♪ (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.

♪♪ ♪ ♪ [no audio] They came southward from Pennsylvania and Virginia, down the Great Wagon Road to what is now North Carolina and from there southward still, along the ancient Catawba Trading Path.

Scots-Irish Presbyterians for the most part, the early settlers of the 1750s came to the upper Catawba Valley searching for fertile land and a hopeful future.

Here in the rolling hills among the Waxhaw, Cane, Camp, and Twelvemile Creeks, they stopped and began to build.

Time passed, and the area became known as the Waxhaws, the name of an Indian tribe that had disappeared from the region years earlier.

The Scots-Irish settlers of the Waxhaws were a fiercely independent people, rugged and tempestuous.

From them came strong frontiersmen like Andrew Jackson, commander of the victorious American forces at the Battle of New Orleans and later, seventh President of the United States.

Welcome to Lancaster County and to "Palmetto Places," a series that explores and celebrates South Carolina's small towns and countryside.

I'm Joanna Angle.

Andrew Jackson wrote that he was born in South Carolina, near the present site of Andrew Jackson State Park.

This bronze statue, titled "Andrew Jackson, Boy of the Waxhaws," was created by renowned sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and stands in the park's meadow.

Jackson's father died before Andrew was born, leaving his mother to bring up three young sons during the stormy and desolate years of the American Revolution.

At the age of 13, Andrew Jackson fought British Regulars at the Battle of Hanging Rock just south of here.

The next year he was taken prisoner, and when ordered to black the boots of a British officer, Jackson refused.

The officer struck him with a saber, inflicting wounds to his head and arms that Andrew Jackson never forgot or forgave.

Andrew Jackson State Park surrounds a 7-acre fishing lake.

It features a picnic and playground area, amphitheater, nature trails, and camping sites.

There is a reconstructed one-room schoolhouse and a museum where projectile points, worn 19th-century tools, and household items seem to wait for their owner's return.

[no audio] Andrew Jackson's father lies beneath one of these stones in this cemetery of Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church.

Tradition tells of the elder Jackson's coffin being placed upon a sled on a cold winter's morning in 1767.

In the custom of Irish wakes, it was dragged from house to house for two days as neighbors joined the mourning and whiskey was consumed.

When the entourage reached the grave site, they discovered the coffin had been lost.

Recovering the body proved a sobering process.

This monument is to the memory of President Jackson's mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, who contracted a fever while nursing American prisoners held quarantine aboard a British ship in Charleston Harbor.

She was buried in a mass grave along with the prisoners she had tried to comfort.

Mrs. Jackson was described as a vibrant, red-haired woman with snapping, blue eyes.

[no audio] Andrew Jackson was bold and daring.

So was another Lancaster County favorite son born a century later.

The legendary Elliott White Springs was the son of Leroy Springs, founder of Springs Mills, now Springs Industries.

Elliott Springs was a World War I flying ace, author, industrialist, and advertising genius.

Colonel Springs did everything with flare, with a flourish.

When his Lancaster and Chester Railways office building, headquarters for the Spring Maid Line, was dedicated in 1951, the colonel invited numerous celebrities to be honorary vice presidents.

The vice president in charge of unveiling was none other than famed dancer Gypsy Rose Lee.

The building's second floor now houses an extensive collection of railroad memorabilia and working model illustrating the 29 miles of main line.

The museum is open to the public the first and third Saturdays, 9 to 4.

Colonel Springs' boyhood home now serves as Lancaster City Hall.

Among South Carolina's architectural masterpieces is Lancaster County's exquisite courthouse.

Designed by Robert Mills, America's first native-born architect, it is considered so significant that the United States Department of the Interior has declared it a National Historic Landmark.

Robert Mills studied and lived with Thomas Jefferson for two years, and his work reflects Jefferson's disdain for English kings and English architecture and his admiration of Renaissance architect Palladio.

This courthouse window is considered to be one of the finest examples of pure Palladian design in America.

Constructed in 1828, the courthouse has walls 24 inches thick.

The 300,000 bricks required were made by slaves.

The portico columns are stucco over brick and support a pediment featuring a semielliptical fanlight.

A double flight of steps provides entry to the courtroom above a lower, arched entrance.

This site has witnessed an amazing variety of events.

In 1813 a most unusual trial took place here involving witchcraft.

A young girl from Lancaster accused Barbara Powers, an old woman from neighboring Chesterfield County, of being a witch and changing her into a horse by supernatural abilities.

The case was thrown out of court.

It is believed to have been the last time in America that a judge and jury actually heard witchcraft testimony.

