Five Points in Summerville--A Once Upon a Time Relic Explained or Unexplained

Summerville is growing, and as a result, is changing. However, Summerville has not forgotten its past. Its past is interwoven into what it is becoming today, and what it will be in the future. It celebrates the stories that have already been written through its projects, murals, arts, statues, books, magazines, festivals, and tours. Rich, entertaining stories explained and unexplained. The following unusual story, though not as well known and significant as the Pine Forest Inn, or the Railroad Station, or White Gables, you just might find compelling.

In Summerville, there is an area where three roads converge unto South Main Street to make a single intersection of five points. The roads are W. Carolina Ave, E. Carolina Ave, and Tupper Lane. I have driven through this intersection many times. Once upon a time a strange, potted ornament occupied a space at the point where W. Carolina Ave and Tupper Lane come together.

It was always just a brief curiosity because I never made any real effort to find out what the strange looking tree-like structure with blue bottles stuck on its branches was. Only by accident, I stumbled upon the answer. I was researching ghost stories in the Summerville area. Not surprising, it's called a blue bottle tree and quite common throughout the South. Perhaps, you remember seeing it as you navigated this highly traveled crossroads. I say remember because like many notable Summerville landmarks, it is no longer there.

What purpose did it serve? Was it meant to be just a decorative object to amuse passersby? Did its presence have a darker, deeper meaning for the individual or individuals who placed it there? After all, the blue bottle tree bears a cultural significance to some Lowcountry residents of times past.

Today, the blue bottle tree is mainly nothing more than a decoration people put in their gardens and on their lawns, but in history, the blue bottle tree is steeped in superstitions brought here by African slaves, although I should add, superstition to some, to others, deep rooted beliefs.

The color blue was believed to ward off spirits, more specifically, the evil kind. The blue bottles on the bottle tree are thought to entice the evil spirits into climbing inside during the evening hours where they become trapped. Then, the morning sun comes up and the sunlight kills the spirits. Quite an ingenious idea, if you believe in such things. Also, a nifty way of making good use of empty wine bottles, if you like the idea of a blue bottle tree in your yard.

Summerville's Five Points has a history. According to one study, a dark history. It is a well-known high-accident intersection. Between the years of 2015 to 2017, there were 60 crashes. Nine resulted in 13 persons injured and 51 resulted in property damage. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. To be noted, these statistics only covered a three year period. I took the picture of the blue bottle tree in 2015. So, when that study was done, it was already there. Yet, could this be the reason the blue bottle tree was placed at this crossroads in the first place, or was there something else more insidious going on with the properties around Five Points. Just down the road are the lion-topped brick pillars of 1006 South Main Street where the ghost of Mary Margaret resides.

Proposed roundabout

There are plans in the making to address the traffic problem at Five Points. One of them involves constructing a two-lane roundabout, which would not include Tupper Lane--it would be turned into a cul-de-sac. Thus, Five Points will fade away into history like the blue bottle tree that once graced the area to become just another footnote in Summerville's illustrious history like the Summerville Light.

I know there is someone out there in Summerville who knows the true reason why the blue bottle tree was placed there, when it was placed there, and who removed it. If not, it will become one of Summerville's Unexplained.

More Summerville Stories

Walking the 'Ville: Historic Downtown--A New Addition to Summerville's Tour Options

Cherished landmarks, both past and present, are scattered throughout Summerville's celebrated downtown area, each with a fascinating story to tell. Unfortunately, a story is all that remains for some. They have "crumbled to the ground and become dust in the wind. Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky. It slips away. And all your money won't another minute buy," so says a famous song. Residents and visitors desiring to know the stories associated with these points of interest can access various interactive tours made available by the town to assist them in their quest.

Beginning in November of 2021, a group of Summerville representatives and residents came together to form a new tour team interested in expanding the town's tour options. The group brainstormed lots of potential tours. Many of them remain possibilities for the future. However, for the present, they decided to focus on Hutchinson Square and surrounding streets to bring more walking traffic to local businesses and increase interest in the museum.

In celebration of Summerville's 175th Anniversary, the Tour Team launched its new walking tour on June 1st called Walking the 'Ville: Historic Downtown. The starting point is the Summerville Dorchester Museum located at 100 E. Doty Street. The tour is very navigable with an interactive and downloadable map posted on the Visit Summerville site. Totaling thirteen stops, QR code signs will be located at each point of interest for you to scan with your cell phones or tablets. Pictures of the original landmarks are provided along with a detailed history and a complete audio summary. Video below is an example of audio summary you can download as you view the landmark in person.

