The month of October brings many things to Newberry, cooler weather (sometimes), Octoberfest, football, and most importantly, Halloween! This holiday let us showcase scary stories and spooky places, and Newberry has its own fair share of those! Have you heard of Zombieland, Kings Creek Cemetery, Monkey Dog, the Maybington Witch, Cry-Baby Bridge, and most famously, the Hound of Goshen? If not, see if you can find someone with gray hair and start asking questions.
Growing up in Newberry, I heard various versions of these stories, each one embellished by the storyteller to produce the maximum desired effect on his audience…fear! (I say “his” on purpose — no mother in her right mind tells scary stories to kids unless she wants them keeping her awake all night.) And I’m sure many of us will admit to taking our dates through Zombieland, telling those stories and driving along slowly with the windows down just to get the date to move over closer to us.
Although I grew up and passed along my version of these tales. just like everybody else, there is one story that is more than just a tale. It happened way back in the mid-60’s when as a young boy I would roam all through the Sumter National Forest around Maybington with two of my best friends, Dean and Joe. We would camp out and sit around the fire and tell every ghost story we could think of, then wake up during the night swearing something was outside the tent. They were all just stories, until one day the story got real — too real!
Joe and I were riding bikes through Zombieland, working on a merit badge for scouting. It was a summer day so we stopped at the old Cry-Baby Bridge to go swimming. We were having so much fun that time sort of slipped away. As it got later and later, we realized we still had quite a way to ride so we jumped on our bikes and took off down the dirt road. By the time we got to the area around the old Ebeneezer Methodist Church, it was twilight. We knew it would be dark by the time we got back and that we would probably be in big trouble. Fear of our moms was worse than fear caused by the scary stories we told ourselves, so we cut through the woods and headed down a short cut along a section of road formerly known as the Old Buncombe Road. We hadn’t traveled far when the air got noticeably cooler. The hairs on the backs of our necks rose up, and we both knew something was amiss — something was behind us. We looked back, and sure enough, there it was, The Hound of Goshen! Yep, believe it or not, I actually saw the Hound of Goshen with my own eyes. The rest of what happened is a long story which I will be glad to share another time, but for now let’s just say Joe and I set a new bicycle speed record for that merit badge.
Even though that happened years ago, sometimes when I’m out there on the trail I can’t help but think about all those experiences from my youth. In fact, each of the passages in Newberry cross through areas steeped in history and legend, and each passage understandably has its corresponding unexplained and creepy stories. So to celebrate Halloween, why don’t you take a late evening stroll along the Palmetto Trail? You may not be fortunate enough to see a real ghost, but I guarantee the experience will be worthwhile. And if there’s someone with you to share some of these supernatural stories, so much the better. Happy Haunted Hiking!
As always, if you’re interested in more information or volunteering, please let me know at fmiller@palmettoconservation.org.
Happy Trails
Furman Miller can be reached at fmiller@palmettoconservation.org.