Quaint towns in SC (Clemson, Clinton: cheap house, school, college)

[cleobarker]

I'll vote for Camden also. Take a ride along Fair Street and look at all the classic old homes. My family owned homes on that street for years.

Also, the downtown area has experienced quite a revitalization recently and Camden now has trendy restaurants to eat in and shops to browse.

If you like/have horses, Camden is very horse friendly being home to many horse farms, big and small as well as being what I like to call "the home of steeplechase racing in America", Springdale race course which hosts both the Carolina and Colonial Cup races annually.

cb

[knitwit]

How about McCormick, SC.

[Skyliner]

Originally Posted by Skyliner

Aiken is definitely not a modern day Mayberry though.

I would recommend checking out all of the towns between Anderson, Greenwood, and Edgefield counties. There are many that I love for their old, authentic, small town southern charm. Favorites include, Abbeville, Ninety Six (just east of Greenwood), Due West, Honea Path, Williamston, and Pelzer-West Pelzer, among others.

I should have included Edgefield, Belton (this is a real "modern day Mayberry!" Be sure to check out the photos.), and Calhoun Falls in this list.

[knitwit]

Include McCormick on your tour of quaint towns. It's a very small town, built on a gold mine. Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper later bought the town and his wife came here to plan the layout, streets, etc. There is a Main Street which houses the general hardware store, antique shops, pharmacy with a soda fountain where you can still get coke floats, and the ice cream is awesome, The McCormick Messenger is also on Main Street, we have the usual ethnic restaurants, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, then there is Fannie Kate's which is a inn, restaurant, and pub. Main Street has the railroad tracks go right down the middle. We have two traffic lights in town. The Purple Poodle dog grooming salon just opened up on Main Street, and we have a video/tanning store, a gift shop, and consignment shop. We have a fairly new post office, library, town hall, and county courthouse. Also there is a Huddle House, Hardees, and Food Lion. Lots of old churches and a assortment of convenience stores selling gas. And 5 miles away is the breathtaking Lake Thurmond, a 70,000 acre man made lake, originally called Clark's Hill Lake. So come on down, check it out!

[SCBeaches]

Newberry, Georgetown, and Holly Hill are quaint little towns....I live within 1 1/2 hours of all of them.

[SJT]

I grew up in Westminster, SC and it is a little "Mayberry" kind of town. Neighboring Walhalla, SC has the feel as well. Seneca is the bigger town in the county of Oconee, but doesn't have that same feeling. Seneca does, howver, have beautiful Lake Keowee...

[sheasway22]

I think Walhalla, just northwest of Seneca is a quaint town in a great location. Ive heard that some folks disagree and think it looks a bit tired, but I think it has great charm, the people are nice, and the location is excellent (mountains, whitewater rivers, great lakes all close). The main street area is a step back in time and gives me a sense of appreciation every time i stop through. Give it a look-

[SaveSouthCarolina]

Newberry is Great! Not as small as your typical mayberry town of 2000-4000 people but newberry is Great!

Whitmire is Mayberry made over. There is still a drug store there called Roche Pharmacy and when you walk in it still looks like a 50s or 60s drug store. They still have a toy store downstairs with toys from the 70s!

The police station is like walking into see Sheriff Taylor. HUGE Gossip town just like mayberry! There is a walking town drunk whose name is Jerry, SERIOUSLY!

You can get houses here starting at $10k, yes $10k (a fixer upper but a house). You can get an 3br house for $30-40k ..Heck, they just sold an 8BR house for $115,000. You can get land for NOTHING!

Newberry is only 15 minutes for Wal-mart, Etc.

Whitmire is a true Mayberry Town.

[sgfludd]

Sumter isn't on the list. I lived there in the cutest Cape Cod on Anne Park - fabulous little town - if you go you must see Swan Lakes - they have 8 species of swans there - and the grounds are gorgeous. Sumter's Swan Lake Iris Gardens

[brightcopperkettles]

Originally Posted by SaveSouthCarolina

Newberry is Great! Not as small as your typical mayberry town of 2000-4000 people but newberry is Great!

Whitmire is Mayberry made over. There is still a drug store there called Roche Pharmacy and when you walk in it still looks like a 50s or 60s drug store. They still have a toy store downstairs with toys from the 70s!

The police station is like walking into see Sheriff Taylor. HUGE Gossip town just like mayberry! There is a walking town drunk whose name is Jerry, SERIOUSLY!

You can get houses here starting at $10k, yes $10k (a fixer upper but a house). You can get an 3br house for $30-40k ..Heck, they just sold an 8BR house for $115,000. You can get land for NOTHING!

Newberry is only 15 minutes for Wal-mart, Etc.

Whitmire is a true Mayberry Town.

I absolutely agree. I used to live there years ago in a huge old home across the street from the Methodist church. It's a very quiet little town; everybody goes to church on Sunday because that's when you see everybody. Roche Pharmacy is owned by Dr. Roche; it's been a while, but his son Johnny might have taken over for him by now. They had ladies groups that used to meet and have tea (I know, I was part of them); the ladies were very nice indeed.

When the cotton mill closed, however, the town pretty much dried up. Not a lot of folks there now, because there are no jobs there. Most folks drive to Newberry to work or to Laurens or to Greenville.

When textiles started being made in China and the cotton mills started closing, it was a huge blow for small towns all over South Carolina. Whitmire was one of them. Still, the people are very lovely there, and I miss it.