The thirteen stops are Summerville Dorchester Museum, the Icehouse, the Bittershon Inn, Coburn Hutchinson House, James F. Dean Theater, Town Hall, Guerin's Pharmacy, Saul Alexander's Clothing Store, the Railroad Depot, the Summerville Arch, Church of the Epiphany-Kitty Springs, the Timrod Library, and Worlds Largest Iced Sweet Tea Jar called Mason. If you are superstitious, we will call it ten stops plus three. The final three are considered bonus stops.

The Town Tour Team included Tina Zimmerman; Visitors Center, Rita Berry; Chamber, Dr. Ed West, Ken Battle, Danny Hughes and Pam Giesick; Summerville Museum, Ellen Priest; former Summerville Journal Scene Publisher, Perrin Cothran Conrad; local author and tourism professional, Steve Doniger; DREAM Executive, George McDaniel; Drayton Hall Director Emeritus, Deb Campeau, and other advisors.

So, put on your walking shoes and grab your cell phones. Go to the Visit Summerville site and download the map. Visit each of the points of interest and learn about the landmarks place and impact on Summerville's history. As you stroll from location to location, take a break for a refreshing drink of whatever suits your fancy at one of the numerous cafes, drinking holes or food establishments. Relax in the square and immerse yourself in its absorbing atmosphere and soak in the sounds of a town on the move. There is history to be learned and history in the making.

Twelve Old And New Summerville Landmarks You Will Want To Visit And Photograph

Summerville has a highly celebrated historical landscape with plenty to offer the discerning amateur photographer looking for that cherished photo memento. As you stroll the downtown area, surviving remnants from the town’s past are there for you to discover and capture with the click of your camera. Do not hesitate, quick as the shutter blinks, the scene of Summerville is changing, as it has, and as it will. That is the nature of things. Freeze-framing the moments is imperative.

Just imagine, if you dare, even the long-standing Angel Oak will eventually succumb to the powers to be. It will be a sad day when that happens, but for those who have preserved their visit to the oldest living thing east of the Rockies with a photo, remembering its place in time will be just a snapshot away. What will take its place as a popular landmark, only time will tell.

Thick groves of tall pines and old oaks richly grace Summerville. Their cooling touch and healing scent enticed early plantation owners to take up residence on its sandy hills. From those very same trees, they constructed their simple homes. The community grew and declared the trees sacred.

In time, some of the trees bowed to the Pine Forest Inn, and an era of prosperity ushered in. Of the trees still around today, longtime residents nurture fond memories and tell stories of playing below their broad branches. However, people no longer come to Summerville for the health benefits the pines once offered. They come for the charm, for the hospitality, and history.

Eventually, each pine in its time will succumb to the powers to be, as did the majestic Pine Forest Inn and Summerville’s famous railroad station. The scene of Summerville is changing. Like the first settlers and early town planners, may we seize the opportune moments presented to us and take Summerville into another era of prosperity as we commemorate its past.

I have picked twelve old and new places in and around Summerville’s rich-in-history landscape that have become my favorite framed souvenirs. I offer this list suggesting places you may want to check out and photograph on your next visit.

1) Recently, Summerville made a huge step forward in taking the town into the next era of prosperity--the renovation of Hutchinson Square. Inspired by images from its celebrated past, the square was beautifully transformed into a community space for people to gather and soak in the downtown atmosphere. A walkway splitting the square in half with a fountain in the middle, a pavilion with a roofline patterned after the old railroad station, and a nostalgic Summerville archway are all reminiscent of early town history. As visitors cross the railroad tracks into the downtown area, there is no mistaking their arrival to South Carolina's Flower Town in the Pines. If you are at the Square first thing in the morning, stop in Eva's on Main for a breakfast of down home fixings. It has been at that location since 1952. After, check out the James F. Dean Theatre two doors south. Built in the 1930's, it was home to Summerville's movie theater called "The Show." In 1976, it was taken over by a group of actors named Flowertown Players and since, the community theater has been filled with the sound of applause.

2) Old Town Hall stands on Summerville’s oldest avenue. Today’s West Carolina Avenue was called the Great Thoroughfare in the earliest days of what began simply as a summer retreat. It ran through the heart of the old village. The old building at 201 served as the newly formed village’s town hall between 1860 and 1892. The city center was moved and replaced by a new town hall located at the end of what became the town’s square. After serving the town, it became a school, a polling place, a community center, a tearoom, and a residence. Badly damaged by Hurricane Hugo, it was purchased and restored by the Summerville Preservation Society and became their headquarters and archives. A jail and market place once stood on the site.

