by ANNA BROWN

A log cabin that was located on the construction site of one of Union County’s new schools has been saved and plans are being made for its restoration.

The structure, built by Reps Edwards in 1823, was located on what was known as Mulberry Plantation and was on the site of the new Sims Middle School on the Whitmire Highway. The logs are now in storage at the Cross Keys House.

Union County Museum director Ola Jean Kelly said former sheriff Howard Wells knew a log cabin covered over with siding was on the school site property and alerted Ray Robbins, president of the Union County Historical Society. Robbins contacted school superintendent Dr. David Eubanks.

“The school district agreed to let us have the logs,” she said. “The county took the house down and moved the logs to the Cross Keys House, where they are under shelter.”

Edwards family members plan to establish an endowment to have something suitable made from the logs, Mrs. Kelly said.

Money for genealogical records

Last year, 3,000 people from 30 states other than South Carolina and eight foreign countries visited the Union County Museum.

Many of those are genealogists, hoping to find information on their family at the museum.

Soon, their quests may become a little more productive in Union.

With $2,000 the museum will receive for participating in a “Teaching American History — Right Under Your Feet” program, Mrs. Kelly said she hopes to purchase additional census records. Currently, the museum has only the first census of 1790.

Spartanburg County School District One won the grant and is partnering with various organizations in the Upstate to bring teachers to learn about the history of an area.

On Feb. 28, 27 teachers visited the museum and the Union County Carnegie Library. During a luncheon, Mrs. Kelly gave a brief history on Union County.

Museum volunteer Carole Ivey demonstrated quilting and James Lancaster, another volunteer, demonstrated how socks were knitted on a machine from a local sock mill.

Tour groups

An inquiry about possible points of interest has developed into two spots in Union County being part of a regular tour for people from the western United States and Canada,

Your Man Tours of Escondido, Calif., brought a tour group last month to the Cross Keys House and Rose Hill State Historic Site. Tour groups from the company have visited these Union County landmarks on three other occasions.

Mrs. Kelly said she was contacted about a year ago by the owner of a Georgia travel agency who wanted to know if there were sites in Union County with historical value. Mrs. Kelly sent her some information, and she passed it on to Rick Mactaggert with Your Man Tours, which brings a 12-day bus tour to the east coast for a South Carolina and Georgia “Southern Plantation Tour.”

Now, the group gets off the Interstate and rolls into Union on their way to Charleston. Last month, they returned with 45 people. This month, they will bring 50 people.

Union County Historical Society volunteers clean and stage the Cross Keys House before the arrival of the tour groups. The visitors are greeted at the door with the warm smell of muffins made by Faye Tillotson of Whitmire and hot spiced apple juice made by Mrs. Kelly. Mrs. Tillotson has a connection to the house — her grandfather, James Madison Bennett, bought the house in 1916 and spent three years repairing earthquake damage. Mrs. Tillotson’s mother made photos of the restoration with her Brownie camera. The photos are now at the museum. Mrs. Bennett also was a Bobo, a member of the family who built the house.

“Every one of them tells me how impressed they are with Southern hospitality,” Mrs. Kelly said. “They said they had heard about it but now they have experienced it.”

Mrs. Kelly hopes in the coming months the group can increase its time in Union and folks will remain here long enough to eat and shop. Union County Tourism Director Auvis Cole is helping to develop this plan.

“Many of the Main Street merchants have agreed to give coupons for percentages off the purchase of goods and services,” she said.

Volunteers are needed at the Cross Keys House before and during the tours. Jobs include helping to clean the yard, greeting and directing visitors.

The Smithsonian Institution has booked a tour of the house for November.