A production of South Carolina ETV in association with the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism ♪ (male singer) ♪ Oh, I have found the sweetest place ♪ ♪ where people smile and know my name.

♪ ♪ Oh, I have found the sweetest land ♪ ♪ as warm as sun and cool as rain.

♪ ♪ A place so faaarrr... from all we had, ♪ ♪ a place so far from all we've known, ♪ ♪ a quiet place that we can love ♪ ♪ and call our home.

♪♪♪ ♪ ♪ (Joanna Angle) Welcome to "Palmetto Places," a series that explores and celebrates South Carolina's small towns and countryside.

I'm Joanna Angle.

All the land for miles around was once part of the Cherokee Nation.

A treaty with the Indians in 1755 prompted the first white settlers to move into what was then the South Carolina backcountry.

In 1764 a group of French Huguenots, fleeing religious persecution in their homeland, came here.

For decades the community they created was dotted with thick-stemmed grapevines brought from France and planted in a hope of creating a wine-making center.

The project met some success until the state declared it illegal.

The Huguenots named their village after a small town in France, and two centuries later, it's still called Abbeville.

[no audio] Abbeville centers on Court Square, a shady oasis and popular meeting place.

This area is known as the Plaza and holds several reminders of the past.

This pink granite fountain was made around a watering trough, which was used by horses, mules, and oxen that brought families to town on market day.

The flower urns were given by a man named Shriver, who came to Abbeville in 1900 to work on the railroad.

When his wife died in childbirth, the urns were placed here in her memory.

The bell is named "Big Bob" in honor of former mayor Robert Hill.

It originally sat atop the courthouse.

All important public information was communicated by summoning citizens with the bell, whose double clapper commanded attention.

In the middle of the Plaza is the Confederate monument, erected in 1906.

"On fame's eternal camping ground "their silent tents are spread, "and glory guards with solemn round the bivouac of the dead."

[no audio] Today, Abbeville is thriving, its downtown bustling with residents and tourists.

Not many years ago it seemed lifeless, with boarded-up buildings and merchants who were just getting by.

One man widely credited with Abbeville's renaissance is George Settles.

[no audio] George, the streets weren't always this busy.

Tell me how the revitalization began.

It began with the restoration of the opera house.

When we decided to fix up the opera house, it was the community theater.

We found a much more beautiful gem than we had imagined.

The restoration went further than we had thought it would.

We had this marvelous facility and were doing good work.

And we had people coming to town.

They found not much reason to stay than the play.

They would leave when it was over.

And that was a shame since the town itself had a potential to be beautiful.

With the amount of historic preservation we had learned at the opera house, we began to work on the downtown buildings and working toward getting grant money to stimulate that and were able to begin within a few years after we opened in 1968.

It moved very slowly at first.

People did not see the need to sink money in buildings that were empty, boarded up, and deteriorating.

Then it began to show.

Those buildings we did began to fill.

Rent rates went back to normal, and several of them sold.

Once those cash registers start ringing, everybody else wants to get in there too.

And by about 1979, we had most of the square redone, had several places that weren't.

The Belmont Inn, which was the old Eureka built in 1903... took a while to find somebody to restore it.

But in 1984 we got Joe Harden from Hilton Head to do that, and he restored it beautifully into a full-service small hotel, 24 rooms.

Now, for the most part, what's happening is what the Belmont and opera house did at the turn of the century... be the focal point of traffic.

Next door is the courthouse, a traffic producer.

We're back to the same activity that we had at the turn of the century.

It was a thriving community, and it is again.

There's a quote from a travel writer that you especially you like.

It was the "Tampa Tribune."

The very first leadoff thing, it said, "Why stop in Abbeville, South Carolina?

"Abbeville has the stopping power "of a ten-penny nail in your front tire.

"When you pull onto that square, you're gonna stop to take a look around."

You see people passing through that like the looks of the place, get out to look around.

Congratulations to you and the many people in Abbeville who helped to bring this special place back to life.

Thank you, Joanna... appreciate it.

♪ In the early 1900s, Abbeville was a busy railroad town, and many railroad employees and traveling salesmen stayed here in what was called the Eureka Hotel.

There was even a room for the salesmen to display their merchandise.

