The popular Historical Marker program sees all kinds of interesting tidbits and facts about South Carolina history. Two recent historical markers tell stories that may make you look to the sky to avoid more unexpected falling objects.
The first details an 1861 balloon landing (yes, that’s right, a balloon!) in Union County just days after the Civil War began. Can you imagine the surprise felt by both local residents and the pilot? Here’s the text:
On April 20, 1861, only days after the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, scientist and aeronaut T.S.C. Lowe (1832-1913) landed the Enterprise, a large gas balloon, on a nearby farm. Lowe was on a test flight in preparation for a trans-Atlantic attempt. Southeasterly currents had carried him 800-900 miles by air from Cincinnati to Union District in less than nine hours. Many locals assumed that Lowe was a Yankee spy, and it was difficult for him to convince them that he was not. He was taken to Union and spent the night there under guard. Taken to Columbia, he was allowed to return north by train after several gentlemen vouched for his reputation as a scientist. Lowe later founded and directed a balloon corps in the U.S. Army in Virginia 1861-1863.
Erected by the Union County Historical Society, the marker is located at 657 Pea Ridge Hwy. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 44-13), Kelton vicinity in Union County.
The second records another falling object with potentially much more deadly consequences (thankfully avoided) nearly 100 years later at Mars Bluff in Florence County. Here’s the text:
In 1958, in the midst of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb near here. The unarmed 7,600-lb., 10’8”-long bomb was aboard a B-47E bomber on a training mission headed for England. Its high-explosive trigger detonated on impact, making a crater as large as 35 feet deep and 70 feet wide./ (Reverse) The bomb landed in the woods behind the asbestos-shingle-sided home of railroad conductor Walter “Bill” Gregg (d. 1921). Gregg, his wife, their three children, and a niece were injured by the concussion, which destroyed the house and outbuildings and did slight damage to buildings within a 5 mile radius.
Erected by the Florence City and County Historical Commission, the marker is located at E. Marion Hwy. (U.S. Hwy. 301/76) near the Francis Marion University Campus, Mars Bluff. A nearby trail leads to the crater site.
These stories are now recorded in durable cast aluminum for travelers to see, and in digital bytes for anyone in the world to read via the South Carolina Historical Markers database http://www.scaet.org/markers/.
The first details an 1861 balloon landing (yes, that’s right, a balloon!) in Union County just days after the Civil War began. Can you imagine the surprise felt by both local residents and the pilot? Here’s the text:
On April 20, 1861, only days after the Civil War began at Fort Sumter, scientist and aeronaut T.S.C. Lowe (1832-1913) landed the Enterprise, a large gas balloon, on a nearby farm. Lowe was on a test flight in preparation for a trans-Atlantic attempt. Southeasterly currents had carried him 800-900 miles by air from Cincinnati to Union District in less than nine hours. Many locals assumed that Lowe was a Yankee spy, and it was difficult for him to convince them that he was not. He was taken to Union and spent the night there under guard. Taken to Columbia, he was allowed to return north by train after several gentlemen vouched for his reputation as a scientist. Lowe later founded and directed a balloon corps in the U.S. Army in Virginia 1861-1863.
Erected by the Union County Historical Society, the marker is located at 657 Pea Ridge Hwy. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 44-13), Kelton vicinity in Union County.
The second records another falling object with potentially much more deadly consequences (thankfully avoided) nearly 100 years later at Mars Bluff in Florence County. Here’s the text:
In 1958, in the midst of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb near here. The unarmed 7,600-lb., 10’8”-long bomb was aboard a B-47E bomber on a training mission headed for England. Its high-explosive trigger detonated on impact, making a crater as large as 35 feet deep and 70 feet wide./ (Reverse) The bomb landed in the woods behind the asbestos-shingle-sided home of railroad conductor Walter “Bill” Gregg (d. 1921). Gregg, his wife, their three children, and a niece were injured by the concussion, which destroyed the house and outbuildings and did slight damage to buildings within a 5 mile radius.
Erected by the Florence City and County Historical Commission, the marker is located at E. Marion Hwy. (U.S. Hwy. 301/76) near the Francis Marion University Campus, Mars Bluff. A nearby trail leads to the crater site.
These stories are now recorded in durable cast aluminum for travelers to see, and in digital bytes for anyone in the world to read via the South Carolina Historical Markers database http://www.scaet.org/markers/.
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