About Us

During most of its life, the Hagood Mill was a busy center of commerce. The Products of Industry Censusrecords Hagood Mill as having produced 2,500 bushels of meal (140,000 pounds) and 200 bushels offlours (11,200 pounds) in the year 1870. 120,000 pounds of meal and 20,000 pounds of feed wereproduced in 1880.For many years, Hagood Mill and its accompanying store was the gathering place where locals wouldmeet to discuss topics such as politics, crops, the weather and other local activities. For more than a fewgenerations, the mill and store remained a vital link that brought together many a rural family and friend.Today at the mill…The Pickens County Museum always has an open invitation for anyone that wishes to join the fun whenthey regularly host theirDay of Milling, Music & Memories at the Hagood Mill. The Mill operates,rain or shine, onthe third Saturday of every month from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. On those Saturdays,you can join the miller and Cultural Commission member, Alan Warner, as he conducts tours, answersquestions and gives corn-grinding demonstrations throughout the day. Stone ground corn meal and gritsare always available. Also on those third Saturday events, a variety of Hagood Mill folklife friends andliving historians are on hand to demonstrate skills including spinning, weaving, log work, tombstonecarving, flint knapping, basket weaving, moonshine making and old time farm skills, just to scratch thesurface. One Saturday you may be able to learn howto hand hew your own roofing shakes or how to getyour children to learn the lost art of black kettle clothes washing, while the nest month develop a skill forNative American dance steps or for open fire cooking. Most third Saturday events do occur witha themein mind, which does allow for a variety of musicians to bring out their banjos, bones, bagpipes, guitars,fiddles and voices to unite for some old time pickin’ and singin’. Events over the past year have includedOld Time fiddle traditions, a Summertime Blues concert, a day of singer/songwriters, Cherokee Danceand Drum troupes, storytelling festivals and even a “Celtic” Christmas celebration….And speaking of musicFor the pasty six years the Hagood Mill has become the home of one of the upcountry’s finest and mostentertaining festivals, as the host site forPickens County’s Annual Upcountry Folklife Festival & OldTime Fiddlin’ Convention,always on the third Saturday in September. This wonderful celebration ofmusic, food, crafts and living history springs to life in the shadow of the historic Hagood Mill featuringOl’ Time Music Contestsfor banjo, fiddle, guitar and stringbands, All while this is going on, main stageperformers include the best of South Carolina’s State Heritage Award winnersalong with an alwaysentertaining selection of headline musicians.In addition to the music, all those in attendance enjoy a variety of good eats in theUpcountry Cookin’Foodwaysand a wide array oftraditional craftspersons, folk life re-enactors anddemonstrations.After the sun has set on a day of good food, wonderful music and a hundred demonstrations of thetraditional arts, everyone gathers forthe best storytellers around sharing their “ghost stories ‘round thebonfire” and “Log-Cabin Lamplight Tales”.The Hagood Mill and the futureOngoing development at the Mill site includes a variety of ventures. The last seven years has witnessedthe building of a contemporary structure to serve as a visitor’s center, the relocation and restoration of the1791 Murphree-Hollingsworth Log Cabin, building of theOld Bear Forge, theOld Mill MoonshineStill, redesign and development of theOld Mill Barnand the development of theMill Race NatureTrail, featuring along the trail a pre-contactCherokee homesite.Currently under construction is therelocation and restoration of the early19th centuryHagood Cabin, appropriately once the home ofmembers of the same Hagood family that built the mill.

Projects scheduled for the near future include continued development of the site as a Nature & HeritagePreserve, with continued development of the nature trail as a “Cherokee Trail” featuring the native plantsof the region along with interpretation as to the Native uses for those plants. Proposed work with theSouth Carolina Native Plant Society will include the removal of invasive species and potential use as awildflower rescue center.Perhaps one of the most exciting projects targeted for the near future does include the recent discovery ofthe pre-historic rock carvings. Because of the significance of this discovery, along with the admirablework of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, the petroglyphs will be protected,preserved and presented in the soon to be constructed South Carolina Rock Art Interpretive Center,featuring not only the unique carvings at what we unofficially call “the Mill Man Site”, but alsohighlighting the outstanding work and historical significance of SCIAA’s South Carolina Rock ArtSurvey.The possibilities at theHagood Mill are limitless and can be done in such a way as to protect the historicintegrity of the site. Persons interested in visiting the site may do so any day during daylight hours. Pleaseremember that presently, the mill itself is only operating for demonstrations and tours on the thirdSaturday of every month. Our plans for the not too distant future also include the staffing of the site sothat visitors might enjoy an increase in the hours of operations and tours.The Hagood Mill is three miles north of Pickens, just off Hwy 178, or 5 ½ miles on 178 south of theCherokee Foothills Scenic Highway 11, on Hagood Mill Road. For more information please contact The Pickens County Museums, 307 Johnson Street, Pickens, SC 29671. The phone number is (864)898-5963and the e-mail address is <picmus@co.pickens.sc.us>