Most people don’t know there’s a ghost town located deep in the woods in the northern part of Union County – or that it was one of the oldest settlements in the back country of South Carolina. In the years following the American Revolution, the previous prevailing system of justice in what became the new state of South Carolina was primarily doled out all the way over on the coast in Charleston. But that changed after the war and a series of courthouse towns were established all over the state. Pinckneyville was a courthouse town established in 1791.
It was located in Union County near the the Pacolet and Broad Rivers in what is now deemed part of Jonesville.
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Little is publicly known about Pinckneyville, although it was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
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Remains of what just may be the old jail are still standing among the rubble that is now found in Pinckneyville.
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Pinckneyville (a.k.a. Pinckneyville Court House) was located on the stagecoach route between Philadelphia and Charleston and was a stop in which weary travelers could rest up before reaching Charleston.
Wikipedia/Bill Fitzpatrick
Some accounts say the town never really took hold like the first settlers had hoped but Pinckeyville was large enough to support a general store, to need a jail (of course) and to warrant establishing a back country court in the area.
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A couple of things potentially contributed to the downfall of this small town.
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After the court house town was established in 1791 to deal with back country kerfuffles in a legal manner, the court here was closed in 1800 in favor of a court over in York County in a much larger community.
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But that’s not what finalized the town’s demise. With the growing popularity of the railroad and its use for passenger travel, the popular stagecoach that passed through Pinckneyville all but stopped running from Philly to Charleston by the 1850s.
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South Carolina has many still thriving historic towns and cities in which you can walk in the footsteps of the founding residents, but there aren’t many ghost towns — and none are quite as moving as wandering among the rubble in Pinckneyville.
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For more on this fascinating (and somewhat creepy) ghost town in South Carolina, including the tale of a two-family, long-standing feud, keep reading here.
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Please note, if you decide to go check this site out in person, there may be restricted areas where you’ll find No Trespassing signs.
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Address: Pinkneyville Rd, Jonesville, SC, USA
