Criminal Defense Attorney inPacolet, SC

Alumni of the Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School are banding together to save their former school and help it see new life in the community.

The group, a committee of alumni and other community members, would like to see the soon-to-be decommissioned school become a community resource center, providing family, education, health and financial services to the people of Pacolet.

"Pacolet was determined over three decades ago to be a poverty stricken area, so what we are wanting to do is use that building to first and primarily help the economic conditions there in Pacolet," said Vivian Teamer, who graduated from Benjamin E. Mays in 1964.

Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School opened in 1953 as a school for Black students in Spartanburg School District Three, serving Pacolet's elementary school students and all of the district's students in grades 7-12. After schools integrated in 1970, the school was renamed and repurposed several times in the following three decades becoming the school it is today, Middle School of Pacolet, serving grades 6-8, in 1993.

However, the school will be closed in August when students from Middle School of Pacolet and Cowpens Middle School consolidate as the new Clifdale Middle in the renovated former Clifdale Elementary.

The Benjamin E. Mays Consolidated School was the first of five public schools in the nation to be named after South Carolina native and SC Hall of Fame member Benjamin E. Mays, a writer, minister, educator, humanitarian, philosopher and early opponent to segregation. Mays mentored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Morehouse College.

Ultimately, the group hopes to restore Benjamin E. Mays' legacy in Pacolet and would name the community center for him.

"The reason we want to continue to keep Dr. Mays' name going is because he's a vital resource, from a historical point of view, that would let people know that we're still on the move upward and we still have families and communities in mind," said committee member Rev. Lewis Mills, of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Greer.

The group asked Spartanburg County School District Three officials for an extension to allow them time to raise funds for and complete a feasibility study for the project, and the school board will make their decision soon.

In the meantime, the group has begun fundraising for the study. They held their most recent fundraiser at the school on June 12 and have also opened an account with The Spartanburg County Foundation to collect donations for the study and their future plans for the building.

If they succeed in acquiring the former school, the group plans to maintain it and partner with community organizations who would provide programming, like tutoring, parenting classes, mental health and financial planning services, and commercial drivers license training. The committee also hopes to house a GED program and testing center in the building.

"(Mays spent his life in education and developing families and individuals, and that's what we want to continue to do," Mills said.

Samantha Swann covers Spartanburg County K-12 schools and colleges and the food scene in downtown and beyond. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at JSwann@gannett.com.

PACOLET, S.C. (WSPA) – A Veterans Memorial Park in Pacolet, planned three years ago, is still not finished.

The group who spearheaded its construction is now asking for help.

“The military contributions that have been made here in Pacolet are outstanding,” President of the Pacolet Lions Club, Billy Gossett, said.

Billy Gossett is a lifelong resident of Pacolet, and one thing he’s learned about his hometown is that a lot of his neighbors have served our country, including his friend, Billy Spencer.

“From 1957-1963 in the National Guard, and I did active duty for six months,” Billy Spencer said.

That’s why Gossett and Spencer, along with others from the Pacolet Lions Club, decided a veterans park would be a great addition to their town.

“We’re hoping that we are able to recognize those people that need to be recognized,” Gossett said. “Some served and gave all, gave their lives. Some gave many years of service.”

“Some who served in World War II are still in this area and we’d just love to recognize them,” Spencer added.

The park is something they told 7 News is long-overdue.

“We’ve had several who’ve gone on and wanted a veteran’s park in the past,” Spencer said.

The Pacolet Lions Club started building the park about three years ago.

Spartanburg County School District 3 owns the land the park sits on, and they are allowing it to be used free of charge; but the Lions Club has been relying solely on donations from the public for everything else, and with a lack of funding, the project is at a standstill.

“We are anxious to get this thing finished,” Gossett said.

“We didn’t think it’d take this long,” Spencer added.

Gossett told 7 News they have four major things left to add: landscaping, granite benches, plaques to recognize donors, and walkways with memorial bricks honoring veterans.

“People can actually buy bricks and have names engraved and so forth, as a living legacy,” Gossett said.

But all of these things come with a price.

“In order to finish, we estimate probably $20,000, and we’d love for somebody to come write that check,” Gossett said.

The Pacolet Lions Club told 7 News their goal is to have the park completed before Memorial Day, so that they can host an event there.

If you’d like to donate to help get this park finished up, you can go by the club, located at 150 N Highway 150 in Pacolet, or mail them at P.O. Box 127, Pacolet, SC 29372.

Woman wakes up to popping noise, sees wall engulfed in flames.

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PACOLET, S.C. —

A Pacolet family is thanking God and working smoke alarms after an early morning fire on Brown Mill Road.

Michelle Mitchell told the Pacolet Fire Department that she woke up to a popping noise and after finding her glasses, saw her wall engulfed in flames.

Mitchell ran to her sister’s house, screaming to call 911. Her sister, Alicia Jeter, tells WYFF News 4 she panicked and ran to the house to check that her 17-year-old nephew wasn’t trapped inside.

“I thought my nephew was in the house. I ran in the house, ran through the house and checked all the rooms, even the one that was on fire,” Jeter said. “I kicked the door open and just called his name.”

Jeter said her nephew was already at school. She said she’s grateful to God for waking her sister up.

“If you don’t know who God is, now is the time because you don’t never know the hour day or time when it’s your last,” Jeter said. “I just thank God for waking my sister up in the midst of everything going on because it had to be nobody but him, because she is a hard sleeper.”

