June 24-27, 2022

The oldest cache in South Carolina is near Augusta, Georgia, about 60 miles from where we were staying in Columbia. We took a day trip.

The cache is located along Modoc Trail, a 5-mile mountain biking trail in the Sumter National Forest. The cache was about 500 feet off the trail at the 1-mile mark.

Dave at the site of the Modoc Stash
South Carolina’s oldest geocache
Pretty woods along the Modoc Trail

While in the Augusta area we checked out some other caches.

Augusta is the home of James Brown. We completed an adventure lab (a series of caches with a theme) that took us to places significant to Brown.
Dave with James Brown’s statue in downtown Augusta.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is the fifth church on the site of Augusta’s first church and fort. The first church was established in 1750. This building was constructed in 1918.

We also found a few caches back in Columbia.

Looking north up the Congaree River
Congaree River from Granby Park
Trinity Episcopal Church was constructed in 1846 as a replica of York Minster Cathedral in York, England. During the Civil War, the iron spikes on the roof were melted to make cannon balls.
The parsonage and Sunday school were burned when General William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the city during the Civil War. Local residents used papier mache crosses to make the church look as if it were Catholic. Sherman was Catholic and the church was left unburned.

We completed two different geocaching tours of the University of South Carolina campus. The University was founded in 1801. Several buildings are in use that were constructed before the 1860’s.

McCutcheon House was once a faculty residence. It now houses the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
Dormitory
This building was constructed as a chapel in 1855 but the acoustics were so terrible it was never used as one. It served as a hospital and morgue during the civil war and later an arsenal and armory as well as a gymnasium. The acoustics were corrected and the building was converted to a theater in the round in the 1970’s.
If you’ve looked unsuccessfully for the tree of knowledge, you need look no further. This one was dedicated in 1995 by the Association of African American Students and Student Affairs.
The USC football team was first referred to as the “Gamecocks” by The State newspaper, recalling the fighting tactics of General Thomas Sumter, the Revolutionary War hero known as the Fighting Gamecock. This statue is “Cocky”.
Categories: Travel

1 Comment

Laura · July 1, 2022 at 4:28 pm

Gamecocks and Gators…usually a good football game each year.

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