3) Colonial Dorchester State Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. From 1697 until the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Town of Dorchester flourished along the Ashley River, inland from colonial Charleston. Abandoned at the start of the Revolutionary War, it has disappeared, leaving only the remains of a brick bell tower from St. George’s Anglican Church, the foundation outline of a colonial home, and a fort made of an oyster-shell concrete called tabby...More pictures.

4) Julia Drayton Hastie, the heir to Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley, had the house built that became the Linwood Bed and Breakfast on a two-acre Summerville site in 1883. Ancient camellias, azaleas, majestic magnolias, and stately palms dominate the property's landscape. Elevated porches offer a panoramic view of the lush, more formal gardens. It has served as a bed and breakfast for over 13 years, officially opening in 1995 with elegant guest rooms, private baths, secluded sitting areas, a large swimming pool, and wide porches. There are three cottages available: The Guest House, The Bungalow, and The Hay Barn...More pictures.

5) Dr. Henry C. Guerin founded Guerin’s Pharmacy in 1871 after buying out Schwettman Drugstore and moving the business to South Main Street and West Richardson Avenue. The Dunnings later acquired the pharmacy in 1975. When they were remodeling the interior, they discovered a chalked message scrawled on a wall by Joe Guerin in an upstairs office. The message documented the tragic sinking of the Titanic in 1912. It is the oldest operating pharmacy in South Carolina. Today, you can order an ice cream float, milkshake, hot dog, or lemonade from its fountain.

6) The Peake Family built White Gables somewhere between the 1830s and early 1850s at the corner of West Richardson and Palmetto Street. In the early 1900s, Sara Woodruff developed a fondness for the almost 65-year-old house. What happened next gave birth to her distinguished story. Both fascinating and amusing, it is a story unlike any other in Summerville history, a story of restoration.

7) Middleton Place on the Ashley was settled in the late 17th century, with its main family residence constructed in 1705. The estate encompasses America’s oldest landscaped gardens designated “the most important and most interesting garden in America.” Henry Middleton started the Gardens in 1741. In 1952, Middleton Place began welcoming visitors to its gardens year-round. In the spring, from April to May, you can enjoy the gardens and sample old and new world wines at its Wine Strolls every Wednesday... Wine Stroll...More pictures.

8) Arriving and departing guests of the Pine Forest Inn passed through decorative columns for forty years, beginning in 1891. The inn was world renown and visited by many celebrities. It was a showcase among Southern inns. Advertisements for the inn announced it to be “situated on the outskirts of one of the prettiest villages in the Southland.” The columns are the only remaining remnants of the inn. You can view the columns at the crossroads of Linwood Lane and Salisbury Drive...A Visit To The Illustrious Pine Forest Inn Of Summerville--Somewhere In Time

9) When in town for a visit, be sure to stop by the visitor center to get information about its self-guided walking tours. “The Historic House Tour” takes you along the winding roads on a quiet walk through a landscape where the pine trees are the story, the houses are the pictures, and The Flowertown in the Pines is the title of the book with a word count as abundant as the flowers of the spring bloom. “The Sweet Tea Trail Tour” was created for visitors to experience Summerville as the Birthplace of Sweet Tea. On this tour, you will explore the shops, sites, sips, and tastes that make life in Summerville so sweet. You will meet The World’s Largest Sweet Tea named Mason. He is over 15 feet tall and the holder of a Guinness World Record.

10) Summerville’s famous Azalea Park, home of the Flowertown Festival, was started in 1933, and completed in 1935. All the flowers planted in the park, 33,000 in total, came from George Segelken’s Summerville Floral Nursery. Mr. Segelken was a pioneer in the propagation of azaleas. Tourists flocked to the park. Bumper to bumper traffic on a Sunday afternoon was a common sight during the annual bloom. Visitors came because of the park’s beauty, but more so because azaleas were an uncommon sight and relatively unknown in South Carolina, except in Summerville. The park runs along South Main Street.

11) B.I.R.D.S. is a public art initiative instituted to encourage participants to explore the downtown of Summerville. Twenty-two life-size bronze wildlife sculptures overlook the town from balconies, windowsills, shop signs, and rooftops. You follow a poetic series of clues to find each one. In the process, you learn about the native birds and the importance of keeping them healthy and abundant. B.I.R.D.S. encourages an appreciation for public art, enhances the economic vitality of downtown Summerville, and teaches the importance of conserving and restoring natural ecosystems to protect our birds. The project was a partnership between the Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Sculpture in the South, and Summerville DREAM.

