Festifall is centered on the re-enactments of life on a pre-Revolutionary colonial plantation. Walnut Grove is a historical interpretation of a large and successful family farm in "Backcountry" South Carolina between 1765 and 1800. The plantation was deeded to Charles Moore by King George III. Charles and his wife Mary were Scots-Irish who had come first to Pennsylvania from Northern Ireland in the late 1750s, later traveling down the Great Wagon Road to the South Carolina Backcountry.
The Moores and their children were strong supporters of the American Revolution. Walnut Grove served as a recruiting center prior to the Battle of Cowpens. Toward the close of the Revolutionary War, Walnut Grove was the site of a skirmish between Captain Andrew Barry, a few of his young Patriot soldiers and "Bloody Bill" Cunningham, the notorious Tory and Loyalist to the British Crown. Two patriots were killed at Walnut Grove, one as he lay wounded in an upper story bed of Walnut Grove's house, the other on the road outside. Each year this skirmish is
reenacted at
Festifall.
Today the plantation contains almost all of what was original: the two-story, clapboard over log home, the meat house (dates back to 1765), the wellhouse with dry cellar to store milk and butter, the blacksmith's forge, and the horse barn. Even the large oak tree in front of the house, braced with metal rods to ground lightning, is an "original" over 400 years old.
From Charlotte, take I-85 South to Spartanburg.
Take I-26 South to Exit 28 (Highway 221).
Turn left under the bridge, toward Spartanburg.
Take the first right onto Stillhouse Road.
At the stop sign, turn right onto Otts Shoal Road.
Walnut Grove Plantation will be on the right less than one mile ahead.
From Columbia, take I-26 North to Exit 28 (Highway 221).
Turn right, toward Spartanburg.
Take the first right onto Stillhouse Road.
At the stop sign, turn right onto Otts Shoal Road.
Walnut Grove Plantation will be on the right less than one mile ahead.
Festifall at Walnut Grove, Spartanburg, SC
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