Wedding & Event Venue Near Saluda, SC.

With $27 million in funding approved by North and South Carolina legislatures in the past 18 months, the proposed Saluda Grade Trail is looking inevitable.

Perhaps no community is counting on its promise more than the town that sits on the trail’s southern starting point.

For the people of Inman, a proud community nestled on the doorstep of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern Spartanburg County, years of effort to bring new life to the community’s downtown are finally paying dividends.

But what makes local municipal and business leaders almost giddy with excitement is how the proposed trail is likely to amplify and accelerate Inman’s economic prosperity.

Laying the groundwork

The proposed trail would cover roughly 31 miles running north from Inman, through Campobello and Landrum in South Carolina, then through Tryon and Saluda in North Carolina before ending in Zirconia, North Carolina. The path will follow the historic but inactive Saluda Grade rail line, which is being purchased from Norfolk Southern.

The effort is coordinated by Upstate Forever and PAL — Play. Advocate. Live Well. — in South Carolina and Conserving Carolina in North Carolina.

The promise of a new rail trail connected to the heart of Inman’s downtown seems to be an affirmation of the years of hard work by town residents and leaders to revive what was for decades known as the “fresh peach capital of the world,” according to Mayor Cornelius Huff.

Known to lifelong residents and newcomers alike as “Cornchip,” Huff has spent decades in public service to the people of his hometown, first as a volunteer for the local fire service — where he earned his nickname — and later as an EMT. For the last 20-plus he has served the city’s government, first as a member of City Council. He became mayor in 2014.

“You’re planting seeds all along the way … and now the seeds are coming up and we’re seeing the plants and the flowers and now they’re starting to bloom. It’s harvest time for Inman.” — Inman Mayor Cornelius Huff

From the beginning of his time in city government, Huff said he was always motivated by the vision “to see Inman come alive again.”

Over the years, there have been many efforts to make that vision a reality, but there was one overriding obstacle in the way: the city’s former strong-mayor government. It effectively allowed the mayor to override the City Council and hamper the type of collective action community revitalization depends on. Huff saw this firsthand as a council member and ran for mayor in 2014 on the platform to change Inman’s structure to a council-administrator model.

“I was able to be a part of that transition — the good, the bad and the ugly,” he said. “It takes a team to make things grow and to win the game.”

Allowing the mayor and council to have an equal voice in charting the city’s future combined with bringing a professional administrator in to run the city’s day-to-day operations helped Inman get ready for the growth the Saluda Grade Trail will almost certainly bring, Huff said.

Being clear-eyed and proactive in meeting that growth is one of the main jobs of Joe Lanahan, the city administrator, who came to the role in 2020 after stints as recreation director for the city of Mauldin and, prior to that, as a program manager for Greenville County’s Parks, Recreation & Tourism Department.

Lanahan said he saw how the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail went from the modest idea of a 12-mile trail connecting Travelers Rest and downtown Greenville to an expanding trail network that has revitalized nearly every community it touches.

With 3 miles of the proposed Saluda Grade Trail traversing virtually the entirety of Inman’s downtown, the impact to the city is expected to be transformative.

“It’s very, very exciting,” Lanahan said.

Momentum building

The momentum of Inman’s efforts to reignite interest in its downtown has become palpable in recent months.

Beyond a streetscape project that beautified and updated Main Street, new businesses have come downtown and brought an increasing number of visitors.

Huff and Lanahan credit these entrepreneurs for staking their financial livelihoods on the vision that Inman is entering a new phase of growth and prosperity.

Among those businesses bringing new life — and foot traffic — to Inman is The Crepe Factory, which opened in downtown Spartanburg in 2016 but moved to its 12 S. Main St. location in Inman in 2021.

Lanahan said the restaurant not only brought its loyal customer base to Inman, but serves as a magnet for new visitors. Likening such businesses to the major department stores that served as anchors to underpin the commercial appeal of suburban malls, Lanahan said they help signal Inman is a great place to be.

