The employee who did our tour was very knowledgeable. And it was only $4. So just do it. I love…read morevisiting different historical places and learning about the times before. It's not a huge place but held a great deal of information. Definitely worth stopping in if you're in the area.

Being from the west coast, I don't get to see many historic places. So I look forward to my annual…read morevisit to the Chartlotte area where I can go a bit further back into US history. On my latest visit, I made my way to the James K. Polk State Historic Site. The site on which it is believed that President Polk was born. There is a museum inside and recreations of period cabins outside. Also a garden and interpretive signs telling a bit about the plants that can be seen around the museum grounds. This is a free site for the most part though you can opt for a guided tour that takes you into the buildings if you are so inclined. I was there late in the day and not long before closing so the tour was no longer being offered. It was still cool to walk around and see the grounds. History doesn't quite come alive here but it becomes more tangible.

Very cool urban "archaeological" find...nobody but locals "in the know" seem to be aware it's even…read morethere! Found out about it from the very nice & informative bartender at Dust Off Brewing (check out doing to the YoCo Brew Trail; check into 6 breweries on the app & get a t-shirt). He couldn't quite remember how to get to it, but after some intensive research, found the geo coordinates. That was honestly the only way to find this place, plus a little guts & guesswork. You can quasi see some portion of the rockwork of the ruinous remains from the paved Riverwalk trail. The "easiest" way to get to the ruins is to follow the Riverwalk Piedmont Medical Center Trail to just before mile marker 1.25; you will see this steep wooden thing with awkwardly placed planks. You basically have to rock-wall climb your way up. From there you are on a mountain biking trail. Follow the arrows for just over a quarter mile and you will see some indicators of the ruins before they open up in front of you. You will most likely have the place to yourself. Really cool to wander around and take it all in. Just be careful with holes and don't walk on or within the actual ruins as they are pretty sketch & unsteady. There are spiders, snakes, and flying insects galore, so put on repellent and stay vigilant cuz it is deep woods! You can either get back down the way you came; I found this gray rock slope that I found easier to navigate than sliding down the wood thing I climbed up. Either way, really neat find and I'm so glad I explored to find it! The paved walkway along the Catawba is also a nice walk to and from!

I came all the way across the country to see the Lancaster County Courthouse. Well, maybe not. I…read moreactually came all this way to visit family. It just so happens that they live in the area. And so we all took a drive to Lancaster, SC to check this place out. We parked in the 3 hour street parking area and walked around outside first. There are some cool monument/memorials on the front side and back side of the old courthouse that we checked out. It was overcast, cool and breezy on this day and so we didn't waste anymore time getting into the museum. We were promptly greeted at the entrance. The lady who appeared to be the lead docent asked us to sign in and began telling us a little but of the history of the courthouse. She was on her way out, though, and so she passed along to a couple of other docents. They were all very friendly and knowledgable. They stayed nearby to answer questions and point out certain facts as we made our way from room to room. We were then guided up stairs to the actual court room. That was used until an arsonist tried burn his criminal record in 2008 nearly destroying this almost 200 year old courthouse. This museum tells the history of the area dating way back to the revolutionary days of the late 1700s. It is dedicated to more than simply the courthouse. So if you too are in the area and if you appreciate American history, stop on by. Visit for a spell. Talk to the friendly docents who can tell you more than the history but act as guides for the area. Locals know the best lunch spots ;)

This beautiful historic structure is a national historic landmark since 1976. After an arsonist…read moreattempted to destroy the building in 2008, it has been renovated and restored to its original glory. Today, it houses the Lancaster County Welcome Center and the county's Historical Museum. Built 1825-1828 and designed by Robert Mills of Charleston SC, America's first native-born professionally-trained architect, State Civil and Military engineer and is best known as the designer of the Washington Monument. Stop in when they're open and learn about the history of this area! [Review 13086 overall, 403 of 2020.]

Standing in front of the courthouse, this marker points out a World War I instance of note. Like…read moremost North Carolina markers, the text is brief but there is more information online. It has the same text on both sides. It reads, "Ferdinand Foch. Commander-In-Chief of Allied armies, 1918, made a speech at the Union County Courthouse, on December 9, 1921." In the speech, he praised America's role in the war and was joined by Governor Cameron Morrison and former Governor Thomas Bickett. Foch had recently participated in the groundbreaking of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City alongside Vice President Calvin Coolidge. Known for his prophetic criticism of the Treaty of Versailles, Foch returned to Europe in 1922 and was later buried at Les Invalides in Paris beside Napoleon Bonaparte. [Review 1308 of 2025 - 4443 in North Carolina - 24860 overall]