12) Today, it is known as “A Little Museum with Big Stories.” At one time, the Eagle Creek Lumber Company owned the land. Between 1923 and 1928, a 300,000-gallon cistern with a 100-foot steel water tower stood on the property adjacent to a one-story brick building. The brick building was enlarged to two stories. The Summerville Police Department took possession in 1976 with holding cells, offices, a courtroom for the Town Judge, a day room for officers, and a radio room. The Summerville Police Department moved to a new municipal complex in June 1990. The Summerville Dorchester Museum took occupancy in 1992 with renovations to follow and opened in 1993. Its mission is to collect, preserve and exhibit artifacts, and to develop educational programs relating to the cultural and natural history of the Summerville and Dorchester County area of South Carolina. Its location is 100 E Doty Ave.

Tranquil Halcyon Inn--An Enduring Icon Of Summerville's Prosperous Golden Age

Halcyon is likely not a commonly recognizable word by the average, everyday person unless you are of Greek decent or a student of Greek mythology. And may I add to this short list of the privileged few, the older residents of Summerville and the few observant Summervillians who have seen it while driving along S. Main Street.

To the Greeks, the Alkyonides Meres(Halcyon Days in English) is a name used to describe a two week period of warm and calm weather that generally occurs around the winter solstice, though not exclusively. They can also occur in February.

To a student of Greek mythology, the mythical explanation for the sunny days of calm seas and winds that appear every year between mid January and mid February in Greece is found in the story of the goddess Halcyon(Alcyone in Greek) and her mortal husband, King Ceyx of Thessaly. Their story is one of love, commitment, and death, but to make a long story short, ends with them being transformed into seabirds(many myths say Kingfisher birds) to be together forever. So her eggs can survive during the harsh winter weather, Zeus gave her 14 days of good and calm weather--thus the birth of the Halcyon Days. The term has come to signify prosperity, joy, liberation and, of course, calm.

To the older residents of Summerville, the word Halcyon is remembered as the name of one of the grand resort inns that served the town during its most prosperous days called the Golden Age. If you are a Summervillian who has traveled up and down Highway 17-A while going about your everyday business, you likely have driven past Halcyon Place many times. Perhaps, you casually observed the street sign bearing its name, but were unaware of the unique history hidden beyond the tall trees, the white pillars and black gates.

The exact construction date of the house that eventually became known as Halcyon Place is unknown. The Colleton County records, the properties original county, were lost when Sherman's troops burned Columbia in 1865. The earliest surviving reference to the property indicates the house was built between 1830 and 1840 and was called Duke's house--the original owner being John R. Duke. It was built in the classic Southern style. A 12 x 50 foot spacious two-story columned porch greeted you on arrival. On the porch was a joggling board--one of its owners tells a story of acquiring the joggling board she felt completed the porch.

Inside, the first floor featured a 33 x 20 foot living room with 13 foot ceilings, a spacious 26 x 20 dining room, two large dens, a bedroom and stairs leading to the second floor. The second floor contained four bedrooms and a hall. The most unusual second floor feature was a door that led to nowhere, no stairs, no landing and no indication anything was ever there except empty space. Mrs. Dion, one of its owners, jokingly referred to it as the door for invisible inhabitants.

A 1909 plat of the property shows Halcyon Place covered eight acres, which included a pear orchard. Aside from the house, on the grounds were some old outbuildings, service buildings, servants quarters and a gazebo. It was these buildings that were turned into guest houses when Halcyon Place served as an exclusive resort inn under the ownership of the Weeds. One of the guest houses was called "Magruder's House." It was named after a slave that lived there until the 1930's. Another, called the "Pink Cottage", was a former stable and still had the barn doors to prove it. Located in a garden with a bricked-in spring, the octagonal gazebo was considered a historic landmark.

Halcyon Inn is not known for accommodating any famous guests like the Pine Forest Inn and Carolina Inn--at least none I am aware of. Mrs. Caroline Parameter, daughter of Mrs. Weed, was well known for her delicious menus--at one time she ran the Tea Room at Middleton Place. To its Northern visitors, Halcyon Inn was an oasis of tranquility and calm, a safe haven away from the rough waters of life and harsh winters--many of them staying a whole season spanning from late October to April.

