When you think of petroglyphs, what images come to mind? Ancient drawings on cave walls in Europe? Carvings on red rocks out in the southwest?
What about a 19th-century gristmill in upstate South Carolina?
Hagood Mill Historic Site in Pickens, SC, was originally known for its water-powered gristmill built in 1845. But it wasn’t until three decades after the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places that a much older relic was discovered on the property. In 2003, prehistoric Native American petroglyphs were identified on a boulder not far from the mill, previously hidden by a road.
Turns out, they’re not the only petroglyphs you can find in the area — another batch are just a few hundred yards within the summit of Pinnacle Mountain — but these ones don’t require working up a sweat to see.
In fact, Hagood Mill decided to preserve and make the petroglyphs as available to the public as possible, by building a climate-controlled and handicapped-accessible museum on top of the boulder. Like the rest of the site, the Hagood Creek Petroglyph Site is free to access when special events aren’t occurring.
Visiting Hagood Mill and the Petroglyph Site
The Mill is free to visit most of the time, with operating hours from 10am-4pm Wednesday through Saturday. However, the public is welcome to visit the site any day during daylight hours. Every third Saturday it hosts the Folklife Festival, where you can see the mill in action as it freshly stone grinds grits, cornmeal, and flour. These festivals have a $5 admission fee and also feature living history demonstrators, an artisan craft market and concessions.*
If you’re the kind of person that likes to avoid crowds and visit places in quiet solitude, then stopping by on regular days is probably more ideal. I visited the site on a Saturday at 11 a.m. and aside from a blacksmithing class, I largely had the place to myself.
You’ll find several cabins to explore on the property, including an old moonshine still and the mill itself. It’s also home to several walking trails, a 9-hole disc golf course, and a gift shop, where you can buy products milled on the site.
Just beyond the mill you’ll see the Hagood Creek Petroglyph Site. The first room you enter is like a typical museum: photographs, artifacts in glass cases, petroglyph molds that you can touch and more. The second room contains the main attraction. As you walk in you have the option of turning off the lights and turning on an automated narrated light show, which does help illuminate some of the harder-to-see drawings.
How to Plan a Day Around Hagood Mill
Since I went on a day when the mill was not in operation, and my main purpose was to check out the petroglyphs, I ended up spending about an hour on the property. If you’re more of a history buff, you’ll probably want to dedicate more time and go when the mill is functioning.
It’s just off of U.S. Route 178, 3 miles north of downtown Pickens, so it would make for a perfect pitstop when visiting Keowee Toxaway or Table Rock state parks, as it’s about a 10-mile drive from each.
Or do as I did and tack on a stop at The Silos in Easley. This indoor/outdoor space features a variety of food and beverage businesses in—you guessed it—former grain silos. When I visited in March 2022 there were donuts, coffee, Indian cuisine, a brewery, and Philadelphia cheesesteaks available, and it looked like more restaurants were joining. It’s an ideal spot to gather a group with different meal preferences. Just keep in mind that every business has its own operating hours.
Information in this post may have changed since it was published. Please check with each place for the most accurate and updated information.
