For Immediate Release:
Dec. 17, 2024
Contact:
Marie Cheek
Community Relations Coordinator
Culture & Heritage Museums
www.chmuseums.org
803.909.7312 mcheek@chmuseums.org
“While Away the Winter” — Living History Saturdays for the month of January
Historic Brattonsville bustles about with winter activities, demonstrating how folks lived in the Carolina Piedmont during the 19th century
McCONNELLS, S.C. – Period-dressed interpreters at Historic Brattonsville demonstrate how people living in the Carolina Piedmont spent their time during the cold winter months. Living History Saturdays for the month of January will warm up your hearts with indoor and outdoor activities of the 19th century. Head out to the blacksmith’s forge, explore the wooly world of traditional fiber arts, salt and preserve some pork for year-round provisions, make soap out of rendered lard, and how about a bit of dancing? There’s a lot to be done on the 800-acre site in the winter months — farm and tool repairs, yarn to spin and weave, foodways to secure, and social connections to keep up.
Here’s what’s happening:
January 4: “Working Outside”
2 p.m. —general site tour
Woodworking
Blacksmithing
January 11: “Staying Inside”
2 p.m.—general site tour
Spinning
Weaving
Tool repair
January 18: “Everything but the Oink”
2 p.m. —general site tour
Salting and preserving pork
19th century cooking with “offal” (organ meats)
Making soap
January 25: “Cold Hands, Warm Hearts”
- a.m. and 3 p.m. —dancing demonstration
2 p.m. —general site tour
Quilting
Shelling corn
WHEN: Every Saturday in January (4,11,18,25) from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
WHERE: Historic Brattonsville is located at 1444 Brattonsville Rd., McConnells, S.C. 29726
ADMISSION: Adults $8; Seniors $7; Youth $5; Free for CHM Members
& under the age of three.
WEBSITE: chmuseums.org
VISITORS SERVICES: 803.684.2327
IMAGES: 1. Winter on the Homestead at Historic Brattonsville.
2. Lard is rendered and used in soap making as demonstrated at Brattonsville.
Credit: Culture & Heritage Museums staff. For high resolution images, contact mcheek@chmuseums.org.
About Historic Brattonsville:
Historic Brattonsville features historic houses and structures built over the course of three generations of the Bratton family and the enslaved community. Award-winning exhibits and programs tell York County’s unique history from the American Revolution to the Reconstruction Era. The site spreads over 800 acres and includes farmed land with heritage breed animals, a Revolutionary War battlefield with interpretive trail, and a nature preserve with miles of walking trails. Seasonal events, reenactments, and living history programs interpret what life was like in the Carolina Piedmont during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Historic Brattonsville is included in “The Green Book of South Carolina – A Travel Guide to S.C. African American Cultural Sites.”
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