While school is out and outside interaction is limited, virtual field trips can provide a great adventure! Follow the link below to take a virtual tour through the Museum’s permanent galleries.

Each week we will focus on one particular artifact, event in history, gallery or exhibit. So, check back regularly to continue learning about Upcountry history.

WEEK THREE: DUELING PISTOLS

Pistols like this would have been used in the duel between Benjamin Perry and Turner Bynum. According to The Code of Honor, the rule book for dueling Southerners, “the arms used should be smooth-bore pistols, not exceeding nine inches in length.” Directly beside the dueling pistols (generously donated by Charles Blakely), you will find a copy of The Code of Honor. This book set the standards for southern dueling. It was published in 1858 by former South Carolina Governor, John L. Wilson. The state outlawed the practice of dueling in 1880.

To find our dueling pistols, click on the image above. Once directed to the Virtual Tour, press the play button, making sure to give the app a few seconds to load fully before it brings you back to the main lobby area, in front of the courthouse steps. Once at the courthouse steps,  simply click to the left side of the screen. Travel behind the drover and his pigs. Pass through the Upcountry Frontier gallery and take a right past the elevator doors. Here you will find the display of the dueling pistols and The Code of Honor.

Want to learn more on dueling? Click HERE!

WEEK TWO: MAC ARNOLD’S GAS CAN GUITAR

Arnold’s first gas can guitar was something he and his older brother Leroy created out of necessity. Leroy wanted a guitar, but his father wouldn’t allow it, so they made their own. The two collected scrap materials around the family’s Pelzer farm, such as strips of screen from a screen door for the strings. Arnold learned how to play the gas can guitar by age 10. Eventually, he got a six string guitar and later switched to the electric bass. By the time he was 24, he was in the center of the electric blues movement in Chicago. While in LA, he worked with some of the country’s most talented and well-known recording artists.

When he returned to South Carolina, he remembered the gas can guitar he made with his brother and set out to make a new one. It took him 18 months to track down the proper materials and six to re-learn playing the homemade guitar. He has since returned to his Upcountry roots, playing with his band, “Mac Arnold and Plate Full O’ Blues.”

To find Mac Arnold’s gas can guitar, affectionately named “Maggie Mae,” click on the image above. Once directed to the Virtual Tour, press the play button, making sure to give the app a few seconds to load fully before it brings you back to the main lobby area, in front of the courthouse steps. Once at the courthouse steps,  simply click in the middle of the screen 4x until you are at the Vardry McBee statue (pictured below). Then scan to the right until you are facing the white chapel. Walk in the chapel and “Maggie Mae” will be immediately to your right.

WEEK ONE: THE GREENVILLE & COLUMBIA RAILROAD

In 1832, Vardry McBee and his contemporaries supported the construction of a railroad from Charleston to Cincinnati. They hoped it would help the economy and symbolize a political union of North and South understanding. There was a lot of debate locally over the construction of the railroad, but McBee’s vision ultimately prevailed. At the time of his investment of $50,000 in the Upcountry portion of rail (the Greenville and Columbia Railroad), it was the largest investment in a U.S. railroad. The segment was completed in 1853 and increased the value of good in Greenville by 45 percent.

To find this particular display, click on the image above. Once directed to the Virtual Tour, press the play button, making sure to give the app a few seconds to load fully before it brings you back to the main lobby area, in front of the courthouse steps. Once at the courthouse steps,  simply click in the middle of the screen 4x and you will find yourself in front of the Vardry McBee and Railroad display.

Thank you to South Carolina ETV for creating and sharing this virtual museum tour.