Project Background
In January of 2020 Mr. Charles Baxley, Chairman of the SC 250 American Revolution Commission, shared his vision of the value in finding roadside historical markers in SC that relate to the American Revolution with his friend Bill Segars. Their ideas and goals for this project appeared simple enough to accomplish:
- Find each marker.
- Photograph both sides of each marker.
- Obtain an accurate GPS location of each marker.
- Obtain a recognizable street address for each marker.
- Render an opinion of each marker’s current condition.
The main reason behind this endeavor, as described by Mr. Baxley, was that visitors are coming to SC and our SC American Revolutionary related roadside historical markers need to be seen and they need to be in A #1 condition.
Mr. Baxley may not have known exactly where these markers were in SC, but he knew that they told the story of local people, places and events in SC that helped win our freedom and independence. So, his challenge to Bill was simple – find them.
The first hurdle was of the 2,000 + roadside historical markers that exist in SC, which ones pertained to The American Revolution? Bill worked with the South Carolina Department of Archive and History (SCDAH) in order to compile a list of 185 roadside historical markers whose text pertained to the American Revolution in SC. The next hurdle was finding these 3’X3’ aluminum markers on a pole, many of which were not where they were supposed to be.
While working in the field, another 80 more SCDAH markers were found to relate to the American Revolution and more are being added now. Also in the process of this research, a host of other signs or monuments which contained written text concerning the American Revolution in SC were also seen. It was then determined that any location that had a sign that a visitor could read about what happened at this site during the American Revolutionary period in SC would also be included in the marker project.
As this work in the field began and word about this endeavor got out in the historical community, other people wanted to get involved with the research. As a result of this interest a number of leaders in the historic community wanted to join in on the fun. Guy Wallace worked in the northeastern part of SC, Jim Dunlap worked in the northwestern area, Fritz Hamer worked in the central area, Brett Bennett worked in the low country and Bill Segars worked in the Pee Dee area and anywhere else in the state as needed; all the while compiling the vast amount of information and photographs collected by the field researchers. These additional field researchers not only proved to be a valuable asset to speeding the process along, they enjoyed traveling the roads of our beautiful state in their area searching for roadside historical markers, signs and monuments. The thrill was truly in the hunt and what you’ll find today is THE MOST comprehensive, and THE MOST historically accurate accounting of markers, signs and monuments connected to the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina.
Even though to date most of the field work has been done on this project, if it weren’t for donors and the SC American Revolution Trust (SCART), our late Chairman Charles Baxley’s dream of sharing this information to everyone would not be realized. He said many times, “History is of no value if it is not shared with someone that doesn’t know about where they came from.”