History Museums in Greenville, South Carolina

Story and photos by Tom Straka

Some cities are full of museums. For a history buff like me, it is fortunate cities often put a priority on preserving local history, making history museums fairly common. Greenville, South Carolina has an unusual assortment of museums, including two military history museums, a creative arts center, museum of art, children’s museum, music museum, and even a Shoeless Joe Jackson museum and baseball library. One of the art museum collections in the city is said to be the second largest collection of religious art in the world (second to the Vatican). Most of these museums are walking distance from one another, so Greenville offers a great opportunity for museum-lovers. This museum-lover will report on two first-rate history museums, about a mile apart, in downtown Greenville. One of the museums focuses on regional history. The other, probably the more interesting, focuses on a politically incorrect history topic. Combined they make wonderful way to spend the better part of a day immersed in history.

The Upcountry History Museum is the regional history one. First, what is the Upcountry? A more modern term for it is the Upstate of South Carolina. Historically, South Carolina was broken into the Lowcountry (coastal and coastal plain counties) and the Upcountry (the counties, higher up, above the coastal plain). Prior to the Revolutionary War, it was called the Backcountry and later became the Upcountry and even later the Piedmont. It is the northwestern part of the State, the part that abuts the Blue Ridge down to above Columbia in the center of the State. The museum covers the pioneer development of the region, its politics, agrarian roots, industrial development (mainly textiles), wartime development, and even Shoeless Joe Jackson.

The Museum and Library of Confederate History is the politically incorrect one. The 16^th Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, Museum of Confederate History has a mission “to protect, preserve and defend the memory, history and heritage of the two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) gallant Confederate soldiers who gave their lives during the War Between the States,” by providing a “true and accurate historical perspective of the War period in an educational manner and to preserve the cultural heritage and artifacts of the South.” Thus, the museum may have somewhat slanted perspective of Confederate History, but nonetheless, a super interesting one.  

UPCOUNTRY HISTORY MUSEUM

The museum begins with the Upcountry as frontier inhabited by the Cherokee Indians. This is Richard Pearis, a defiant frontiersman and opportunistic entrepreneur. He was a trader from Virginia who developed a relationship with the Cherokees, allowing him to develop a grist mill and trading post in the area that would become Greenville.  

As you’d expect, there are many artifacts scattered around the frontier section of the museum. Many are Native American and many are natural history specimens.

A pair of dueling pistols and a case. Near the pistols is a copy of “The Code of Honor” for southern gentlemen. The weapons used by dueling southerners were described as: “The arms used should be smoothbore pistols, not exceeding nine inches in length.” Dueling occurred in South Carolina from colonial times until outlawed in 1880.

The early Upcountry economy was based on small farms.  A wide variety of fruits and vegetables were produced and transported them to market in rugged wagons. Later cotton would be a major crop. With the luck of good weather and hard work, Upcountry soil would produce ample crops of corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, barley, apples, peaches, or pears. The crops fed the farm family and provided income.

“Vardry McBee” sitting in front of a storefront. He was considered the father of Greenville. He moved to Greenville in 1836 after expanding his business enterprises into the Greenville area two decades earlier. He saw the potential of Greenville’s location with many crossroads and a river. Greenville grew rich as McBee grew rich from his various enterprises (a sawmill, ironworks, brickyard, stone quarry, flour mill, textile mill, general store, and railroad).     

One of only two know surviving flags from the 4^th South Carolina Regiment. The museum covers the Civil War period. Of course, the Confederate History Museum down the street covers that time period in much greater detail.

This is “Maggie Mae,” Mac Arnold’s two-string gas can guitar. Not something you ever expect to see in a museum. Mac Arnold is best known for his legendary blues music. He is also known for making music from reconditioned gasoline cans. His trademark red gas can guitar, named “Maggie Mae,” is in the display case.

Anyone who knows anything about South Carolina history will know what this red shirt represents.  The Red Shirts was a paramilitary group organized with the objective of achieving white Democratic control of political power after Reconstruction in the South in the 1870s.  They used intimidation and violence to achieve their objectives. 

The Upcountry had a dominant industry in the early twentieth century and Greenville was noted as the “Textile Capital of the World.” Greenville was so well known for the textile industry that people from all over the world came to Greenville to study the industry.  

Military history is a large part of the museum, including the Army Air Corps base near Greenville during World War II. Much of the military history is regional, emphasizing the role of the Upcountry in the war effort.

The museum has lots of nooks and crannies with unexpected history. The quilt here is part of the “We Didn’t Wait for Freedom” collection, Civil War narrative quilts by Vera Hall.

Statue of General Nathanel Greene at the front of the museum (holding a Christmas wreath during the holidays). General Greene was active in the Southern campaign during the Revolutionary War and was credited with turning the tide of battle to the Patriots. Some of those battles were in the Upcountry. Greenville was named for him.

MUSEUM AND LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE HISTORY

This museum is in a small building, but has an immense inventory of historical items. The Upcountry History Museum is large, a regular sized museum, with its materials arranged loosely. The Confederate Museum is just the opposite, with every space utilized for some sort of display. The displays lean towards firearms, with some very old specimens. Political documents are numerous and, as you’d expect, are slanted towards a Confederate view of the War Between the States. The curators, almost as interesting as the museum itself, have that same slant. Stumbling into an unusual museum is always a treat and this is definitely one of those. The tone of the museum is somewhat solemn; this is a serious history museum, with some political thought thrown in. The gift shop has any sort of Confederate bumper sticker or souvenir you might think of. The size of the building is misleading; give yourself plenty of time for a thorough review of the gems in this museum.

The exterior of the museum, a cannon and Confederate flags, clearly indicating what to expect.    

One of three views of a museum section. All seem to center on weapons, uniforms, portraits, and documents. Note the Ellsworth gun on a carriage.

One of three view of a museum section. All seem to center on weapons, uniforms, portraits, and documents.  

One of three view of a museum section. All seem to center on weapons, uniforms, portraits, and documents.

Not all the rooms were war related. More general historical items are in various parts of the museum.   

Each room is full of display cases with fascinating artifacts, like medical instruments used during the War. 

Some sections of the museum center on currency, documents, and books.

The museum gift shop contains books, CDs, postcards, flags, toys, and “memorabilia from the War for Southern Independence.”

Author/Photographer. Tom Straka is an emeritus professor of forestry at Clemson University. He has an interest in history, forestry and natural resources, natural history, and the American West.