Wednesday meant a field trip to a local attraction which we'd never visited, nor had I even heard of in our six years living here: Historic
Brattonsville. We joined a Catholic homeschooling group of perhaps eight families, so we made up a really good crowd.
Historic Brattonsville presents the history of the Scots-Irish or Ulster-Scots in the South Carolina upcountry largely through preserving and interpreting the story of the Bratton family. Featuring more than 30 historic structures [on 775 acres] from the 1760s to the late 19th century, the site provides visitors with an opportunity to see the evolution of Southern culture and architecture in the South Carolina Piedmont.
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Running free after nearly an hour's drive |
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Joseph (21 months) is just one of the gang now. |
Not ten minutes after our arrival, I noticed from afar that a crowd of kids had gathered around a tree to ponder if it could be climbed. Mary said, "I'll try!", chucked off her shoes, and start going up (and got about twice as high as in this picture). It reminded me of a humorous incident at a playground last week at which Mary was teaching a boy maybe around nine years old how to climb all the structures. Finally he asked, "How old are you? Five!" Then to John, "Man, your sister is a crazy climbing lady!"
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The Crazy Climbing Lady |
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Our tour guide, who did an excellent job |
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The back woods house where the men would live while staking out property and building a home, before bringing the wife and children |
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Bachelors don't need a lot of comfort. |
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A house a family would live in |
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A breed of heritage pigs with a lot of bristles and noticeable fangs |
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Watching the sheep |
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The school for girls (as boys were sent away to school) |
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Trekking through the woods to the place of Huck's Defeat |
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The Bratton family homestead, which began to be constructed in 1823 |
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The home contained two children's rooms in which 14 children were raised. |
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The second children's bedroom |
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The dining room for entertaining |
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Feeding the sheep |
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Feeding the sheep |
We had a fun time and I hope to go back again some time to explore it more!
Wow, what a cool place! -Emiliann W.
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