That idea was among the motivations that prompted Jim and Carin Holliday to build their new Holliday Brewing manufacturing and distribution facility in downtown Inman. The custom-built 9,000-square-foot brewery and taproom is located at 12 Prospect St., a block north of Main Street.

It joins the company’s Drayton Mills Marketplace location in Spartanburg and will feature food offerings in partnership with Spartanburg’s Burgers & Bakery.

Jim Holliday said Inman offered the right opportunity at the right time for his company’s expansion. The planned trail promises to make that future even brighter.

Saluda Grade Trail fast facts

Did you know?

Inman is home to Inman Mills, founded by James Chapman in 1901 and one of only a handful of historic textile firms still in operation. The contributions of the Chapman family are commemorated in Inman’s Chapman High School and Spartanburg’s Chapman Cultural Center. Among the family’s notable members is celebrated singer, songwriter, author and actress Marshall Chapman.

A new rail trail along the route of the historic Saluda Grade railroad received significant funding in the newly-passed North Carolina state budget, which included $12 million over two years to purchase the portion of the rail corridor in North Carolina.

According to a news release from Conserving Carolina, this is in addition to the $15 million appropriated in South Carolina to purchase the rail corridor in that state. The budget says that the purpose of the funding is “to take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity for the citizens of North Carolina to celebrate 2023 as the Year of the Trail and enhance the reputation of North Carolina as the Great Trails State by acquiring the Saluda Grade rail corridor for conversion into the Saluda Grade Trail,” the news release said.

“We are grateful for this major investment in the Saluda Grade Trail, so this unused rail line can once again serve as a vital asset for our communities," Kieran Roe, executive director of Conserving Carolina, said in the release. "Norfolk Southern is ready to sell the railroad corridor, and this proposed funding would allow us to seize this opportunity for our communities and our state. The Saluda Grade Trail has extraordinary potential to benefit our local economies, outdoor recreation and health.”

More:A popular hiking spot in Polk County has just grown larger, thanks to a new addition

The funding goes toward the purchase of the rail corridor, although additional funding will be needed to complete the purchase and build the trail. Donations to the Saluda Grade Trail can be made through saludagradetrail.org.

The Saluda Grade Trail is a proposed 31.5-mile rail trail that would pass through scenic countryside and downtowns. It would extend from Inman, South Carolina, and pass through the South Carolina towns of Campobello and Landrum and the North Carolina towns of Tryon and Saluda, before reaching Zirconia. The trail would be a linear park, accessible to people of all abilities and open for walking, running, biking and other forms of outdoor recreation, the release said.

The trail includes approximately 16 miles in North Carolina and 15.5 miles in South Carolina. It was spearheaded by the Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy and a coalition of three nonprofits — Conserving Carolina in North Carolina, PAL: Play, Advocate, Live Well and Upstate Forever in South Carolina.

More:Agreement reached with Norfolk Southern on Saluda Grade rail line

The Saluda Grade Trail Conservancy has begun an in-depth study of the trail’s economic impact. It is currently seeking public input on the vision for the trail.

The community is invited to participate in public input sessions from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Inman Public Library in Inman, S.C., and from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Polk County High School in Columbus. More information about these sessions and other ways to provide input can be found at saludagradetrail.org.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

JOHNSTON — Strom Thurmond’s football team had been waiting a long time for Friday night.

Three-hundred twenty-two days, by head coach Andrew Webb’s count.

The Rebels’ rivalry with Saluda is one of those dates on the calendar that always gets circled, doubly so this year after Saluda ended Strom Thurmond’s season last year on the Rebels’ home field in the third round of the Class AA playoffs.

In that game, the Rebels strayed from the core principles — focus, effort and discipline — that contributed to their 10-game win streak.

They checked all three boxes Friday night.

The 10th-ranked Rebels scored 27 points in a span of 5:50 in the second half to blow the game open, rolling to a 48-3 win over the ninth-ranked Tigers to move the defending Region 3-AA champions to 2-0 in league play.

“Boys played good, man. I’m proud of them. We all knew we were going to be ready to play,” Webb said. “We didn’t want to let our excitement and our emotion affect our focus and our discipline. Man, we played well. All three phases. I’m so proud of them.”

