NOTE: The gate might be locked if no property manager has come by yet. However, it is fine to park outside the gate and walk up to the historic site.
Thanks for helping the city of Pickens celebrate our 150th anniversary!!
Have fun learning about our history!
OLD PICKENS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH:
This is the original site of Pickens – called Pickens Courthouse - when it was founded back in 1828. In 1868 Pickens District was divided into Pickens and Oconee Counties and “Pickens” was no longer in Pickens County. In 1868 the town moved about 14 miles to the east to its current location.
THE TOWN OF PICKENS COURTHOUSE:
The town of Pickens Court House, located in the northwest corner of South Carolina, was founded in 1828 and named for the Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. In 1755, only 23 families lived in the area bounded by the Waxhaws on the Catawba River and by Augusta on the Savannah River. By 1800, there were an estimated 17,828 settlers scattered across the upstate. In the late 1820's, a delegation was formed to find a site for the county seat of the newly formed Pickens District. The delegation was overwhelmed by the natural beauty of the area near the Keowee River (now adjacent to the Duke Energy Nuclear site), and declared it to be the location of Pickens Court House. Surveyor Thomas Garvin laid out fifty-four lots on the western bank of the Keowee River near Robertson's Ford to establish the new town. By late summer of 1827, all lots had been sold for a total sum of about $5,000 and work began on a jail and courthouse.
About 1840, a Presbyterian Church and cemetery were constructed on the land that had been set aside for the church. Numerous mercantile businesses, two hotels, a doctor's office, a dental office, an excellent private school (Pickens Academy), several lawyers' offices, and a newspaper (The Keowee Courier) had also been established. Many prominent South Carolina families have ancestral lineage to Pickens Courthouse.
As more people settled in upper South Carolina, the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868 divided the Pickens District into two counties, each with its own county seat. The German settlement of Walhalla was chosen as the county seat of Oconee County, and the new town of Pickens was created as the county seat of Pickens County. The old courthouse was dismantled and rebuilt in new Pickens. Merchants and residents chose whether to move to Oconee or Pickens County. Entire houses were taken apart and rebuilt in one of the new towns. Thus, piece by piece, the old town gradually disappeared. Only the Old Pickens Presbyterian Church remains to remind visitors of the beautiful and thriving town that once graced the banks of the Keowee River.
Old Pickens Presbyterian Church
Pickens Presbyterian Church was located on Main Street and overlooked the Keowee River with a grand view. The brick used in its construction was fired of clay from the riverbank and the lumber used in its construction came from trees that were on the property. The cross-pattern type of natural ventilation underneath the floors helped preserve the original pine floors and poplar pews. The original roof was probably made of wood shingles laid across wooden slats. Visitors often notice the wide Poplar boards used to make the pews. The church was built by volunteer labor. It has changed little over the years with walls of plaster over brick, and the original, unpainted Poplar pews and the built-in pulpit in place. The old slave gallery is still there, accessible only by an outside door. Worshippers in this balcony sat on the floor as the ceiling was too low to allow for pews. The church was heated by a wood stove. There were no restrooms, and electricity was not added until the 1940's.
The cemetery that adjoins the church contains approximately 217 graves, some marked by simple stones and others with elaborate marble and granite markers. The earliest grave is that of Revolutionary War Lt. Joseph Reid (1756-1825). Several veterans of the Civil War are buried there. Adjacent to the old cemetery are two modern cemeteries, the Craig Family Cemetery, and another with graves moved here when Duke Power built Lake Keowee in the 1960’s. Many of the old homesites are now under the lake, but the old graves were moved to the church to keep them from being flooded. Only the Old Pickens Presbyterian Church remains to remind visitors of the beautiful and thriving town that once graced the banks of the Keowee River.