USCOG Wins National Award for Assistance with Revolutionary War Signage Project – McCormick, Greenwood SC 250 Committees Awarded Funding for Signs Near Troy
Helping to recognize this Region’s role in Revolutionary War history has enabled the Upper Savannah COG to win a 2024 Aliceann Wohlbruck National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Impact Award.
Upper Savannah won an award for its Revolutionary War Interpretive Marker Installation project.
The 2024 class of awardees consists of 96 projects from 64 organizations spanning 22 states. These projects will be recognized at NADO’s Annual Training Conference in New Orleans in October.
The Greenwood and McCormick county SC 250 committees jointly applied for funds to construct two Battle of the Long Canes interpretive signs along SC Highway 10 near the Town of Troy.
The State SC 250 Committee awarded the grant and will provide $15,000 for the signs. USCOG assisted in the grant application process and will administer the funds.
The county 250 committees are charged with documenting and commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War era in South Carolina. The Star Fort National Historic Site in Ninety Six is a great example of this Region’s role in the Revolutionary War era.
Every county in the state has an SC 250 Committee that is eligible to apply for similar-type grants. The committee members are local tourism staff, historic association members, and any members of the public who have an interest in Revolutionary War history in South Carolina.
Upper Savannah Government Services Director Rick Green assisted with the grant application.
“Tourism is economic development,” Green said. “This project will be part of a coordinated effort to both document and interpret Revolutionary War sites in our area.
“As these sites are interpreted, they become part of a larger program to link the sites so that tourists can follow along and hopefully learn and contribute to the local economy at the same time.”
On December 12, 1780, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Allen and a British force of 400-500 men defeated Colonel Elijah Clarke and 100 Americans, an advanced detachment of a Patriot force commanded by Colonel Benjamin Few in the Battle of the Long Canes according to The American Revolution in South Carolina – Long Canes (carolana.com)
The exact location of the battle is still being studied, but it crossed between what is now Greenwood and McCormick counties near Troy. The committees will work jointly on all aspects of plan development.
The creation of the interpretive signs will begin with the development of two oil paintings of the battle created by local artist Eric Williams. The paintings will be transferred to outdoor signs and placed in Wisteria Park in Troy. Hope is the signs will be installed by next summer.
The completed project will be advertised in both counties on their tourism information and SC 250 websites. QR codes will be available at the signs for the continuous use and access of visitors and tourists. If new information on the exact location of the battle becomes available, the QR code can be easily updated.
Since 1967, the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) has provided advocacy, education, networking, and research for the national network of 540 regional development organizations. NADO members provide professional, programmatic, and technical assistance to over 2,300 counties and 15,000 municipalities.