The Rebels (5-2, 2-0) needed only 36 offensive snaps to generate 345 yards, establishing the run early and then burying the Tigers (5-2, 1-1) with their dangerous passing attack.

Chris Barnes, Cam Blacks and Michael Blocker combined to average 7.7 yards per carry, and each rushed for a touchdown. Blacks’ score from 10 yards out midway through the third quarter made it 28-3, and that was the first of four touchdowns the Rebels scored from then until the first play of the fourth quarter.

“Man, they got after it. We challenged them,” Webb said of his offensive line. “It’s kind of the nature of the beast. When you have receivers like this, you know, when they start getting double-covered you get light boxes. Last year, we couldn’t run on their light box. This year, we were able to. Our guys up front were the difference.”

Quan Edmond completed 11 of 15 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Jay Sewell, Braylon Staley and Demarius Tolen. Sewell’s came first, a spectacular back-shoulder catch for a 23-yard score with 7:21 left in the second quarter to make it 14-3. He ended the game as the Rebels’ leading receiver, pulling in six catches for 88 yards.

“Man, I’m so proud of him,” Webb said of Sewell. “A lot of the game plans that we see, he is the one that gets left out. ‘We’re going to double Staley. We’re going to double Tolen.’ Hey, man, you’ve got to go make plays, and he did. I’m so proud of him. The young man that he is, the player that he is. He certainly makes our team better.”

Tolen beat his defender on a jump ball for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 3:34 left in the third quarter, and on the Rebels’ next offensive snap Edmond found Staley streaking down the sideline for a 40-yard score that made it 41-3.

Meanwhile, the defense was allowing next to nothing aside from a couple of big gains by Saluda’s Kenmane Brunson. Brunson accounted for 96 of the Tigers’ 205 total yards, which took 48 plays to accumulate. The Rebels held quarterback Drew Arant to a 7-for-16 night for just 57 yards with two interceptions. Deonte Phillips got the first one, and then Kaleb Simpkins picked him off and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to make it 48-3 with 11:54 remaining.

“They’re a really good football team,” Webb said of Saluda. “Last year in the playoffs they had all the momentum, and they whooped us up and down the field. Tonight, we got the momentum and we played really well. It was just our night. If you think about last year, when they came back down here after losing to us, they were motivated beyond belief to beat us. We’ve had to sleep on that for 322 days, and our guys were ready. They played really well.”

The Rebels have outscored Batesburg-Leesville and Saluda 92-17 to begin Region 3-AA play. They’ve gotten back on track in a big way since a frustrating 23-11 loss at North Augusta in the non-region finale, after which Webb was upset with his team’s lack of composure.

“As a man, you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror,” he said. “You’ve got to say, did we play with those things that we talk about, that you write about — focus, effort and discipline. And we didn’t do it. When we don’t do it, it’s our fault. All that stuff, we control. The past two weeks, we’ve controlled it very well. But, we’ve got to do it every week. If you don’t do it every week, you get caught. We’ve got to keep building. Keep building.”

Up next for the Rebels is a road trip to Pelion, scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.

S 0 3 0 0 - 3

ST 7 14 20 7 - 48

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

ST - Chris Barnes 4 run (Nate Nordeen kick) 5:19

Second Quarter

S - John Pinto 38 field goal 9:19

ST - Quan Edmond 23 pass to Jay Sewell (Nordeen kick) 7:21

ST - Michael Blocker 4 run (Nordeen kick) 1:02

Third Quarter

ST - Cam Blacks 10 run (Nordeen kick) 5:44

ST - Edmond 22 pass to Demarius Tolen (no kick) 3:34

ST - Edmond 40 pass to Braylon Staley (Nordeen kick) 1:08

Fourth Quarter

ST - Kaleb Simpkins 22 interception return (Nordeen kick) 11:54

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

S - Kenmane Brunson 11-72, Tristen Daniels 8-43, Jaylen Bledsoe 6-25, Drew Arant 3-3, Nick Butler 1-2, Team 1-3. Totals 30-148.

