OT: How many of you grew up in an upstate SC "mill village" and played sports
- Thread starter BedouinCock
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Did not grow up in a mill village ( mom and dad grew up in Poe Mill) but I did play sports in mill villages and with and against mill kids. Mom made dad move us out of the villages. Played on little league teams with a bunch of kids that went on to Parker and Berea. A lot of them went on to play baseball in the minors and a couple played for Clemson.
Played in a church area championship in Possum Kingdom. Played a bunch of bb games in the old Monaghan Mills auditorium. Played church softball against the last generation of mill baseball players. Had a great uncle who went from the Poe Mill team to the White Sox
Played in a church area championship in Possum Kingdom. Played a bunch of bb games in the old Monaghan Mills auditorium. Played church softball against the last generation of mill baseball players. Had a great uncle who went from the Poe Mill team to the White Sox
I have two sets of cousins, one set grew up in City View and played a lot of ball and another set lived in Monaghan and played a lot of ball in the YMCA at Monaghan.
I grew up near (about 3 blocks) West Greenville and me and my buds would just go around beating the heck out of anyone we didn't like. Just kidding.
I grew up near (about 3 blocks) West Greenville and me and my buds would just go around beating the heck out of anyone we didn't like. Just kidding.
Buffalo S.C. Our town was so poor the cotton mill ran 4 days and the creek ran 3.
Now that is poor. In Greenville it seems that most of the textile mills ran 5-6 days a week. But it would have been a good thing if the creeks in Greenville only ran three days a week. I had relatives in Dunean that had a creek right behind their property. At times that creek was every shade in the rainbow. The creek didn't originate in Dunean, I don't think anyway. But all I know is over a period of time I've seen it almost every color in the spectrum.
My Dad grew up in City View. It must have been a tough neighborhood back in the day. My Dad used to say, "He needs a City View ass whipping." to someone that ticked him off.
Yes, I was raised in the Greer Mill Area and played all sports but, June Raines was my baseball coach as well as basketball coach at the Greer Mill YMCA.. Those were the days
I think your dad summed it up pretty nicely. It was a tough neighborhood but a lot of really great, salt of the earth people lived there. Most of the people took good care of their property, went to church on a regular basis and loved life. We did fight a lot among ourselves but at the end of the day we remained good friends.
My dad joined military to get off the mill hill in Pendleton, SC, so I grew up all over and played a lot of DYA sports, but I had/have relatives on some of those hills in Upstate who worked in mills all their live.
I have a cousin who blames mill for causing his mom's death from breathing in whatever cotton or fiber dust it is they dealt with.
One of those mill hills I remember in Anderson is now mostly a slum. I used to think the neighborhood was so poor they couldn't afford real street names, so you had M Street and L street, etc. We'd go up there a couple times a year to visit. Depressing place.
I have a cousin who blames mill for causing his mom's death from breathing in whatever cotton or fiber dust it is they dealt with.
One of those mill hills I remember in Anderson is now mostly a slum. I used to think the neighborhood was so poor they couldn't afford real street names, so you had M Street and L street, etc. We'd go up there a couple times a year to visit. Depressing place.
Whitney mills and Beaumont mill in Spartanburg were my stomping grounds. All sports were Y-leagues to us in the 70's. I had a great-great uncle that played with Shoeless Joe when he was in the mill leagues.
Another Monaghan Y kid here. I remember playing for a guy named Fig Newton. As I grew older I could hit a ball out in left and on top of the house across the street. Nobody ever hit one to center. It must have been 800 feet. Same in right. We would go to the Y as soon as it opened and stay until they ran us out. Didn't matter what we were playing as long as we were playing there. We would go to one kids house for lunch one day and another the next day. We thought we were the richest kids in the world. Ended up years later playing softball on that field too. Lots of great memories associated with that Y.
Freddie...that was probably Brushy Creek (every river basin in the upstate has a "Brushy Creek"). It forms the northern border of Dunean (ran behind the outfield fence at the old Henry Athletic Field. Textile League sluggers would hit 'em over the fence & into that creek). Crosses Allen St./ Green Avenue not far from where the Coffee Pot & Clay Bros. Drug Store used to be. Same creek you then see crossing under Mills Avenue at the old Mills Mill Bldg. Again at the low point under West Faris Road, between Augusta Rd. & Grove Rd. (near Gvl Mem. Hosp.- runs by Chanticleer Golf Course after crossing W. Faris). Takes on several other creeks then crosses I-85 not too far south of Augusta Rd. Goes under Augusta Rd. right at the I-85 bridge. Empties into the Reedy just downstream from the sewer plant.
Growing up I played church ball for Jerry Compton. Do you remember him, or my Dad's basketball teammate Ward Williams?
I can tell you, those textile mills were the cause of a lot of people's bad health and yes I believe they resulted in the deaths of some people.
And now many of the old textile mill hills are nothing more than slums today. They were for the most part well build houses but due to neglect they are in very good shape.
