Pineville, a historic refuge
Part 3: Summer resort sprouts culture
By Warner M. Montgomery
Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

The Episcopal chapel in Pineville, Church of the Redeemer, was constructed in 1810.

Once Capt. James Sinkler spread the word that the pine ridge between the Cooper and Santee Rivers was productive for cotton and healthy for humans, other planters moved in around the settlement called Pineville. This migration occurred in the two decades after American Independence.

The area was thickly covered with pines and dotted with small ponds and savannahs. The village center was two miles south of the Santee Swamp, five miles from the river itself, on a dirt wagon road that ran from Georgetown to the King's Highway connecting Charleston to Camden. Crawl Branch served as a boundary between Pineville and St. Stephens on the east. Twelve miles to the west was Eutaw Springs.

The Holy City of Charleston was 50 miles from Pineville by wagon road or triple that by the Santee River via Georgetown. Pineville was isolated from the hustle and bustle of S.C.'s commerce and politics, but within a few seasons, the villagers developed their own forms of entertainment.

The St. Stephens Episcopal Church was founded in 1754. My father and mother were married in this church.

Col. Hezekiah Maham, hero of the Battle of Ft. Watson, laid out a race track for the newly created Santee Jockey Club. The club provided horse races, jousting matches, and annual dances for the gentlemen and their ladies. Men and women alike quickly adapted to hunting, riding, and social visiting on horseback.

By 1804, there were 60 homes, each on a lot of one to two acres, with enough residents to warrant a school for their children. A board of trustees was established to operate a grammar school known as the Pineville Academy.

Samuel DuBose, the first chairman of the board, advertised Charleston's City Gazette for a tutor. He wanted a married male of the Episcopal clergy who could also serve a local parish church and would take in boarders. The salary was $1,000, a dwelling house, an outhouse, plus what he might receive from the parish.

The Pineville Academy was incorporated in 1805, and Alpheus Baker from New Hampshire was hired as headmaster. The school was quite successful, attracting students from all over the Lowcountry and requiring an assistant teacher. Students boarded with the headmaster during the winter since their parents were in the village only during the summer.

The Pineville Academy was incorporated in 1805. It was closed due to a fever epidemic from 1836 to 1842. The school building was destroyed by Sherman's troops March 25, 1865. The one- room school in this photo was built around 1900 for the children of the Marion and Gourdin families. My mother, Mary Palmer Gourdin (Montgomery), is the small girl in the center. The building burned in 1946.

Baker took charge of building a local church in 1810 and served as lay reader until Charles B. Snowden was ordained as minister. The neat wooden Pineville Episcopal Church became the chapel of ease for the parish of St. Stephen's. It has held services ever since, and its upkeep is financed by a trust fund created in the will of Mattie M. Gourdin Marion, my great aunt who raised my mother in Pineville.

Baker left in 1812 to open a school in Charleston and was followed by a succession of one- year appointees including Charles B. Snowden and Charles Stevens.

The board of the Pineville Academy assumed responsibility for managing village affairs since the village was never incorporated. One of the first regulations was to protect the pine trees. A fine of $5 was imposed on anyone who cut down a pine tree. Early leaders were Capt. John Palmer (called the founder of Pineville), Theodore Gourdin, Dr. James McBride, Charles Stevens, Major Samuel Porcher, Dr. Robert Marion, and John Wall (first postmaster).

The first chapel building was converted into a two- room town hall and library under the direction of Dr. Robert Marion. In 1826, a new library building was constructed and boards from the old building turned into a livery stable. Public meetings were held in the library.

(Next week: Plantations and People)