ST - Chris Barnes 9-68-1, Cam Blacks 5-54-1, Michael Blocker 7-40-1. Totals 21-162-3.

Passing

S - Drew Arant 7-16-57-0-2, Brayden Williams 1-2-0-0-0.

ST - Quan Edmond 11-15-183-3-0.

Receiving

S - Kenmane Brunson 2-24, Josh Uhlar 2-18, JT Lott 1-16, Jordan Hagler 1-0, Vic Gaines 1-0, Jaylen Nick 1-(-1). Totals 8-57.

ST - Jay Sewell 6-88-1, Braylon Staley 4-73-1, Demarius Tolen 1-22-1. Totals 11-183-3.

North Augusta wrestling coach Matt Franklin’s eyes finally started to well up after his Jackets’ historic season ended Saturday afternoon.

It wasn’t when he was asked about the loss itself, a 38-36 heartbreaker to Indian Land in the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs that the Jackets led 36-20 with three weight classes remaining. And it wasn’t about a season full of highs, like the program’s first region championship, not having the ending they wanted.

It was when he was asked about the team’s chemistry, the way his wrestlers have bonded while reaching new heights and proving that they belong in these situations against established programs with state championship trophies in their cases.

It’s seen in gestures like the one made from Nick Moore to Evan Woodward during Saturday’s match. Moore was already victorious for the way, having earned a quick pin in his match in the 126-pound weight class. Moore, wearing the team’s school-logoed pin chain around his neck, pointed to it and then to Woodward to tell him it was his time to get a pin - and the chain - and put the Jackets that much closer to a win.

That was the kind of moment that made Franklin pause as he tried to sum up the type of team dynamic the Jackets have.

“We call it family,” he said. “By doing that every day, we talk about being a family, and that just kind of helps. Being there for each other.”

North Augusta, ranked 11th in the state in Class AAAA, made sixth-ranked Indian Land work for every single point Saturday. To do that against a program with state championships under its belt and six wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes on the roster tells Franklin one thing - the Jackets are coming for more.

Like Aiken County’s other wrestling programs, North Augusta had to play catch-up and learn on the fly the first few years as the Jackets figured out how to wrestle while competing against programs and wrestlers with a lot more experience - and numbers. It can be hard enough to win a match with a lot of first- and second-year wrestlers, but it’s even harder when a team is having to forfeit weight classes because there’s not enough participation.

That’s no longer a problem at North Augusta.

“It’s winning. Kids want to be on a winner,” Franklin said. “I have several kids now that have that winning attitude, and it’s bleeding down into my second-tier kids, my up-and-coming kids, my middle school, my freshmen. They’re starting to see the program is growing. They’re starting to see that, ‘Hey, this winning thing is pretty cool, so I’ve got to work hard for this.’ Because you know it’s a hard, hard sport. Hard work pays off.”

That can be seen at the Upper State individual qualifiers, where 12 of the Jackets’ 14 wrestlers (including Region 4-AAAA champions Moore, Woodward, Kenneth MacAfee and Reese Baldwin), advanced to try to earn a chance to compete for a state title.

After that, the returning wrestlers will get right back to work to not only make sure they get back to this point next year - but that they surpass it. Saturday gave them plenty of fuel.

“The sour taste that we didn’t accomplish what we wanted to accomplish,” Franklin said. “They’ll be even hungrier next year.”

The new school will have increased security, upgraded technology, and a new assembly space.

SALUDA, S.C. — The old Saluda Elementary School has been demolished to make way for a brand-new elementary school.

Last year, the State Legislature gave the district $42 million and Saluda County voters approved an additional $49 million in November for upgrades across the district.

Before it was demolished, generations of students had passed through its doors.

"My mom and my aunt and my family went to that school too. so it's exciting, but it’s sad," said lifelong Saluda resident Kaitlyn Rose.

Rose said with the building went the memories.

“All the things that make it home instead of just a school," Rose said. "It’s a safe and comfortable place for everyone.”

Saluda County Superintendent Dr. Harvey Livingston said the district is opening a new chapter of education in the tight-knit community.

