August 2001
Contents

Message From the Executive Director
  .  Education: A Large Part of What We Do

Conservation Easements:
  .  Fariview Farms Preserved
  .  Four Columns Property Preserved
  .  Paris Mountain Property Preserved
  .  Sloan Family Grants Conservation
Easement on 200 Acres of Land In
Southern Greenville County

Conservation Bank Act
  .  Conservation Bank Act Stalls in Legislature

Green Development
  .  New Directions in Land Use and Design
  .  Upstate Forever's Green Schools Initiative

Staff, Board, Members and Volunteers
  .  Kris Yon, Leon Patterson, Keith Marrero Join Upstate Forever Board of Directors
  .  Staff News and UF Field Trips

Conservation Easements

FOUR COLUMNS PROPERTY PRESERVED

Robert and Marie Gregory, the owners of the historic Four Columns property in northern Spartanburg County, have granted a conservation easement to Upstate Forever to ensure that the property is forever protected. The property is a 120-acre tract located along the North Pacolet River near the intersection of Highway 14 and Interstate 26 in northern Spartanburg County. The easement will allow the Gregorys to maintain, and expand by no more than 50%, the existing structures on the property and to build a few minor structures; no further development of the property will be permitted.

     The property was the home of Baylis Earle (1734-1825) and four succeeding generations of his family. Earle's original residence appears to have been located between the current residence and the river and, according to local historians, was used as a recruiting post for local Patriot militia during the American Revolution. "Earle's Ford," a river crossing located at or near the junction of present-day Highway 14 and the North Pacolet River, was a local landmark and the site of an important Revolutionary War battle on July 14 and 15, 1780. On the evening of July 14, British and Loyalist forces arrived at Earle's farm, crossed the river, and attacked the Patriot forces camped at the top of the wooded hill to the east (near the site of Brannon's Restaurant). The attack was repulsed and the British retreated back across the river, establishing a defensive position
at Earle's farm.

     At daybreak the following day, Colonel Charles McDowell and Colonel Edward Hampton (the son-in-law of Baylis Earle and brother of Wade Hampton I) led a mounted force across the river and attacked the British position, forcing their retreat from the property. This victory, along with other Patriot victories in the area during the summer of 1780, provided the much-needed momentum that culminated in the stunning American triumphs at King's Mountain and Cowpens.

     The Earle home was moved to its current location after the War, probably by 1807. The Earles later expanded the house, adding the distinctive four white columns from which the property's current name derives. Dr. Jo McCormick Quatannens, a historian who has researched the history of the property, said, "The house has an elegance of style and a grandeur of scale that are rarely found in antebellum homes in this part of the state. The combination of the stunning beauty of the house and the historical importance of the property make the site a truly unique and priceless asset."

"Marie and I feel more like trustees of this property than owners. It's very important to us that this wonderful place remain protected long after we're gone." - Robert Gregory

     The Gregorys, who acquired the property in 1996 and now live there, believe strongly in its preservation. Mr. Gregory said, "Marie and I feel more like trustees of this property than owners. It's very important to us that this wonderful place remain protected long after we're gone."

     The Four Columns property is directly across Highway 14 from the 1,200-acre Fairview Farms, which also will be protected through a conservation easement granted to Upstate Forever. Four Columns deserves protection in its own right, but it takes on even more importance when you consider that it adjoins the Fairview property. The two easements will protect nearly three miles of frontage along one of our region's most important rivers.