On January 21, 1861, 185 slaves, including many children, belonging to the estate of William McKenna, were auctioned here to the highest bidder by the Charleston firm of Thomas Ryan and Sons, auctioneers.

Then, in 1865, on February 28, a cavalry detachment of William T. Sherman's Union Army occupied Lancaster.

Under the command of Major General Judson Kilpatrick, soldiers hurled turpentine balls on the courthouse roof in a futile attempt to burn the building.

At 9:51 p.m., August 31, 1886, the Charleston earthquake shook the building as old Dick Hackett was playing the violin for a big dance in the main courtroom.

It frightened Hackett so much that he slammed the violin down and broke it, never to play it again.

On June 4, 1909, the first Confederate monument sculpted in the South was dedicated on the courthouse grounds.

Behind the courthouse is the Lancaster County Jail, also designed by Robert Mills and built in 1823.

Robert Mills was South Carolina's state engineer and architect for 15 years.

Later, as federal architect, he designed numerous public buildings, most notably the Washington Monument.

[no audio] Lancaster County is home to another treasure of national significance.

Forty Acre Rock, in the eastern part of the county, is a geological rarity.

We visited there with one of the rock's best friends, conservationist Lindsay Pettus.

(Lindsay Pettus) This beautiful, natural area that's located in Lancaster County, in the eastern part, is known as Forty Acre Rock Flat Creek Natural Area.

In the middle 1980s, the Department of the Interior, on behalf of the American people, designated it our 551st National Natural Landmark because of the great diversity of wild plants that are in this area.

When the Department of the Interior designated it a National Natural Landmark, that put Forty Acre Rock and Flat Creek Natural Area on equal status with the Grand Canyon, which is saying a whole lot.

Over the years, since 1978, the Nature Conservancy accumulated about 9 tracts of land here.

Now it probably totals around 1,500 acres.

The Heritage Trust of the Department of Natural Resources in Columbia has stewardship of the property now, although the Nature Conservancy has kept 20 acres on the northeastern side of Forty Acre Rock.

Stewardship, of course, is very important.

A lot of the glory is in buying the land, but to take care of land is special.

So stewardship by the Department of Natural Resources and the Nature Conservancy is very important for this National Natural Landmark.

We're standing in the transition zone between the Piedmont, the Piedmont red clay soils, and the Midlands, or the sands-- and the loose, loamy sands of the coastal area.

It created a interesting ecology where over 300 species of wild plants live in this area, some that are associated with red clay soils, some that are associated with the sandy soils of this area.

And, of course, also, trees of the area also are diverse, even on the rock area.

A very interesting cedar grows to about 75 to 100 years old, that is very diverse and living in a very thin topsoil area, which I find to be quite interesting.

The pools on the rock, of course, are natural made, not man-made.

They hold one of the species of plants that are endangered.

We have a number of endangered species here, and some are nationally endangered.

One, which would be the Amphianthus pussilis, or pool sprite, and there are many others.

There are about 16 endangered species.

Some are state endangered, some Southeastern endangered, and some are nationally endangered, such as the pool sprite.

And the pool sprite lives in the pools on this rock.

The waterfall area is just south and north of the rock, or the exposed granite area of the rock.

One can see, as it walks down the trail, water, especially in early spring and maybe late fall more so than summertime.

It has a tendency to dry up.

But it's a nice area and part of the wonderful, natural diversity of this whole area known as Forty Acre Rock.

Of course, this area has legends.

One that's interesting is that the Devil's Footprint-- and supposedly, uh, and during slavery days, there was lightning, and a large fire appeared in the sky.

The next day, as they wandered onto the rock area, the individuals of that time found a devil's footprint on Forty Acre Rock.

And it was, of course, about four or five times the size of a normal-size footprint, imprinted on the rock.

Of course, the talk, too, was that somewhere in Chesterfield County, around the Pageland area, was the right foot.

This was the left foot, and the right foot was in Chesterfield County.

Also, this is an area that has deep history, through the Taxahaw Indians that lived here.

This area was known, too, as Old Hickory.

The Indians would have thought this was a place of magic and what appeared on this rock numerous times in awe just as we're in awe today.

A great time to visit would be in early spring, after the spring rains.

The pools fill with rains, and that's conducive to the pool sprite, so I like to come in April.

April's a good time to visit Forty Acre Rock.

I think, long range, we all want to see this property stay in the shape that it's in, as to the natural diversity, with its wild plants and wild animals and bird life.

Stewardship of this is very important.

