Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, was the first town in the United States governed by freed slaves. It was part of the Port Royal Experiment.

Partial list of links:

• Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park
• Archeology at Mitchelville
• Mitchelville: Experiment in Freedom
• The archaeological manifestations of the "Port Royal Experiment" at Mitchelville, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Instead of towns that disappeared, today we look at towns that never existed. Through my research I’ve found four categories of these so-called Paper Towns

1. A town planned out on paper that never really took off.
2. A town that was never meant to exist, but was advertised simply as a scam for investors.
3. An area incorporated for political reasons, such as a town on the edge of a larger town incorporated to prevent annexation into the larger town. The town provides no services, but exists on paper only.
4. A copyright trap.

Links to more information:

• Kingsberry
  • Find-a-Grave
  • Kingsberry article by Louise Pettus
  • Landsford Canal Lock Keeper's House - Library of Congress
• Paper Town Copyright Traps
  • Phantom Settlements
  • What Is a Paper Town?

The colonial town of Dorchester is located on the Ashley River, just north of Charleston. Settled by Congregetionalists, it was once the third largest town in South Carolina.

Now only the old bell tower of the St. George's Church and the tabby fortifications remain. Old Dorchester is now a historic site and part of the South Carolina Parks System.

Here are some of the resources used in this episode:

• Office SC State Park Website for Dorchester
• Wikipedia Entry
• Old Dorchester Visitor's Guide
• National Register Entry for Dorchester
• National Register Entry for White Meeting House
• The Town of Dorchester: A Sketch of It's History
• KnowItAll Video - Dorchester
• South Carolina Picture Project

Merrittsville was a community in norther Greenville County in what has become known as The Dark Corner. Once a stopover for travelers, the region was notorious for moonshining and other illegal activities. Now. The town lies under the Greenville Watershed Reservois.

Resources:

• Blog Post - Remembering Merrittsville
• Benjamin Merritt Genealogy
• Poinsett Bridge National Register
• Merrittsville - Now Only a Memory
• Below the Surface
• Mann Batson Videos
  • Poinsett Bridge Traffic
  • Poinsett Chimney Ruins
  • State Road
• Anne Blythe Videos
  • Stagecoach Travel
  • Bishop Asbury
  • Reverend Malet
• Dean Campbell Videos
  • Greer Museum Presentation
  • Introduction to Dark Corner

This week we look at three ghost towns. These towns featured academies that played a large part of the town. When the academies closed down, the towns went into decline. This episode looks at the towns of Minervaville in Richland County, South Carolina, which had the Minerva Academy, Slabtown in Anderson County, which had the Thalian Academy, then the Slabtown Academy, and Sievern in Aiken County, which had the Edisto Academy.

Some of the resources I used in podcast are listed below:

• Blog Posts
  • Lower Richland and the High Hills of the Santee
  • Slabtown, Equality, and the Thalian Web
  • Chasing the Swamp Rabbit, Part 3 - Sievern and the Edisto Academy

Ellenton, Dunbarton, Meyers Mills, and Leigh were small towns in Aiken and Barnwell Counties that were uprooted to make way for the Savannah River Plant to make atomic and hydrogen bombs.

I used lots of references and audio clips in this episode. Here are the clips that I used in putting together this story.

• Blog post - Hamburg and the Atomic Towns
• "I Don't Live there Anymore" - Lawrence Holofcener
• Dr. Walter Edgar, South Carolina from A to Z - E is for Ellenton
• Acts and Joint Resolutions of the General Assembly, 1880
• Samuel Ritchie - That Others May Live: The Cold War Sacrifice of Ellenton, South Carolina
• WJBF - Hometown History, The Forgotten Town of Ellenton
• Displaced - The Unexpected Fallout from the Cold War
• Ellenton Heritage Trail Opens for Tours
• Song - Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb
• Song - The Death of Ellenton

Manchester is a ghost town in Sumter County, on the east side of the Poinsett Electronic Warfare Range. It was settled in the 1700s, but disappeared in the mid-1800s.

Resources:

• Archeological Studies
• Wilmington and Manchester Railroad from Wikipedia
• Blog Post

Willtown Black Mingo was on Black Mingo Creek in Williamsburg County. The terms "Willtown" and "Black Mingo" were used interchangeably. It was also the site of an important battle in the Revolutionary War.

Resources:

• History of Williamsburg County
• Black Mingo Historical Marker