The Eureka also served textile executives and performers at the opera house.

In 1972 the hotel closed and rapidly went into a period of decay.

After a decade of abandonment, it was renovated into an intimate, 24-room inn, The Belmont.

Guest quarters are spacious.

One favorite room has a balcony overlooking Court Square.

The dining room is light and airy.

The Belmont's sweeping marble veranda is still the perfect place to wile away a few stolen hours.

♪ At the turn of the century, companies that had successful shows and plays in New York City often took them on the road.

One popular route was New York to Richmond to Atlanta.

And since Abbeville was already an overnight stop, it made sense to build a facility to take advantage of all the talent that was passing through.

On October 1, 1908, this was christened the "Grand Opera House," and grand were the evenings when patrons arrived by carriage, splendid in evening attire.

In those days, there was a two-hour intermission for dinner.

♪ Names that are now legendary once appeared on this stage.

The Ziegfeld "Follies," Fanny Brice, Jimmy Durante, the Marx Brothers, and Sarah Bernhardt.

Houdini was here, and "Ben-Hur" was performed with live animals.

But the touring companies dwindled, replaced by the silent screen and later, the talkies.

And this once-grand opera house went into a slow decline and eventually closed.

♪ In 1968 the Abbeville Community Theater began a campaign to revive this exceptional facility.

Now there are summer and winter seasons, producing more than eight months of live performances a year.

Join the audience as David Eller, Michael Higdon, and Justin Eller give us a glimpse of Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers."

(male speaker, voice-over) The first play I did here, I was 18, which is a little longer ago than I care to mention.

It gave an itch that I did not scratch for probably 15 years later.

I moved back to Abbeville from Columbia 10 years ago, and since then I have done probably 50 to 60 shows here in the opera house.

There is such an atmosphere here, and it's very difficult to explain.

I have done plays in other areas.

I've done shows in Clinton, South Carolina, and Anderson, South Carolina.

And besides the great people-- you can find great people anywhere you go in South Carolina-- it makes such a difference, the theater.

Because most other community theaters, unfortunately, are housed in converted movie houses, there's no backstage area, there's no fly space, no dressing rooms.

This place makes all the difference in the world.

This theater brings... it's hard to estimate the number of visitors this theater brings to Abbeville who bring money.

They eat, they stay.

They buy gas.

They visit all the gift shops.

This theater is a big contribution to the economic vitality of this town.

"Lost in Yonkers" is about a father who has two sons.

His wife is deceased, he's gone into debt with a loan shark.

He needs a job, but his problem is, where will his two sons live?

The solution is his mother, who happens to be as mean The kids don't want to stay, but it's quite a funny... and yet touching at times.

It'll bring tears to your eyes and make you laugh.

Grandma won't be happy with us!

We're slobs, Arty's always breaking things!

(Arty) Yeah!

Remember the good water pitcher?

And the ink stains on the sofa...all mine!

I'm dangerous, Pop!

Just listen to me, both of you.

It took me an hour and a half to convince her.

It's not that she doesn't like you.

She's getting old, set in her ways.

She's worried about Bella being around people.

Me too!

She hasn't said positively yet.

She's thinking about it.

She'll come out, she'll talk.

She'll see how it goes.

It's up to us to convince her you won't be any trouble.

Don't you understand how important this is?

What if she did take us?

Then you'd be obligated, Pop.

Don't you have enough obligations?

I'm not asking for myself.

For my boys, I'll be obligated.

Now, there's nothing else to discuss here.

It's up to Grandma now.

And it's up to you.

I'll see if she's ready.

♪ ♪ (Angle) A block from the Belmont and opera house, another landmark offers hands-on entertainment.

Abbeville's beloved Rough House Billiards is not rough at all.

It's smooth and mellow, with the worn appeal of a favorite chair.

Even on the hottest summer day, the Rough House is dark and cool, a timeless, carefree cavern of cue sticks and country music.

[no audio] [balls clacking] [no audio] We're here with my newfound pool partner and mentor, Joe Seawright, one of the city fathers in Abbeville.

Did you make that shot?

I didn't, so it's your shot.

What do you suggest?

Try to play the 13 into the corner pocket.

The 13... this guy right here.

Right.

