History of Travelers Rest
For over 300 years, Travelers Rest, at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been a stopover for travelers. Originally home to several Indian tribes, including the Catawba, the Creek, and the Cherokee, Travelers Rest gained notoriety as a resting place for weary travelers and livestock drovers. In the 1800s drovers brought livestock from over the mountains down to the coast and stagecoaches carried families from the low country toward the cool mountains for the summer. Soon after, the railroad and highways were built and the town grew to include local businesses, a schoolhouse, and churches.
Today, restaurants, shops and the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail attract visitors and new residents from far and wide! We invite you to come travel, and rest awhile, in Travelers Rest!
Travelers Rest History Museum
3 Edwards St, Travelers Rest, SC 29690
Phone: 864.380.4979
Hours: Saturdays and Sunday from 1 pm to 4 pm Admission is free!
The Travelers Rest History museum houses artifacts and exhibits related to Travelers Rest and the surrounding area, highlighting our history of being a resting place for people traveling back and forth between the mountains, the coast and beyond.
The building was constructed at 8 S. Main Street in 1926 by W.H. Vest, originally operating as a grocery store. In 2010, T.L. Baldree, a local realtor, donated the building to the Historical Society on the condition that it be relocated.
The historic building was transported to the southern edge of Travelers Rest and placed on property donated to the city of Travelers Rest by the Bob Roe family. Located along the Swamp Rabbit Trail, the bricks on the front of the building are from the former Travelers Rest High School, built in 1956 and razed in 2011.
Travelers Rest Historic Society
The Historical Society presents programs throughout the year to share stories and facts about the city. All are welcomed to attend!
A Local Heroine
Laodicea “Dicey” Langston was 15 when she performed heroic acts during the Revolutionary War. If you are driving along Tigerville Road, just a few miles north of the center of Travelers Rest, just a mile or so from Hwy 25, you will come across a stone pyramid, about the height of a person. Where this little monument stands, was once the western frontier of our country. To learn more about Dicey and how she carved out a path of bravery for the future of Travelers Rest, click HERE:
A Photo History of Travelers Rest