And also that someday we can say to our children that we recognized that this area was important, that mankind has a need for such areas, for open space, to be able to walk through woods and down a trail, that we hand it to our children, and they hand it to their children, and that it'll always be a National Natural Landmark.

[no audio] [mallet rapping on chisel] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] (Joanna Angle) Across the Catawba River, at Landsford Canal State Park, Lancaster County native and wood-carver extraordinaire James "Smiley" Small is busy liberating a growing population of tree people.

[mallet rapping] I was... a calligrapher, and I tired of it.

And I was lookin' for a different hobby, and...I just started whittlin', and I liked it even better.

[mallet rapping] So I've been whittlin' and carvin' for about six years on and off, and it's really a fascinatin' hobby.

[mallet rapping] Always surprise in the wood.

[mallet rapping] About... four years ago, [mallet rapping] I met the superintendent at an art show.

And he said he had some... damaged trees in his park and asked me if I would kind of decorate the stumps.

And we made the deal, and, uh...one thing leads to another.

And so I'm goin' on my fourth summer, and we have lots of stumps in the park and in the museum.

And it's just old people that had something to do with the making of the locks in the park, stuff like that, stuff with a lot of character.

Mountain men, Indians... [mallet rapping] sea captains, cooks, barbers, laborers.

[mallet rapping] This happens to be a... a pine stump.

And we saw it, and automatically you could see an Indian in it.

So it's just a matter of lettin' him out.

It's time consumin', but it's worth it in the long run.

Every cut you make looks more like an Indian.

[mallet rapping] [mallet rapping] He'll more or less tell ya... about what he's supposed to look like.

Then you just keep nippin' at it.

And eventually he'll come out, and he'll have a place in the park.

I do not use power tools... [mallet rapping] because I consider it cheatin'.

I like the old-fashioned way, everything by hand.

[mallet rapping] The wood I prefer... is...cedar for big stuff, but for whittlin' little caricatures, I use basswood.

[mallet rapping] Wood is a fascinatin' thing to me since I've started carvin'.

I used to take it for granted, but now, I'm forevermore lookin' for a piece of wood because every piece of wood has somethin' in it.

It's a matter of lettin' it out, and that's the fun part.

[mallet rapping] I just start and look at the stump for a little while, and it'll talk back to me and... dream up as you go along... that's the fascinatin' thing about wood carvin'.

[mallet rapping] I'm self-taught.

I believe if you can read a book, you can do anything you want to do.

And I've taught myself because I like to do it so well.

I have fun with the kids... [mallet rapping] because I think it's a dyin' art, and most kids... never have seen stuff like this before.

And I'll ask if they wanna try it.

You see the big smile on their face.

I'll let 'em beat on it a bit, just make sure they don't get hurt.

And we just have a big time.

[mallet rapping] I would highly recommend... whittlin' or carvin' because it's good therapy.

It keeps your mind busy.

You don't have time to think about gettin' in trouble.

By the time you finish, [chuckling] you too tired to do anything else.

So I highly recommend it.

My ambition is... to take a two-by-four as long as from here to Charlotte, and just carve it up, because you learn to love it that much.

I thought I'd be tired of it or burn out by now, but I love it more every day I carve.

Because it's the surprise in it and the beauty of it.

And it's a real challenge.

I love a challenge.

[mallet rapping] [rooster crowing] Following the American Revolution, Lancaster County's economy was based on agriculture until the War Between the States.

After the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became the main crop.

Census records indicate that by 1810 cotton and distillery whiskey were the county's two major cash producers.

During the summer months it was customary for well-to-do cotton farmers to move away from low-lying areas near the Catawba River.

Building houses on higher ground, they sought better breezes and escape from insects.

Such a home was built by James T. Wade between 1832 and 1845.

Originally one-room deep, the structure was doubled in size in 1915 to accommodate the H. J. Beckham family's 12 children.

The Wade-Beckham House is one of Lancaster County's last surviving mid-19th-century plantation houses.

A blending of Greek Revival and neoclassical styles, it offers an excellent example of the region's antebellum rural architecture.

[no audio] Cool breezes still entice family, friends, and travelers to this hilltop, to porch rockers, and the joggling board.

The Wade-Beckham House is among a growing number of South Carolina historic places offering bed and breakfast.

We're glad that you could come with us on this visit to Lancaster County and hope that you'll be with us again for "Palmetto Places."

Until then, I'm Joanna Angle, inviting you to discover South Carolina... [no audio] smiling faces, beautiful places.

[no audio] ♪ 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.... ♪♪ ♪