I'm going to do that left-handed then.

You're ambidextrous, go right ahead.

[laughing] Rough House has been here for years, but it was somewhere else before this location.

The Rough House started in 1932 on North Main Street.

It moved next door two years later, moved into this building in 1936.

The Hagen brothers originally owned the business.

In 1988 they sold the business to Shelly Reid, who owns it at the present time.

The Rough House got its name in kind of a fun way.

It came from the cartoon!

Popeye and Wimpy used to go to the Rough House for their hamburgers.

This place always had the name, but it's never been a rough house.

But the ladies would never come in.

They'd come to the window, peck on it, hold up two, three fingers... how many hot dogs they wanted.

Mr. Hagen would make the hot dogs, carry 'em outside.

Wimpy and Popeye loved hamburgers, but the treat of this place is hot dogs.

I'm told they are the world's best with a secret-recipe chili.

Secret-recipe chili.

Mr. Hagen had the original recipe, and when he sold the business, he let Mr. Reid have the special recipe.

But it is terrific chili.

[balls clacking] I'm not doin' good this time!

Make this ball in the corner.

One that I can do, maybe.

Yes, you can.

I'll probably scratch.

[Angle laughing] Now you have a shot at the 6.

I should have paid attention when I was learning-- or they were trying to teach me--geometry.

A game of angles.

But this is not the Angle for it.

Do I hit it on the outside?

Yes.

[cue tapping ball] Good shot, all right!

[laughing] Yes!

Best shot of the day!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I'd like to sign up for an extended course in the fine art of billiards.

My pleasure... welcome to Abbeville.

[no audio] [birds chirping] (Angle) Abbeville has been called both the cradle and the grave of the Confederacy.

It is claimed that the secession movement began on November 22, 1860, with a mass meeting of some 3,000 people on a nearby hill.

Those in attendance unanimously passed a resolution demanding South Carolina's immediate withdrawal from the Union.

Five long years later, the Confederacy was crumbling.

Richmond had fallen, and President Jefferson Davis was hurrying south, hoping to find a safe position from which he could rally the remnants of his army.

About 2:00 on the afternoon of May 2, 1865, he arrived in Abbeville.

In his book on Abbeville County, Lester Ferguson describes the scene.

"A friend of former years stood at his door, "a fugitive from a lost cause, "a price on his head.

"Somewhere back up the road, "hard-riding Federal cavalrymen were hounding his trail.

"To give him shelter could well be at the price of the homes "being reduced to ashes and prison for the host.

"Nonetheless, he welcomed the friend and his entourage "into his majestic home "and provided them with all the hospitality his sorely depleted means could muster."

And so Jefferson Davis found sanctuary in the home of Major Armistead Burt.

It was in this house that he convened the Confederacy's council of war for the final time.

[no audio] The Burt-Stark Mansion is furnished with authentic antebellum pieces.

Margaret Flynn Bowie is going to guide us through some of the rooms.

Welcome to our National Landmark... delighted to have you.

Lovely to be here.

This is the room where something very important happened.

The most important event in the South.

This is where Jefferson Davis met with members of his cabinet for the last time.

Here is where they convinced him that the War Between the States was over, his tenure as president was really over.

He agreed, in this room, to sign the discharge for his soldiers who served in the War Between the States.

So here, in this room, ended the War Between the States.

We call this the "Deathbed of the Confederacy."

It took a while to convince the president that the South was fatigued and ready to surrender.

Yes...he was fleeing, he was a hunted man, but he still when he came to this house.

This room, under other circumstances, was a gentlemen's parlor, wasn't it?

Most Southern houses set aside one of their front reception rooms as the gentlemen's parlor.

And here the gentlemen met, had their cigars and their after-dinner drinks, and discussed important events that were happening.

This room was the ladies' parlor, is that right?

This was the ladies' parlor.

This is the other reception room in an antebellum Southern house.

The ladies met in the parlor, always had refreshments, discussed their important events.

And our benefactress's portrait is over the desk there.

Her name was Mary Stark Davis, the last member of the family who bought this house in 1900.

She herself lived to be 102 1/2.

She didn't know what she would do with this house or how she would keep it as her mother wished it to be kept.

