This marker is located next to Town Hall and the post office of this small town that isn't much…read moremore than an intersection where three roads awkwardly meet US-321. There are a couple of gas station/convenience stores here and not much else. The marker reads, "After the Kings Mountain Railroad was completed in 1852, the McConnellsville Post Office was established here in 1854. The town, named for the McConnell family, was incorporated in 1906. The first intendant was J.T. Crawford; wardens were J.F. Ashe, S.H. Love, J.O. Moore, and J.M. Williams. The post office was renamed McConnells in 1951." It is marker number 46-13 and was erected in 1979 by the York County Historical Commission. [Review 20333 overall - 1099 in South Carolina - 1311 of 2023.]

Part of the South's dark history, this marker stands across the street from the Union County…read moreCourthouse which does still have a Confederate obelisk memorial on the grounds. The front of the marker reads, "During the Reconstruction period that followed emancipation in 1865, thousands of Black people were lynched by white people intent on maintaining racial hierarchy. Federal officials ended Reconstruction in 1877 when they ceded political control of the South back to Confederate veterans and largely abandoned efforts to protect Black people in the region. In the era of racial terror that followed, emboldened white leaders opposed to racial equality continued to re-establish white supremacy through intimidation and violence. Between 1877 and 1950, white mobs lynched at least 4,400 Black people. Lynchings included the hanging, shooting, burning, torture and mutilation of Black people, sometimes in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Although armed and responsible for protecting those in their custody, law enforcement frequently failed to protect Black individuals and communities from lynch mobs, and white people regularly kidnapped Black victims from jails, prisons, and courtrooms. The impact of lynchings resulted in injustice that continues today. Although the names of many victims may never be known at least 189 racial terror lynchings have been documented in South Carolina, with at least 19 known to have taken place in Union County between 1865 and 1950. The names included here represent the lives stolen and promise lost." And the reverse, "Lynchings by white mobs continued for decades as a tool of racial terrorism to maintain white supremacy. On June 26, 1889, a white mob lynched Andrew McKnight in a Black church cemetery near Kelton, after he was accused of making inappropriate comments towards white women. In January of 1900, Rufus Salter, a young prosperous Black farmer accused of arson, was lynched at his home near West Springs. Weeks later, a Governor's proclamation implied he was innocent. In June 1906, Mose Hughes was lynched and his bound body was thrown into the Tyger River near Delta. One of the lynchers later declared, "This looks like a white man's country now." In 1930, law enforcement failed to prevent the lynching of Dan Jenkins, a 23-year-old Black man. Mr. Jenkin's body was riddled with 500 bullets on Santuc Road, after a white woman accused him of assault, despite no investigation or fair trial. Black people faced a presumption of guilt after any allegation of wrongdoing and were frequently deprived of equal protection under the law. Public officials, media, and the legal system allowed white people to kill with impunity, intending to create an atmosphere of terror. Black leaders like Rev. A.A. Sims and Dr. L.W. Long organized resistance including establishing a Black high school, a Black community hospital, and Black businesses in response to racial inequities. Churches became the cornerstone for Black resilience and still are to this day." The marker was erected in 2021 by the Union County Community Remembrance Project. There is a parking lot available. [Review 21129 overall - 1118 in South Carolina - 92 of 2024.]

We were driving in from the east side of Union and about a half mile out this tall brick tower was…read morevisible in front of us like it belonged to some giant university campus and for a second, we wondered if we had stumbled into a set of carillons or some kind of bell tower quad situation because they look way too formal and intentional to just be leftovers from an old mill. But that's exactly what they are. Before all of this emptiness, there was Monarch Mill, a full textile operation that opened in the early 1900s and ran for decades. One of those places where half the town either worked or had a relative who did, and the whole complex stretched across this site with long production floors, warehouses and a powerhouse humming away. Most of it came down in the mid 2000s when the buildings were too far gone to save and the cost to stabilize them was more than anyone wanted to take on. The main mill was demolished around 2006 or 2007 and what you see now are the two stair and elevator towers that were built so solid that they outlived everything attached to them. They stayed up partly because they were structurally sound and partly because removing them would have meant dealing with utilities and foundations that were more trouble than they were worth, and partly because once the rest of the mill was gone, these towers had already become landmarks in their own weird way. Up close, you can still see the ghost lines where the factory walls once connected. The brick has that worn industrial texture that tells you thousands of people passed through here over the decades. From the road, they look like something grand and academic. But standing underneath them, you realize that they are just the last two sentinels of a place that shaped Union for almost a century. Now they just sit here holding the memory of everything that used to surround them. The towers do look like something you could maybe walk into, like there might be a staircase spiraling up to a bell chamber or an observation deck. Once you get close, you see that every opening is bricked in or plated over and the doors are welded shut. There is no public access, no occasional open house and no historical society tours. Nothing like that. What you see from the road is what you get - visual landmarks only like two giant bookends with the books missing. There is no dedicated website, no interpretive sign, no QR code. There's nothing to tell you what you're looking at. [Review 483 of 2026 - 1412 in South Carolina - 25666 overall]