Today, it remains a picture of resilience and serenity with its beautifully landscaped grounds, safely tucked away under the properties old oaks and beyond its large black gates. Appropriately named and forever immortalized in the historic writings of Summerville's more prominent residents, it is a reminder of the town's "halcyon days" and a surviving icon of the Golden Age.

New York Yankee left fielder, Brett Gardner, purchased 100 Halcyon in 2011.

A Day At Majestic Drayton Hall By The Ashley River--Preservation At Its Best

We entered the old, narrow gate off of Highway 61--the main road the Drayton's used on their trips to Charleston. Shortly after, we came to the small ticket shack, presented our ticket, received instructions and assigned tour time. In the distance, straight up the narrow, dirt driveway beyond a large pond on the left and a reflecting pond on the right stood the resilient and impressive Drayton Hall flanked by weatherworn, hundreds centuries old oak trees--a survivor of two wars, phosphate mining, a devastating earthquake and a category 3 hurricane.

Originally a fruit orchard, Drayton Hall was built somewhere around 1738, thus making it over 265 years old. Considered one of the earliest and finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the United States, it is part of the most significant, undisturbed historic landscapes in America. Inside, the amazing, undisturbed wood and plaster carvings are a testimony to the artful skills of the master craftsmen of the day.

To us, the house is a surviving relic to look at in curiosity and wonderment, but to the people of the era, every nuance incorporated into its design had a very special meaning. Guests, upon arrival, could tell where the party was going to be held just by looking at the tops of the columns on the portico. Just some of the finer points highlighted by our knowledgeable tour guide, Tara, who riced up her narrative with a balanced touch of humor. One amusing fact you will learn about was the Drayton's innovative version of flushed toilets.

There are no furnishings in the home. All the surviving furniture and rugs have been stored away over the years for safe keeping. Arrangements have been made recently to display for viewing the furnishings of Drayton Hall in Williamsburg, Virginia. There is a plan to build a museum on sight to house the furnishings when the needed money becomes available.

Due to the fragile nature of the decor, some sections of the house are off limits, but can be observed within marked-off areas. In those 265 years, the interior walls have been painted only twice. At the beginning of the tour, while sitting under one of the massive oaks in full view of Drayton Hall, the guide requested that we be careful not to touch the painted walls or to inadvertently bump into them. The aged paint could crumble at the slightest touch and be lost forever--difficult for me because I like to touch everything.

Years ago, Charlotta Drayton, the last of the Drayton's to use the estate, made a decision to preserve Drayton Hall and not restore it. For the weeks she stayed at the house, the only modern conveniences she had installed were a wood-burning stove and an icebox that was later replaced by a refrigerator, powered through an extension cord plugged in at the Victorian caretaker’s cottage. She called it "camping out." In 1974, the National Trust for Historic Preservation purchased the house and 125 acres from the Drayton's with the mission to fulfill Charlotta's wishes and keep it in near-original condition.

A trip to Charleston would not be complete without a visit to majestic Drayton Hall, if you are looking for the complete southern experience. From the moment you enter the gate and drive up the narrow causeway toward the columned porticos of the front entrance, you sense a change in time, a transference of today into yesterday. And when you climb the stone stairs facing the Ashley River and step through the door, the sudden rush of air carries you back to the era of English gardens, rice fields and plantation living. You will treasure the tour and the pictures.

The Scarlett O'Hara of Summerville Past And Her Tara--An Epic Story

Scarlett O'Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind"--the 1936 novel that became an epic film in 1939. In the original drafts, Mitchell named her character Pansy, but just before going to print she changed it to Scarlett; a more fitting name for the fiery, shrewd, opportunistic character who had no qualms about doing what was necessary to survive and succeed. Years before Mitchell created her character, an early Summerville resident by the name of Sara Woodruff in many ways embodied those characteristics, but in a delightful way. She is the Scarlett O'Hara of Summerville and her Tara was White Gables.

White Gables was built by the Peake Family somewhere between the 1830's and early 1850's. A three-story house with 12 rooms, three halls, five baths and three porches, it was designed in the Classic Greek Revival architecture with a southern flavor. The first floor structure is formidable with double brick walls over 18 inches thick, 9 foot ceilings, plastered walls, pegged solid shutters, wainscoting and molded chair rail throughout the rooms. The second floor has 14-foot ceilings featuring wide cornices and carved medallions. The original house had double piazzas front and back; the back piazzas were altered later in its history. A conservatory was also later added to the property. It was once chosen by the Preservation Society as an outstanding representation of period architecture.

