Museum Welcomes October with Spooky Program, Events

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

One of the callings of any museum is to be the caretaker of old things. And this time of year, when thoughts drift to the antiquities, they often end up in tales of the supernatural.

At Hunter’s Store in Pendleton, a ghost is said to occupy the upstairs, with sounds of shelves toppling, followed by an investigation that reveals nothing out of place. Sometimes a figure appears on the staircase or in a chair which on the second look, is gone.

For Dustin Norris, curator of the Anderson County Museum, these accounts invite questions beyond whether anyone has encountered a ghost. Who first told the story? What happened in the building? Which details can be checked, and which have become more elaborate with repetition?

The museum’s seasonal presentation on ghost stories, legends and myths approaches the haunting season as an opportunity to explore local history. Norris brings curiosity, a measure of skepticism and an appreciation for a story that makes people want to know more.

“There are some things that are tough to explain,” he said. “And I have to admit when that’s the case, too.”

He has never seen a ghost, but he participated in a ghost hunt once, watching readings appear on equipment without feeling able to say what they meant. And while he has never personally seen or felt anything he would identify as a supernatural encounter, though family members have told him stories he describes as harrowing.

A curator does not need a haunting of his own to recognize how much interest one can generate.

Norris said the museum’s ghost-story program began five or six years ago with a straightforward premise: Anderson County had plenty of stories that people repeated and plenty of questions about them. Why not put the two together?

“We can kind of go into details that get to a lot of historical questions people have through this really fun avenue of ghost stories and legends and myths of the county,” Norris said.

The program changes from year to year. Stories are added, dropped or gathered around a different theme. For the county’s bicentennial in 2026, Norris wanted to find some of the oldest legends circulating in the area.

The search proved challenging. Much of it led back to the Cherokee.

The first portion of this year’s presentation talked of legends of Cherokee origins, including recurring themes and stylistic features that can help listeners recognize them. It also considers stories commonly described as Cherokee that, in his assessment, may not be.

One is the familiar Issaqueena legend. In the version Norris discussed, a young woman travels from Keowee to Ninety Six to warn a white soldier she loves of an impending attack. Along the route, she is said to name the waterways now known as Six Mile, Twelve Mile, Three and Twenty, and Six and Twenty.

It is, Norris said, a great story. It provides an opening to discuss the Cherokee Wars and the period leading toward the Revolution. But a compelling narrative and a reliable account are not necessarily the same thing.

“We have other evidence of those creek names appearing on traders’ maps from decades prior to when this was supposed to happen,” he said.

That evidence places the names before the journey credited with producing them. Whether the central character was based on an actual person is another question, one he does not regard as settled.

The legend can therefore lead an audience toward history even when parts of it do not withstand historical scrutiny. The task is to distinguish the story’s appeal from the evidence for its claims.

Other accounts return because listeners have connections to the places involved.

Hunter’s Store is one of the program’s mainstay, with the upstairs ghost belongs to a body of reported encounters that Norris particularly enjoys hearing Donna Roper describe.

Roper, the Anderson County Museum’s first curator, worked extensively at Hunter’s Store early in her public history career. Norris said she has several personal accounts of strange occurrences there.

“Donna has several personal stories,” he said. “I love to hear her talk about it.”

Cry Baby Bridge is another familiar subject, and the Anderson’s version belongs to a larger family of stories told about bridges elsewhere in South Carolina and beyond.

For Norris, that resemblance is worth examining. What makes a local version distinctive? Which elements travel? How does the same basic story acquire a different setting and new details?

The museum tries to trace both the origins of such accounts and the ways they evolve from one place to another.

Recent questions about Stumphouse Tunnel prompted Norris to include information about it in this year’s program. He planned to discuss reports of sounds heard in the tunnel at night, along with a Halloween tradition in which some young people try to visit it.

Historic houses attract questions, too.

“The older the home, the more haunted it has to be,” Norris said, describing the expectation he often encounters.

He approaches those claims more skeptically than some listeners do, but his skepticism does not require pretending that every reported experience has an explanation ready to hand. His interest lies in exploring what can be established while remaining candid about what cannot.

The haunting-season presentation is part of a broader effort to give people different ways into the past.

The museum draws on staff members and volunteers but also invites guest speakers with expertise in particular subjects. Program Coordinator Jacob Hill works with potential presenters to find new approaches to local and Southern history.

“He does a really good job of bringing some variety in,” Norris said.

The regular schedule includes Norris’ “Heritage and History” program on the second Tuesday of the month and “Lunch and Learn” on the first Tuesday at noon. Depending on the topic, a presentation may come from a guest speaker, a volunteer or a docent.

The seasonal program follows the same purpose by a less conventional route. Someone may arrive wanting to hear about a figure glimpsed on a staircase and leave knowing more about the building, the people who used it and the history surrounding the tale.

The museum is not asking its audience to surrender a good story, it is asking what else the story might reveal.

The museum’s other October events carry the bicentennial theme forward.

Monster Mash, its annual family trick-or-treating event, is set for Oct. 24. This year, free candy will be accompanied by an educational component introducing visitors to key figures in Anderson County history.

On Oct. 29, the museum will host the ticketed launch of “200 Years in Anderson County,” the new county history book. The museum helped organize the project, and Norris and Hill are among its contributors. Greg Wilson, who conducted this interview, also contributed a chapter.

Norris said 20 authors participated, bringing perspectives from journalism, history, nonprofit organizations and individual communities.

He sees the collection as an addition to what has already been published, rather than another telling of the same accounts.

For newcomers, he said, it should offer an introduction. Readers already deeply familiar with Anderson County history should find something unfamiliar as well.

“I think you’ll find something new here, too,” he said.

The launch will include a band, food, drinks and authors signing books. The purchase of two tickets includes a book. Copies will also be sold in the museum store, with purchase information available through the museum’s website and other posted links.

Information about these events and the regular monthly programs is available through the museum’s website calendar, Facebook and Instagram.