:15:00.000-04:00

Hey John,
The link is at: http://www.northofthesavannah.com/north-augusta-real-estate.php

but you can find some other historical posts here:

http://www.northofthesavannah.com/posts/category/historical/

Keep up the great work!

Hi Austin,No, I don't mind you linking to the post...

2007-12-05T19:01:00.000-04:00

Hi Austin,

No, I don't mind you linking to the post at all. It's a real compliment. What's the website url? I'd like to have a look at what sorts of historical bits your wife has posted.

Glad you liked the site and I'll let you know if I ever need anything from the History of NA.

Thanks Again!

John

Hey Jim,I got a kick out of reading your article a...

2007-12-04T17:27:00.000-04:00

Hey Jim,

I got a kick out of reading your article about North Augusta history (I live there, or here, or whatever). I'm kind of a history nut, so I enjoyed coming across your post.

Since your article is so well written, I'm going to throw a link to it on my wife's website. She gets some traffic for 'North Augusta history', and your post is much better and more relevant than ours, so I hope you don't mind.

I've got a copy of that "History of North Augusta" and a number of other books on the history of Augusta GA. If you ever need to look up something, please, give me a shout.

Hey, thanks for the info. Is the book you're refe...

2007-12-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

Hey, thanks for the info. Is the book you're referring to "History of North Augusta"? That's a pretty rare book, I believe. I saw a copy for almost $200.00.

Thanks for stopping by.

John

They had refurnished the entire building, added 20...

2007-11-30T19:41:00.000-04:00

They had refurnished the entire building, added 20 bedrooms, all rooms painted and changed the lamps to the Mazda type-taking away the carbon type. The dining room received new crockery and linens. The fire was started in the ceiling of the the 3rd floor in the West wing. It was closed at the time, so nobody left an iron on or kicked over a lantern (cow did that in Chicago). I don't think they HAD electric irons then...AND it was not windy that day. (I am looking at my book now on NA). I can scan some pictures of the hotel before and after the fire if someone wants me to. You can email me villakat2@yahoo.com and put Hampton terrace hotel in sub. box so I won't delete. I will be more than happy to scan some pictures from my book for you.

Wow, what a bizarre spoon. Thanks for bringing it...

2007-10-08T16:42:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a bizarre spoon. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. To anyone else, I recommend taking a look HERE.

I am copying your blog into an item that I am sell...

2007-10-08T11:06:00.000-04:00

I am copying your blog into an item that I am selling on ebay, it is a spoon from the hotel. It will be listed under Black Americana. Thanks

i found this site looking up info on the hampton t...

2006-07-12T19:56:00.000-04:00

i found this site looking up info on the hampton terrace inn...very interesting info...i have an old spoon with the hampton terrace inn on it...actually somehow my husband got a hold of it...before he and i got together...we were thinking of auctioning it off and were trying to find more info on it...so, thanks for the info...georgederaney@bellsouth.net

Oh, I never meant City of Dust to be disparaging. ...

2005-11-25T13:23:00.000-04:00

Oh, I never meant City of Dust to be disparaging. Besides, if it refers to any city it's Augusta, GA, and even then it was mostly a reference to the dusty old back roads I found myself on when I was initially taking photographs. All the floors in the old abandoned houses and barns were covered with that fine, red dust. Certainly I didn't think N.A. was uninteresting or I wouldn't have written such long, rambling posts about the town nor taken so many pictures. Nah, there's a lot of fascinating stuff in N.A. and I'm glad you like living there so much. I'd like to come back one day, but I'm not sure when that might be. Thanks for stopping by!

I live in North Augusta and about two years ago I ...

2005-11-25T12:33:00.000-04:00

I live in North Augusta and about two years ago I had a field trip of our city. I found out that the reason the hotel burnt down was from an iron accident, the hotel was made of wood and it was very windy that day so there was nothing anyone could do. I think North Augusta has never been better to this day. I'm very happy that it is not Hollywood,SC. For sure N.A. is not the city of dust. We have very smart people here, fine schools, great football teams, and great bands. I think that N.A. is the best town ever with great history. I think that you should come and visit N.A. agian because it's great.

OK, so here's the deal:They had just spent $20,000...

2005-05-26T15:21:00.000-04:00

OK, so here's the deal:
They had just spent $20,000 upgrading the Hampton Terrace, adding 20 rooms and 3000 Mazda lights. The fire was started by a short-circuit on the 3rd floor in the west wing. There was talk of dynamiting the west wing to spare the east, but the Head Fireman said nix to that - too dangerous. They had little chance to fight the fire as the connections on the fire hydrants were non-standard and didn't fit the hoses the fire department had. The whole place burnt down in one night, and the reason given as to why it wasn't rebuilt was that financing would have been difficult and World War One had become a looming problem here in the States.

I also saw that the majority of the pottery plants on the floodplain of the Savannah here in North Augusta were working a 12-foot layer of Stoneware Clay, making alkaline-glazed pottery. It seems that the Baynahm family continued to operate a pottery business into the 80s, which would explain why the lakes left after mining the pottery look different now than they do on the 1950s-vintage topographical maps of the area.
If you can, check it out soon, as that area will soon become the Hampton's Ferry development, and the ponds are due to mostly be filled in, or at least cleaned up to modern neighborhood standards.
Anything other questions, just ask!
Later - Chris xt235

Good to see another post, John.The work on the Ham...

2005-05-26T14:22:00.000-04:00

Good to see another post, John.

The work on the Hammond's Ferry development is really getting underway, the fields you'd shown are indeed now all plowed up, and the bike trail is closed so that they can extend Crystal Lake Ave. straight across into the new development. But the little bath house shown is still there, for now. I'll try to see if I can't find out for you what exactly burned down the Hampton Terrace - the still-identifiable hole from the original golf course is behind the Winn-Dixie on Martintown Road, and the course streched from there all the way to the Public Safety building (where the cops are) on the other side of Goergia Ave near Beuna Vista Ave.
It was also said that one could see all the way to Aiken from the top floors of the Hampton Terrace, 15 (or so) miles away.
Later - Chris xt235