In the early 1900's, Sara developed a fondness for the near 65 year old house located on the corner of Richardson Ave and Palmetto Street. What happened next gave birth to her distinguished story and White Gables fame. Both fascinating and amusing, it is a story unlike any other in Summerville history.

Sara was married to Harry Woodruff, a Charleston station master who was somewhat of a big spender and had a weakness for gambling. A family story reported he lost downtown Houston in a card game in Texas. A constant concern for Sara, she worried about their finances and because Harry was 10 years older than herself, she worried about being left with no income and children to raise. To ensure the families success and survival, she put in motion a shrewd plan.

Harry had returned to town from business for the railroad and as usual, was met at the Summerville train station by the family retainer with his horse and carriage. But to Harry's bewilderment, upon leaving the station, they did not take the customary route home. Puzzled, he asked the driver, "Where are you taking me?" Unknown to Mr. Woodruff his home address had changed while he was away. Sara had purchased White Gables.

The Woodruff's were a very traditional Southern family. Always respectful of her husband, this was certainly a bold move on Sara's part. Still, she had no qualms about buying the house and property without her husband's knowledge. Despite the deception, Mr. Woodruff appreciated Sara's resourcefulness and all the family came to love their new home.

It was the Golden Years for the Inns of Summerville. Sara watched with curious interest as the influx of visitors from Charleston and places beyond stimulated the local businesses and potentially profitable opportunities. The Pine Forest Inn, Carolina Inn, the Halcyon Inn, and others were all thriving. She envisioned White Gables with its three servants cottages as a potential source of income for the future. Then one unsuspecting day, opportunity came rocking on her porch.

One day, coming out her front door, she found a man sitting on the porch swing. He had been walking around town looking for a place to stay, got tired and sat on the porch. He introduced himself as Henry Clay and related how he had been sent to Summerville by his doctor for the turpentine rich air, being an asthmatic. Sara left Mr. Clay with a glass of lemonade and an invitation to talk when she got back, which they did, and Mr. Clay became her first boarder.

The story does not end there. It seems Mr. Clay was a paying guest on the third floor of White Gables for almost four years without Mr. Woodruff ever knowing it. You see, Mr. Woodruff was a very regimented man and did things to a particular schedule. Except for his own rooms and the first floor parlor, he never went in any other part of the house or showed an interest in what else went on. On the other hand, as part of the strict terms laid out by Sara, Mr. Clay agreed to stay in his room during the evening hours, only venturing to the downstairs during the day.

From 1914 to 1939, Sara's White Gables was famous for Summerville hospitality. Ten months out of the year visitors, many from Charleston and some nationally famous people, rented the three cottages on the property and boarded rooms in the house. It became the financial success she envisioned and the security she scrupulously and shrewdly planned for. Considering all of this narrative, she is the Scarlett O'Hara of Summerville.


White Gables is presently for sale. If you would love to own a famous piece of Summerville's glorious history, this is an the opportunity. You can purchase it for $649,000. The day I visited the property, I sat on what quite possibly was the swing Mr. Clay sat on over a hundred years previous and talked about its history with a gentleman who lived in the conservatory.

A historical note: During the Civil War, Mr. Peake was away on business in Columbia. With the home vacant, he was concerned the Yankees would occupy it. To prevent this, he asked the Jamison Family to live in the house until his return.

The Landmarks And Stories Of Summerville's Enchanted Past-A Visual Walk Part Two

"Summerville conjures up an image of a warm, small community, a place to live your leisure... Summerville says century old high beamed homes with wide porches and gleaming heart pine floors set along moseying byways. Her voice breathes tranquilly through regal pines and moss laden oaks. It gentles across the silky pedals of her renown trumpet-shaped blooms...Summerville speaks of beauty...Her heritage is proudly recollected by her people." I could not have penned it more eloquently than this quotation taken from the Sesquicentennial Edition of Summerville.

Like an exhaled breath of air, most of Summerville's distinguished history has been scattered by the winds of time. Yet, to get an invigorating breath of its pastoral past, one only has to go to its deeply rooted pines. From their exhales of written and oral memoirs, life is infused into Summerville's narrative landscape. Add to these the carefully preserved images of past and present icons and the story clearly unfolds before you. The following is my second installment of the landmarks and stories yesterday and today of its collective record.

