Thursday, March 06, 2008

College Park Elementary

Second graders from College Park Elementary School found out what an impediment to simple travel a swamp can be. They made their way from school along I-26 and exited at #177 near Ridgeville. From there it is 15 minutes to the gate at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest. Not today...

Another bus full of kindergarten students was heading east on US Hwy 78 and was struck by an oncoming vehicle. The driver of that vehicle was apparently hurt, but the kids on the bus are reported to be fine. However, no traffic was allowed to pass along that stretch of US Hwy 78. The satellite image shows in yellow the point to which the College Park Elementary students traveled before reaching the roadblock. The pink route shows what they had to do (back to I-26, west to exit #187, into Harleyville, east on US Hwy 178) to find a way around the accident and across the swamp to Beidler Forest.

Although the name "Four Holes Swamp" has been on maps since the Revolutionary War, the significance of the four holes (deep spots in the swamp) or their location is lost to history. However, Four Holes Swamp was a significant impediment to travel in those days. Not only did the swamp have its name alone annotated on these early maps, but the boundaries of the entire swamp were duely noted. In those days, it wasn't speeding vehicles that caused delays along the road, it was speeding cannonballs! (see the sign)

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