A Walking Tour of Seneca, South Carolina

By Doug Gelbert

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. This walking tour of Seneca, South Carolina is ready to explore when you are. Each walking tour describes historical, architectural landmarks, cultural sites and ecclesiastic touchstones and provides step-by-step directions.

Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

In 1870, Seneca was a wilderness penetrated only by a strip of iron rails along the Blue Ridge Railroad Line. A few years later the Richmond Air Line Railroad crossed the Blue Ridge and this obscure railroad junction became a transfer point for freight shipped to and received from every section of the country. It was a natural townsite and in 1873 the first auction was held for building lots. The new town was named for Sinica for an old town of the Cherokee nation and it was destined to become the largest in Oconee County, that had been formed in 1868.

When the town celebrated its Centennial in 1973, preservationists mobilized to list the Seneca Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Located south of the railroad tracks in Seneca the residential district consists of a number of homes and three churches that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The houses have architectural styles that were popular in the period.

But before we explore the Historic District our walking tour will begin on the north side of the tracks, in the commercial district along a colorful block that not so long ago was a ghost town of dilapidated structures that has been reinvigorated...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Mar 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458071224

Book preview

A Walking Tour of Seneca, South Carolina

a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

by Doug Gelbert

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Cruden Bay Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

In 1870, Seneca was a wilderness penetrated only by a strip of iron rails along the Blue Ridge Railroad Line. A few years later the Richmond Air Line Railroad crossed the Blue Ridge and this obscure railroad junction became a transfer point for freight shipped