Boy, you really know Dunean. I know exactly where all the places are you mentioned above. I've watched games at the old Henry Athletic Field in the early 50s. I have eaten at the Coffee Pot many times over the years and remember the Clay Bros. Drug store. Brings back old memories.
I played church ball for Lee Road Methodist. Most of our games in the early 70's were at Dunean. On one end of the court, the stage was very close to the court. If you shot from the baseline, you might hit the overhang from the stage.
I suspect that I might have known your cousins back in the day. Everyone knew everyone else in the old hood.
I played for Fig Newton, Ken Pittman and Speedy Landreth. Those men taught me a lot at a time when I sure needed to be taught.
Most of us were "poor" when it came to this what the world considers wealth. However, we were rich in ways money cannot buy during those days in those communities. I wish my children and granddaughter could have experienced live during the 1950s and early 1960s. Everyone was in the "same boast" and we just thought that was the way everyone lived.
I remember Jerry Compton and Ward Williams from Dunean. They were good men and great at playing sports baseball and basketball.
They sure taught more than baseball or basketball. They taught life and responsibility and friendship.
I think you and I might have either played together or against each other at some time. I am 65, went to Cone elementary, then Monaview Middle and Carolina High before USC. I played ball with the Harbin brothers among others. I think I remember a Keith Stevens coaching at the Y. I Lived off of Cedar Lane Rd. Knights grocery, Taylors store for pinball. I remember sneaking in to the Cedar Lane drive in to watch movies I should not have seen. Later graduated to the Poinsett Drive in back row where on Sunday morning there were enough beer cans to build a Toyota and enough rubbers to put tires on one.
Poe Mill was so poor there was a trailer park next to it called "Paradise Trailer Park". Some of you folks probably remember it.
The mills that I had family work in were:
Inman, Lyman, Appalach, Poe, Victor (Greer Mill), and what was the old Mills Mill off Augusta Road in Greenville...
I would love someone to start naming all the mills in the upstate as I know there were a lot in Spartanburg and Union Counties as well....
Inman, Lyman, Appalach, Poe, Victor (Greer Mill), and what was the old Mills Mill off Augusta Road in Greenville...
I would love someone to start naming all the mills in the upstate as I know there were a lot in Spartanburg and Union Counties as well....
I grew up outside the mill village (Cannon Mills) but played Little League at the Cannon Mill ball fields. Were new fields built my first year when I was 9. Spent the first 15 minutes of each preseason practice picking up rocks in the outfield. I'm guessing that a quarter of the town lived in the Cannon. Good times, and made a bunch of good friendships there.
I will be 74 in July. I was in the sixth grade at Monaview the first year it was opened and then to the 7th grade at Parker High School. I started playing little league baseball, basketball when in the 5th grade at the old Monaghan school when it met in the local Monaghan Baptist Church. Lived in City View until I got married. Went to City View elementary 1st through 4th grades. I played all three sports at Monaghan from 5th grade through my senior year. My primary position was pitcher during my last three years. Played as a starting forward on the undefeated 1957 Monaghan Biddie Boys basketball Championship team. I got two electrical engineering degrees at USC. We probably know each other?
There was an area where the bars were located along Shaw Street beside the mill village that was called "The Ape Yard" by the older folks in the Poe Mill (my drunkard granddad included). I never knew how it got that name.
Kenny and I were in the same class all through Elementary school. One of my best friends.
That was a balcony that hung out over the "in-bounds" area of the corners. There was a bad fire there about 1974, & the gym was refurbished without a balcony.
re Ward Williams at Dunean. Toward the end of his life, he had developed a bad case of Diabetes. I know he had part of one leg amputated & maybe parts of both...been quite a while now. There was a fundraiser dinner held in his honor. I attended. It was a certain amount for a plate, but I can't remember how much it was. There was also a VHS produced & the proceeds of sales of the tape went to help out Ward. It was entitled: Ward Wiliams...Builder of Men. Ward was really loved & respected by all who came up on the village & played for the youth league teams there while he was the Athletics Director. I didn't grow up on the village, but was there a lot & had close family ties to it.
Kenny and I played Little League and Pony League together though he was a year older. I grew up across the street from the North Main ballpark and pretty much lived in it from age 9-15. That was the practice home for the Sertoma Braves and a number of the best players from the Parker. And Berea districts came there to play for the Braves. We had the Wingo brothers and McCrary brothers in our hood. The Buffamoyer brothers came in from Easley. Tim Campbell and Bob Leaky (sp?) were a couple of the other Parker guys. Greg Hart of Parker was a buddy from church. There were more
I was fortunate to be on some excellent Sertoma Braves and Vince Perrones (PL) baseball teams. I think we lost like 3 games during a 4 year stretch.
My old stomping grounds were the Apalache and Victor Mill areas. Grew up near Apalache and played a lot of ball at the ballpark at Victor Mill and the YMCA right beside it. Also played some pick-up basketball games over iat the Sunnyside Recreation area. At that time you could ride your bike anywhere in Greer. Great times.
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