So she donated this house and all its furnishings to the Abbeville Historic Preservation Commission so that it could be saved for future generations.

And enjoyed by all people in South Carolina and beyond.

She wanted people to see how Southern aristocrats lived.

Oh, you're very true, because she was the most aristocratic lady that ever grew up in Abbeville.

Mrs. Bowie, the fan light over this entryway is quite handsome.

I've never seen anything like it.

It was designed by Mrs. Armistead Burt when she came here because she thought the plain glass transom was just too dull to introduce people to the back part of the house and back dining room.

She designed it in honor of her French Huguenot relatives.

Of course, that's the fleur-de-lis.

It's very pretty, I think, and is certainly inviting into the hospitality of the dining room.

Love to see the dining room.

Mrs. Burt was a Calhoun before she married, right?

Yes, she was John C. Calhoun's favorite niece, lived with him in Washington many years.

This gracious dining room denotes the hospitality, or recalls the hospitality, this house was always known for.

The gracious, old Southern hunt board is a good example and one of the finest we've ever seen.

It's inlaid with string inlaying.

And, of course, that's the Stark silver service that we have decorated the top with.

How many could they seat at the dining table?

We actually had 12 chairs.

Now we only have nine.

During Miss Mary's lifetime, she was begged to give a souvenir of this house.

She gave away three dining room chairs.

We only have nine matching dining room chairs.

But we have other examples of early chairs in this room.

This dates back to the earliest hospitality of this house.

How many bedrooms are there, Mrs. Bowie?

Oh, we have six bedrooms!

[no audio] Mrs. Bowie, you call this the summer bedroom, right?

We call it the summer bedroom because it has four windows and catches a breeze on any summer day.

That was very important before the days of air conditioning.

It also opens onto the back veranda, which makes it such a pleasant room.

It has a bed you could even nap in if you felt so inclined.

It's a wonderful room, and the people who lived here did most of their needlework and their private living in their family just in this room.

The old fireplae was kept open.

It's one that's never been closed up and modernized.

So this is really a pleasant place.

I love the way the bed sits on the diagonal.

Tell me the story about this headboard.

Oh, this headboard has an interesting story.

A cabinetmaker was designing the panels for a church around here.

That panel was a little bit off and did not match anything.

The cabinetmaker, who had spent hours doing this Gothic carving, had no sale for the panel.

But the cabinetmaker that was designing and making this bed came up with the idea to buy this panel, hook it to the back.

In case of a hot summer day, you could lift the headboard down and move the bedstead around so that this room really as a summer bedroom.

That's an unusual piece.

How many bedrooms are there in this house?

Including the two downstairs and four upstairs, we have six really nice, big bedrooms.

The bedroom that Jefferson Davis spent his last night as president of the Confederacy-- that was upstairs?

Yes, upstairs.

You still have the bed?

Still have the bed.

Our viewers will want to come see that and other rooms.

What days would the house be open for tourists?

This summer we will be open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and at any time by appointment.

Normally during the winter season, we're open Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

At any time during any season, we are here for an appointment.

Mrs. Bowie, thank you for sharing this beautiful house with us.

I'd love to come another time.

Thank you...it's really been my pleasure.

Send your friends to Abbeville to see our historic house.

[chuckling] We'll do our best.

♪ ♪ (Angle) Evening has come to the Burt-Stark Mansion, where dreams for the Confederacy died.

But other dreams live on here because Abbeville, South Carolina, is a town determined to save the best of yesterday for tomorrow.

We're glad you could join us and hope you'll be with us again for "Palmetto Places."

Until then, I'm Joanna Angle, inviting you to discover South Carolina... smiling faces, beautiful places.

♪ ♪ Program captioned by: CompuScripts Captioning, Inc. 803.988.8438 ♪ (female singer) ♪ And here we live, ♪ ♪ within this land ♪ ♪ of mountains' edge and ocean's shore.

♪ ♪ A land of strength... a land of grace... ♪ ♪ of men and women gone before.

♪ ♪ So many smiling faces here, ♪ ♪ so many memories still to come.

♪ ♪ Beautiful places we hold dear ♪ ♪ in this our home.

♪ (choir joins) ♪ South Carolina, always near... ♪ ♪ and always hooommmme.... ♪♪♪ ♪