SOUTH OF THE BORDER

THE HARPER HOUSE

This is day number 2 of my mini-road trip and it starts in Smithfield, North Carolina. I stayed at the the same Sleep Inn this time that I stay at back in 2016 when I attended the Big South Basketball Tournament a few miles down the road at Campbell University.  It was a good stay then and good stay this time too.

After having breakfast at the Sleep Inn I made the 20 mile drive down to the Bentonville Battlefield State Historical Site.  The battle between Confederate Forces under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston battled Union Forces under the command of General William Tecumseh took place here between March 19 - 21, 1865.  It was one of the last major battles of the Civil War and the largest battle to take place in the State of North Carolina. 

There is a small visitor's center on site and just a short walk is the Harper House. This house is original to the property and is available for tours by the park staff. The house was built about 1850 and what the home of John and Amy Harper and their family at the time of the battle. 

Confederate Cemetery

During the battle the house was used as a field hospital and the Harpers helped treat the wounded.  After the battle the Harpers continued to live in the house until John died in 1897 and Amy in 1900. They are buried in the small family cemetery next to the Confederate Cemetery that contains the remains of 24 unknown Confederate Soldiers who died during the battle.

 After the battle, both armies retreated north with General Sherman establishing a command post at the old courthouse in Smithfield.  It was there on the evening of April 12, 1865 he received a message from General Ulysses S. Grant. The message informed General Sherman that General Robert E. Lee has surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia 4-days earlier at Appomattox Courthouse. 

Upon receiving word of General Lee's Surrender, General Sherman sent several dispatches to General Johnston. Over the next two weeks Generals Sherman and Johnston met at the Bennett Farm Near Durham, North Carolina. Finally on April 26, 1865, General Johnston Surrendered his army of more than 80,000 men. More than 3-times the number of troops that were surrendered at Appomattox.  

This was the true end of the Civil War.

After spending more than two hours touring the battle field it was time to continue the journey.

On the way south, I had to stop at the World Famous Tourist Trap, South of the Border in Dillon, South Carolina. It had been over 20-years since I had stopped here and nothing has changed. It is still one Giant Tourist trap. 

This time some of the attraction like the reptile house and the small amusement park was
closed due to COVID.  But all of the stores that sell mostly knock off trash from china were not only open but doing a good business.

I didn't buy anything or spend any money but it was a nice little break to stretch my legs. Then it was on south to my destination for the night, Florence South Carolina. 

Before checking into my hotel, I drove through downtown Florence for a quick stop at Mount Hope Cemetery. Here I visited the grave of the famous depression era F.B.I. Agent Melvin Purvis. 

Melvin Purvis came to notoriety in 1933 when he led the group that gunned down bank robber and "Public Enemy Number 1" John Dillinger in Chicago, Illinois. Then again in 1934 he again led another group that gunned down gangster Charley Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd in an Ohio farm field.

Because of the success of these exploits he received much publicity and fame which riled F. B. I. Director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover did not like his agents to out shine him so he eventually not only force Purvis out of the Bureau but set up a number of roadblocks that prevented him for getting other jobs. 

Purvis who was born in nearby Timmonsville, South Carolina returned to this area. The on the evening of February 29, 1960, Melvin was at the top of a stairs n his home with a gunshot wound his head.  The official cause of death was listed as suicide but some people thinks other wise and to those people his death remains a mystery. 

After finishing my visit to Mount Hope I made my way back a few miles north of town to a Holiday Inn. Florence has a reputation being a fairly high crime area so I chose to stay a little way out of town. There is not much around this Holiday Inn except a Pilot Travel Center with a Wendy's and a Zaxby's.

I was not as tired as I was yesterday, but I still don't have my traveling legs yet.  

The journey continues.