Anderson History Tours

08/27/2026

I've been following this sweet couple from England who have been traveling through the USA. They have been in the south and were making their way across South Carolina. I had hoped that they might visit Anderson and they did a few days ago! I enjoyed watching them visit our home here and what they had to say. It was very positive. I appreciate their curiosity and wonderment. Enjoy!
Have a great week as we finish up the summer.
Your Anderson History Tours Guide,
Pastor Dave Rickerd (text me to take a tour 864-940-3257)

📍Anderson, South Carolina 🇺🇸We had no real plan for Anderson, Sou...

08/24/2026

I’ll never get a Shoeless Joe baseball card, but getting this 1910 Claud Lester Derrick Greenville Spinners card for my is still pretty cool. It’s still from an extremely rare set of pre-war to***co card sets. Derrick is from Burton, GA and was signed to the Greenville Spinners in 1909 (his brother, Fred, joined him on the team a year later). Though he missed being on the team with Shoeless Joe Jackson (Joe left in August, 1908 to play for the Philadelphia A’s after being discovered by Connie Mack), he joined the Greenville Spinners less than a year later in around June, 1909 and played 40 games (at shortstop) and had a .274 batting average. The next year, 1910, saw one of the worst trades in baseball history. After playing just 10 games for the A’s, Connie Mack gave up on Shoeless Joe and traded him to the Cleveland Naps in exchange for Bris Lord, a veteran who had previously been on the A’s team. Joe went on to have the highest rookie batting average ever (still to this day) in the major leagues at .408. Back in Greenville, Connie Mack was still keen on recruiting talent from Greenville and signed Claud Derrick to the Philadelphia A’s as a backup shortstop just before they went to the 1910 World Series, which the A’s won. Derrick, again, just missed being on the same team as Shoeless Joe, this time with the Philadelphia A’s. Derrick went on the following year, 1911, to go to the World Series and win, again, with the Philadelphia A’s. In a strange turn of events, Claud Derrick was traded along with, of all people, Bris Lord from the A’s in 1912 to the Baltimore Orioles. Derrick was traded again the next year, 1913, to the NY Yankees. Though Derrick and Jackson’s careers just missed overlapping in Greenville, they did face each other in the majors in 1913. At League Park in Cleveland on May 11, 1913, Derrick was the starting shortstop and batting 8th while Joe played right field and batted cleanup. This happened to be the occasion of one of Shoeless Joe’s most famous achievements. In the bottom of the 1st inning with no outs and bases loaded, Joe hit the ball “like a dart” to the fence in right-center with both nearby outfielders missing. The relay came into the shortstop, Derrick, who fired a missile to the catcher, Ed Sweeney, but Jackson slid safe. Shoeless Joe got an inside-the-park grand slam to the wild cheers of the home crowd. That game he went 4 for 4 with 5 RBI’s. That raised his season average to .429 and would go on to finish that season with a .373 batting average…2nd only to Ty Cobb. Derrick finished the season with a career-best .292 batting average. Joe went on to win the 1917 World Series with the Chicago White Sox but, of course, lost in 1919 in the infamous Black Sox Series after which he was banned from baseball. Joe eventually moved back to Greenville to open a BBQ restaurant, then later a liquor store. He had one World Series win and one loss in his career, a career batting average of .356, and to this day is considered one of the greatest hitters the game has ever known. Derrick played until 1914, later became the VP of the Bank of Clayton, GA, then owned a Ford dealership with his brother, Fred, until retiring in 1956. Derrick had two World Series wins during his career, a career batting average of .242, and has been forgotten to time.
Very interesting how both Shoeless Joe and Claud Derrick followed similar paths early in their career…Greenville Spinners ->Connie Mack -> Philadelphia A’s -> and both in trades involving Bris Lord.
I’m sure you, like me, had never heard of Claude Derrick before. Nonetheless, I’m so thankful I found this card, was able to purchase it, and discovered these previously unknown –and intriguing-- connections with Shoeless Joe.

08/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14u9Gb3YK5K/

08/06/2026

His ambitions extended far beyond the county lines; he ultimately built a 45 syndicate across four Southern states, which, for a time, stood as the largest faction within the Belk empire.

08/06/2026

https://youtu.be/Hfkle_pLM3Q?si=DTjZ6N7Kvl1B1O8m

In 1960, Greenville, South Carolina, buried a forty-foot waterfall ...

08/05/2026

In this c1959/60 (colorized by A.I.) we see the Camperdown bridge being built. J. Kenneth Cass was mayor at the time and this bridge was part of a defining post-war road project—the Church Street artery. Cass was mayor for 14 years from 1947-1961. Planning began in 1944 when Cass was on City Council under mayor Fred McCollough and they asked the SC Highway Dept for recommendations to relieve Main St. traffic congestion. At the time, Main St was the primary way to cross town (other than River St). The current infrastructure of downtown road arteries was defined with this project. The Church St. bridge was the major facet…bringing traffic in and out from the newly planned/built I-85 down Mills Ave., overpassing the Camperdown Mill village (which closed in 1956) and connecting to the Superhighway (Wade Hampton Blvd) on the north. This bridge was named in honor of Cass. On the western parallel of Main, the Academy Street bridge was built. This Camperdown Bridge was the major new east-west connector through town. The fact that it was built directly on top of the Reedy Falls was symbolic of how neglected and de-valued the river had become to locals from generations of constant dumping of toxic materials into it. It was seen as a liability to be hidden, not an asset. On the site of the old Camperdown Mill no2 (torn down in 1958), C&S Bank built a modern building. The business reason for all of this was survival. Greenville’s downtown became flooded with traffic after WWII and Main Street was gridlocked. During the late 50s and early 60s, downtown saw a rapid decline as suburban neighborhoods and shopping centers were built and attracted stores out of downtown. This new road system provided an infrastructure for future growth while also providing an ease of access for people and businesses to access a downtown that was competing with suburban sprawl. The Camperdown bridge lasted for 42 years.