Guerin's Pharmacy was founded in 1871 by Dr. Henry C. Guerin after buying out Schwettman Drugstore and moving the business to South Main Street and Richardson Ave. The Dunnings later acquired the pharmacy in 1975. When they were remodeling the interior they discovered a white chalk message scrawled on a wall by Joe Guerin in an upstairs office. The message documented the tragic sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Guerin's Pharmacy is the oldest operating pharmacy in South Carolina. Bring the family and order a float, milkshake, hot dog or lemonade from its fountain. They have South Carolina souvenirs, post cards, Yardley products, LorAnn oils, and the best candy counter in town. It is still owned by the Dunnings.

The first train station in Summerville was of Victorian style design with elaborate gingerbread trim. It stood at the north end of the Square. The station survived the Civil War and the earthquake of 1886, but was moved in the early 1900's to Ladson to make way for a larger station. Business commuters would arrive to the station by horses and carriages for their daily trips into Charleston. Charleston planters and their families would come from Charleston for their seasonal stays.

The last train station was sadly torn down in the 1960's. The train no longer stops to take commuters into Charleston or anywhere else. Only vacant space with trees remains. There are hopes that someday the train will return.





The Summerville Short would leave the train depot on the square and after a long whistle, stop at 'West End.' It was sometimes also called Hickory Hill. In the 1880's J.H. Averill, superintendent of the railroad, built a small stop at Hickory Street near the tracks. It would stop to pick up area businessmen. The train would then go a block and a half to the turntable to turn around and then steam towards downtown Charleston.

Before Averill, Henry T. Peake was head of the railroad after the Civil War. He lived at White Gables, which at that time backed up to the tracks. He would have the train stop at his back gate to take him to his office in Charleston.

Like the train station, the stop at 'West End' is gone.


Squirrel Inn was built by Raven and Helen Lewis and opened around 1912. In 1941, the Sutter's bought the Inn. In 1957, it was nominated one of the top forty rural inns in the nation. Specialties of the house were continental cuisine and its well stocked wine cellar. One of Eugene Sutter's hobbies was raising camellias. Author Paul Hyde Bonner was a winter guest at the Inn and used it in one of his best selling novels, "Llewellyn Jones", referred to in the book as the Redbird Inn.

The Squirrel Inn closed its doors in 1970. It was converted into condominiums.









Middleton Place was established in 1741. Four generations of Middleton's occupied the estate. Days after the fall of Charleston in 1865, on February 22nd, the Main House and flanking buildings were ransacked and burned by a detachment of the 56th New York Regiment. The ground was strewn with books, paintings and other family treasures. William Middleton restored the South Flanker. What was left of the Main House and North Flanker toppled in the Earthquake of 1886.


The restored South Flanker survived and is a museum today. Middleton Place is a National Historic Landmark and home to America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens visited by thousands.

In the early 1900's, the Arcade Theatre stood on Main Street across from Town Square. The triple-arched facade housed a long, arcade walkway that led to a 250-seat capacity building where silent films complete with violin and piano accompaniment were viewed. Around the early 1930's, Summerville went through a major reconstruction. The facade and many of the buildings in the east block adjacent to the Square were demolished.

The Arcade Theatre was located where Treasure Box Collections, Edible Arrangements, and Karate are today.

White Gables was built by the Peake Family somewhere between the 1830's and early 1850's. The first floor structure is formidable with double brick walls over 18 inches thick. In the early 1900's, Sara Woodruff developed a fondness for the near 65 year old house located on the corner of Richardson Ave and Palmetto Street. What happened next gave birth to her distinguished story and White Gables fame. Both fascinating and amusing, it is a story unlike any other in Summerville history. If you would like to read the story, check it out at The Scarlett O'Hara of Summerville Past And Her Tara--An Epic Store.

Looking at White Gables today, it looks like not much has changed, but beginning in 2016, it went through an extensive restoration.

A historical note: During the Civil War, Mr. Peake was away on business in Columbia. With the home vacant, he was concerned the Yankees would occupy it. To prevent this, he asked the Jamison Family to live in the house until his return.

(Pictures taken from Images of America-Summerville by Jerry Crotty and Margaret Ann Michels, Porch Rocker Recollections, Summerville Sesquicentennial Edition, and City of Heroes by Richard N. Cote.

Take A Visual Walk Into Summerville's Enchanting Past-The Landmarks And The Stories

The Lake House is a 2006 romantic drama with unusual twists starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. It is a film about two people who live in different time periods. They meet by way of letters left in a mailbox at a lake house they have both lived in at separate points in time. Architect Alex Wyler lives in 2004 and Doctor Kate Forster lives in 2006. They carry on correspondence by way of the mailbox and form a relationship. There is a point in the movie where Alex invites Kate to take a walking tour with him by way of a map he leaves in the mailbox to view his favorite architectural landmarks in Chicago.