At the corner of Caldwell Street and East Main Street in downtown Rock Hill, this building is hard…read moreto miss. As is the historic marker located in front. On the one side, it reads "This building was described as "handsome in every respect" when it opened in 1932. It replaced a 1906 post office and housed a new district court and federal offices. It served as a post office until 1986 and provided offices and headquarters for several U.S. Congressmen, including Thomas S. Gettys 1965-75. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, it was renamed in honor of Gettys in 1997." On the other side, "This six-story structure was Rock Hill's first high-rise office building. Built in 1924-25, it opened in 1926 with Citizens Bank & Trust on the 1st floor. The bank closed in 1927. Rock Hill National Bank opened on the 1st floor in 1941 and remained here until 1976. WRHI Radio, one of S.C.'s earliest stations, signed-on with studios on the 2nd floor in 1944 and broadcast from here until 1977. Civil defense used an observation deck on the roof during World War II. [Erected by the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County and the City of Rick Hill, 2007." The building is no longer a post office but it remains as a solid and imposing structure in Rock Hill's skyline. [Review 13032 overall, 349 of 2020.]

This Confederate soldier stands atop the monument, facing to the Northeast which is kinda sorta the…read moredirection from here to Richmond VA. Many of the Confederate monuments I've seen have their soldier's back to the North. On the East (front) side: Worthy, the Confederate soldier to be hallowed and held in tender remembrance Worthy, the fadeless fame which Lancaster's soldiers won in defending the honor of the South, the rights of the States, the liberties of the people, the sentiments of the South, the principles of the Union, as they were handed down to them by the fathers of our common country. Our Confederate Soldiers On the South side: "God holds the scales of justice; he will measure praise and blame; and the South will stand the verdict and will stand it without shame." It was erected 1909 by the Lancaster Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. I'm not going to take sides, I'm only pointing out that it's here. I'm not sure if this is public or private land. [Review 13087 overall, 404 of 2020.]

If you've spent time driving around Charlotte, you recognize both names "Grier" and "Rea." Read…read moreRoad extends though some of the most established and high end parts of South Charlotte from where it becomes Colony Road in the Old Providence neighborhood and extending past the massive Calvary Church and Piper Glen before it continues through Blakely and becomes Marcin School Road. Isaac Grier was born in 1776 and arrived in the Charlotte area in 1804 to serve the Sardis and Providence Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches. In 1808 he married Isabella Harris of the Steele Creek community. Soon afterward he purchased roughly 102 acres along what is now Rea Road and built the Federal‑style house that survives today as the Grier‑Rea House, located near Providence Road. The home was positioned between the two churches he served, and it became the center of a growing farm that expanded to nearly 400 acres by the 1840s. The property was worked by enslaved laborers; the 1820 census recorded seven enslaved people, and his 1843 will bequeathed more than a dozen to family members. The Grier‑Rea House itself carries its own historical recognition. A state marker notes that it was built around 1815 by Isaac and Isabella Grier and later purchased by the Rea family in 1872. It stands today as one of the oldest surviving structures in the Providence corridor and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Grier died in 1843 and is buried at Sardis Presbyterian Church. His tombstone describes him as a faithful minister who served the united congregations of Sardis and Steele Creek from 1804 until shortly before his death. His son, Robert Calvin Grier, inherited the homestead and followed him into the ministry, eventually becoming president of Erskine College. The home is private property and the sign is on a busy stretch of Providence Road that is without a safe place to stop. [Review 179 of 2026 - 4564 in North Carolina - 25368 overall]

Located on a high pole just outside the main entrance to the large hospital, this marker points out…read morethe World War II history of the area. It reads, "Camp Sutton. World War II army camp, trained 13,000 engineers. Named for R.C.A.F. pilot Frank Sutton of Monroe, killed December 7, 1941. Camp was here." Online, there is more information. " Soon after the United States entered World War II in December 1941, North Carolina assumed a prominent role in preparing the country's armed forces for duty overseas. Along with Camp Butner, Camp Davis, and Fort Bragg, Camp Sutton was among the largest military training facilities in North Carolina (and the nation) during the war." "Camp Sutton was organized as a training site for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and opened as a temporary "tent" camp in the spring of 1942. The base covered 2,296 acres about three miles east of Monroe in Union County. Located on U.S. Highway 74, Sutton was naturally divided into two halves by Richardson's Creek, and a railroad line also ran through the camp." "The installation was named in honor of Frank H. Sutton, a Monroe native who was killed over Libya in 1941 while serving as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force." "Camp Sutton was deactivated in January 1945, but the last of the German POWs were not shipped out until the spring of 1946 (nearly a year after the war ended). After the war, buildings on the property housed facilities used to treat polio patients." [Review 15430 overall, 934 of 2021, number 2978 in North Carolina.]