“Whenever our students walk into a brand new building, and just the pride and joy that they will take knowing that the citizens of Saluda care about them enough to invest money into them,” said Livingston.

Livingston said the first phase will build more than 90 percent of the school. Students will move into the new school after phase one is complete.

According to Livingston, the new school will have increased security, upgraded technology, and new assembly space.

“I’m glad that we’re going to be able to offer our students the same opportunities that our neighbors have,” said Livingston.

Rose, who has a newborn and a son going to middle school, is excited about the impact the new building will have on the community.

“They’re able to have those updated things so that all they have to do is worry about coming to school and learning,” said Rose.

Construction is expected to be completed in two years, according to Livingston.

Livingston added the district is adding Fencing, barricades, and workers on site will be vetted and undergo a background check.

“Safety is number one,” said Livingston.

The district is also building a new wing of classrooms at Hollywood Elementary School and is expanding its career technology offerings at the High School.

“We’re going to be able to offer firefighting, welding, and a lot more of the courses our kids need for the real-world application so they can graduate high school and go right into the workforce if they choose,” said Livingston.

An old sewage pipe that for years discharged wastewater into a tributary of the Saluda River has been shut down as part of a more than 30 year-old plan to remove all pollution discharges from the state scenic river.

Lexington officials said the town recently stopped using the pipe from the Watergate treatment plant and Lexington will route sewage to a regional wastewater facility in Cayce.

The effort is a milestone in the long-running effort to protect the lower Saluda from sewage discharges. It marks the third major discharge eliminated from the river in the past five years, leaving only three more to be pulled from the Saluda under the plan.

In this case, the town acquired the Watergate system in 2020 from Blue Granite Water Co,, formerly Carolina Water Service. The idea was to eventually stop the discharge of treated wastewater and send the Watergate waste to the regional system, thereby protecting the Saluda. Discharges were going to Fourteen Mile Creek, one of the lower Saluda’s major tributaries.

“Years and years ago, everyone looked at the lower Saluda and said ‘This is an outstanding water body in our state and we should get rid of the discharges,’‘’ said Bill Stangler, the riverkeeper for the lower Saluda, the Congaree and the Broad rivers. “It’s been real slow progress, but we’ve seen progress pick up in the last several years.’’

In 1990, a special task force recommended eliminating wastewater discharges to the lower Saluda River. A renewed push by river advocates in recent years — including a federal lawsuit — succeeded in getting two other Blue Granite discharges out of the river at Interstate 20 and the Friarsgate community in Irmo.

Those plants discharged treated sewage, which in itself was a concern because river advocates say even treated wastewater contains some pollution. But the plants also regularly violated pollution limits.

In one 2016 case, poorly treated discharges from the Friarsgate plant prompted warnings against swimming in the lower Saluda because the pollution increased chances people would get sick. The warnings lasted for weeks, including the July 4 holiday, a time when kayaking and swimming peaks in the river.

Now, the Watergate discharge has stopped. The Watergate plant, which serves about 1,100 customers, also had its share of spills and leaks, including problems earlier this year.

Wastewater from the 290,000-gallon-per day plant will be routed to the regional system, which will treat the sewage and discharge it into the Congaree. The Congaree, which separates Columbia from Cayce and West Columbia, receives much of the treated sewage from the area.

Unlike the Congaree, the lower Saluda is a state designated scenic river. Running about 10 miles from Lake Murray to the Congaree River, the lower Saluda contains a series of whitewater rapids that attract kayakers from across the South.

The river, fed by frigid water from Lake Murray, is so cold it supports a trout population in an area not historically known for trout, a species common in the southern Blue Ridge mountains. The Saluda is unusual in that it is one of the few places in South Carolina where Spanish moss, a Lowcountry plant, grows along a river that supports trout, a mountain species.

The Watergate discharges have been eliminated as part of an $18 million project, funded in part by the federal American Rescue Plan.

“We are pleased,’’ Lexington town spokeswoman Laurin Barnes said. “This is the culmination of years of work.’’

The discharges that still are targeted for elimination are owned by companies other than Blue Granite.

This story was originally published July 25, 2023, 6:00 AM.