This is what I invite you to do with me-take an imaginative, visual walking tour by way of images from the past and present for a glance at treasured landmarks of Summerville separated only by the passing of time. Possibly, we may unknowingly cross paths at the railroad station while attempting to recover a book left there years earlier - Persuasion.

Visitors were greeted by this overhead arch for over three decades in the early 1900's welcoming them to Summerville. The brick archway was near the intersection of N. Main St and Highway 78. It meant 'coming home' to travelers as well as residents. When leaving, the last thing you saw was the town's motto, "Let the Pine be Sacred."

This is what the intersection of N. Main St and Highway 78 look like today. The archway no longer exists, replaced with traffic lights.






Summerville's famous Azalea Park, home of the Flowertown Festival, was started in 1933 and completed in 1935. All the flowers planted in the park, 33,000 of them, came from George Segelken's Summerville Floral Nursery. Mr. Segelken was a pioneer in the propagation of azaleas.

Tourists flocked to the park. Bumper to bumper traffic lines on a Sunday afternoon were a common sight. They came because of the beauty, but also because azaleas were an uncommon sight and relatively unknown in South Carolina, except in Summerville. The park runs along S. Main Street.



The scene coming into downtown Summerville on Central Ave in the early 1900's. Tupper Pharmacy is on the right and Bishop's Grocery is in the center. Tupper Pharmacy was started in 1900 by Dr. George Tupper. The pharmacy carried a limited line of non-pharmaceuticals, such as candy, newspapers, and magazines. Pine Forest Inn visitors came to the pharmacy for the New York editions of the newspapers.

Today, Tupper Pharmacy is home to Marigolds and Bishop's Grocery is now the location of Ginger Snaps. The section of road known as Short Central is closed to cars and is a gathering place for Third Thursday festivities and visitors shopping locally owned small businesses.



Arriving and departing guests of the Pine Forest Inn passed through these decorative columns for forty years, beginning in 1891. The inn was world renown and visited by many celebrities, a showcase among Southern inns. It was advertised as being "situated on the outskirts of one of the prettiest villages in the Southland."

The columns are all that is left of the Pine Forest Inn. The final owner took what could be salvaged from the interior and demolished the structure. The preserved columns can be viewed near Linwood Dr. and President's Circle.





The Darlington Cocoa-Cola Bottling Plant opened in 1915. It was located on Cedar Street. Summervillians were captivated by the bottling process in the plant, especially the kids. About the Coke Plant's front windows, it was said there were "more nose prints than any other windows in town." Mrs. Salisbury, vice president for 14 years, was quoted by the Summerville Journal Scene on March 20,1987 as saying, "The children loved to come inside, watch for awhile, then we'd take them back and give them a free coke and some cookies."

The YMCA now occupies the location.











The old Town Hall was built in the early 1890's. The bell that hung in the bell tower was given to Summerville in 1893. The bell came from the Holy communion Church in Charleston, which became the Porter Military Academy or "The Arsenal." The bell rang in the new year, marked the opening and closing of business hours and was used as a fire alarm. There was a $200 fine for unauthorized ringing of the bell.

A popular story tells of a physician named Louis Miles ringing the bell to announce the birth of his daughter to the gathered crowd and gladly paying the fine.


Old Town Hall was torn down in the 1960's. Plans were drawn for the new Town Hall, but the location was not as of yet decided. Several sites were considered. The decision was made to keep it at the head of Town Square where it is today. The new Town hall was dedicated on November 14, 1969.

This is Town Square around 1920 looking from W. Richardson. The main train depot can be seen at the other end of the Square. It was an impressive 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. The Summerville Short ran back and forth to Charleston several times a day from the station.

The Arcade Theatre entrance on S. Main St, marked by a triple-arched facade, can be seen on the right side of the photo. Silent movies were shown at the theater.

This is Town Square today looking from the same location. The trees are much bigger and there is more landscaping. The train depot can no longer be seen at the other end-demolished in the 1960's, and the Arcade Theatre was torn down around the 1930's.



I hope you enjoyed our walk in time. This is the first installment. I will be sending the next shortly. Keep in expectation.

(Pictures taken from Images of America by Jerry Crotty and Margaret Ann Michels, Porch Rocker Recollections, Summerville Sesquicentennial Edition.)