This marker in downtown Union near the courthouse points out a medical facility that is no longer…read morethe community hospital since 1975. The front of the marker reads, "Union Community Hospital served the black community of Union and nearby areas from 1932 to 1975. Built as a house ca. 1915, it was converted into a hospital by Dr. L. W. Long in 1932 with the support of several local churches. The building was covered in brick veneer in the 1930s, and a rear addition was built in 1949. The hospital was listed in the National Register of Historical Places in 1996." On the reverse, "Dr. Lawrence W. Long (1906-1985), a native of Union County, was educated at Howard University and Meharry Medical College before returning to Union and founding this hospital. Long also hosted annual clinics attended by doctors from S.C. and the Southeast 1934-1975. A lifelong leader in medicine and public health who was also active in civic affairs in Union, Long was named S.C. Doctor of the Year in 1957 and National Doctor of the Year in 1958." The marker is in a large parking lot so there is a place to park while you read the marker and view the area. [Review 2010 of 2024 - 1146 in South Carolina - 23032 overall]

Adjacent to the Union County Courthouse, the jail building still stands though it is since closed…read morewith the current jail located across town. This marker is in front of the old jail. The front of the marker reads, "The S. C. Board of Public Works had at least fourteen public buildings under contract in 1822-23, when Robert Mills, Acting Commissioner of the board, rejected a partially built jail of inferior brick before proceeding with this one. Experiences like this fitted him for his later career as Federal Architect and designer of the Washington Monument." And on the reverse, "This building was completed in 1823 under the supervision of Robert Mills. Campbell Humphries was the contractor. the stone is said to have come from nearby Humphries Quarry. The north and west wings were added in 1954 and 1960 respectively with Robert Gibbes Fant as architect. The jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974." Interesting to find an early work of such an important architect in such a small town. [Review 20340 overall - 1103 in South Carolina - 1318 of 2023.]

South of Union, this marker points out the property of a former British loyalist and the lesson…read morehere is that you don't want your loyalties to be on the losing side of a war. The front of the marker reads, "Fair Forest, named for nearby Fair Forest Creek, was the plantation of Col. Thomas Fletchall (d.1789), prominent militia officer before the Revolution and Loyalist during it. Captured in 1775 and briefly jailed, Fletchall moved to Charleston in 1780, then to Jamaica when the war ended; he died there in 1789. After the Revolution his plantation was confiscated and sold at auction." And on the reverse, "Emslie Nicholson House. Col. Thomas Brandon (1741-1802), who bought Fair Forest about 1785, had been a Patriot militia officer and was a longtime state representative and state senator. The Tudor Revival house built in 1923 near the site of the plantation house was designed by Robert & Co. of Atlanta. It was built for Emslie Nicholson (1863-1939), president of textile mills in Union, Lockhart, and Monarch." The marker was erected in 2008 by the Union County Historical Society and is state marker number 44-15. There is room on the side of the road to pull over and if you have the time, consider checking out the plantation. [Review 20341 overall - 1104 in South Carolina - 1319 of 2023.]

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This marker is erected on a corner of a busy intersection on Spartanburg and points out the history…read moreof the founding of a national organization with environmental concerns. The front of the marker reads, "The first office of the National Association of Soil Conservation Districts (NASCD) was located in the Montgomery Building on N. Church St. from 1946 to 1947. Soil conservation, with its focus on reducing erosion and flooding, became a nationwide effort during the Depression and gained additional funding and resources after World War II." And on the reverse, "The NASCD, organized in Chicago in 1946, elected E.C. McArthur of Gaffney, S.C., its first president. McArthur was instrumental in creating the NASCD as a national voice for soil conservation districts. T.S. Buie, director of the Southeast Office of the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided space here for the NASCD office." The marker was sponsored by the South Carolina Conservation Districts Foundation in 2013 and it is marker number 42-29. There is no room to stop to read the marker here. You'll need to park and then walk back to it. [Review 2239 of 2024 - 1203 in South Carolina - 23257 overall]