Celebrating Anderson County Bicentennial
In the 1780s, Main Street in Anderson was known as General’s Road. The General’s Road route ran between Abbeville and the home of General Andrew Pickens at Tomassee (Tamassee) in Oconee County.
Anderson County and the Anderson County Museum recently unveiled a historic marker at the corner of Main Street and Whitner Street beside the Historic Courthouse. The marker for General’s Road is being placed in celebration of Anderson County’s Bicentennial.
General’s Road left Abbeville and closely followed modern Highway 28 passing landmarks such as the Temple of Health Stagecoach Inn and Varennes Tavern. The road then ran along Anderson’s Main Street passing the courthouse which would be built in 1826. Continuing, the General’s Road passed another inn called Whitehall before connecting to Hunter’s Store and Old Stone Church in Pendleton. It crossed the Seneca River at Cherry’s Crossing, formerly known as Pickens Ford, at his homestead called Hopewell and ran up to Pickens’ eventual retirement home at Tomassee.
The name of the road and its significance come from General Andrew Pickens who used this route in his travels to and from Abbeville and Pendleton. Use of “The General’s Road” to describe the route began as early as the 1780s and continued into the late 1800s in common parlance. The route figured centrally in the establishment of Hopewell Plantation and sustenance of other such homesteads. It contributed to the success and growth of Pendleton, the birth of Anderson, and was a key piece of infrastructure for the area prior to railway construction in the 1850s.”
The award-winning Anderson County Museum is celebrating 43 years of preserving the history and heritage of Anderson County and South Carolina. Located at 202 East Greenville Street in downtown Anderson, the museum is handicap accessible and admission free. The Fred Whitten Gallery and Whitner’s Mercantile store hours are Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Roper Research Room is open from 1 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and by appointment with the Curator.