Mitchell was the only one home when the fire started. The Red Cross is aiding the family and they do have home insurance.

Pacolet Fire Department's assistant fire chief Darryl Padgett believes the fire might have started from an electrical issue. He credits smoke alarms for getting Mitchell out so quickly and said it could have saved her life.

“This is a good example. Everyone needs to pay attention, really good example of what smoke detectors are intended to do and what they will do but they need to be present to work,” Padgett said.

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PACOLET — Nitro coffee and motorcycles blend in a new cafe in Pacolet.

Callous Moto Coffee Garage has more than 20 flavors of hot and cold coffee, teas and juices, and also serves pastries. It held a grand opening on Aug. 13. Co-owner Thomas Williams said the theme is based on a vintage motorcycle known as a cafe racer.

“The history dates back to the 1950s in London,” Williams said. “The idea was that they took these bikes, chopped them down to make them as light and small as possible and then they raced between cafes.”

Last year, Williams moved to South Carolina from Newport, R.I. He has a passion for motorcycle culture and history, and redesigns and modifies antique bikes as a hobby. He had a private shop in Rhode Island and bought space for another once when he moved to Spartanburg.

Williams said he still plans to build bikes but wanted to branch out. He bought some properties along West Main Street in Pacolet, southeast of Spartanburg. One was used for his private shop and is now where Callous Moto Coffee Garage is located.

The building was once a post office. Williams said the original post office burned down and a new one was built in 1957. From that time until the late 1980s, the building was used as a post office but has been vacant for around 30 years and was sometimes used for storage, according to Williams.

The awning of the building was changed, but the walls are the original plaster and block. Floors were already stripped of tile. The original doors of the building were also kept in place and the ceiling is exposed.

Co-owner Tori Valdez said nitro coffee contains about 30 percent more caffeine than regular coffee. California-based Bona Fide Nitro Coffee and Tea Brewing Company is a supplier for the business.

“It’s a phenomenal product, and it’s something new out there,” Valdez said. “They treat their coffee making as an artistic process, and they use organic, fair trade practices.”

Callous Moto Coffee Garage, located at 150 W. Main St., is open on Thursday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

SPARTANBURG — Texas-born burger chain Whataburger is setting up shop at four different locations in Spartanburg County. Two will be in the city of Spartanburg, one in Boiling Springs and one in Duncan.

“Four Whataburgers in Spartanburg makes an incredible statement in the Southeast that they chose us over all the places they could be,” Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt, who chairs the county’s economic development committee, told The Post and Courier on June 16.

The four Spartanburg restaurants would be the eastern-most spots for the chain that developed a passionate and loyal following in its home state. A Whataburger planned for Anderson makes at least five known locations planned for South Carolina. It’s part of a wider expansion across the country.

In 2019, Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital bought a majority stake in the company with plans to expand the brand. Soon after, Whataburger began opening restaurants in Missouri, Tennessee and Colorado. There are now more than 930 restaurants in 14 states, South Carolina not included. But that will change.

The city of Spartanburg approved the site plan for a location on 1510 W. O. Ezell Blvd. The burger chain is also looking at a location on East Main Street, but the site review is still pending and city officials did not give the address. It’s unclear when construction will start at either location.

“It’s good to see them reaching out to good ol’ Spartanburg heading out east,” said local realtor Santiago Mariani. “I’ve heard nothing but great reviews. There’s a sense of excitement, and that has me excited.”

The Boiling Springs location will be across from a Quick Trip at the entrance to a new Target on Highway 9.

Ben Hines, the president of Spencer/Hines Properties, brokered the deal to lease the land to Whataburger, and said the new Boiling Springs development would bring a lot of tax revenue to the county and would help the growing area.

“The Boiling Springs community has just been tremendous in its expansion,” Hines said. “Land on Highway 9 is now trading for over $1 million an acre. That is just phenomenal.”

And in Duncan, Whataburger is moving forward with plans for a location at 1537 East Main St. that The Post and Courier reported last year.

Town Administrator Cameron Fant said the franchise should start turning the old bank building into a restaurant within the next three months.

During a vacation to Florida a few months ago, Fant stopped at a Whataburger just to try it after he found out one was coming to Duncan.

“What I had was delicious,” he said. He ordered a cheeseburger and fries served with Whataburger’s famous spicy ketchup.

“I give it an A-plus, I thought it was great,” he said. “And that’s been several months ago now, so I’m hoping they start construction real soon. I’m going to be a loyal customer.”

Britt has been going to Texas since 1984 for his job at precast concrete manufacturer Tindall, where he’s the vice president of its South Carolina Division. He’s a Whataburger regular when he’s there.

“When I would take customers to the San Antonio plant from all over the country, guess where they wanted to go?” he asked. “Whataburger. So that’s pretty cool.”

PACOLET, S.C. —

Josephine McBeth and Mary Ruby's families were raised together in Pacolet, South Carolina.

We sat down for the first part of our interview inside Ruby's assisted-living facility.

"Here I am. I was in the first grade in 1947," McBeth says.

Ruby adds, "and here I am right here."

McBeth and Ruby, exchanging stories from their childhood, reflecting how education has molded them into the women they are today, in 2023.

They both attended Marysville School in Spartanburg County.

According to the town of Pacolet, in 1915 the Pacolet Manufacturing Company built the school to educate the children of Black families who worked the mills of that area. It was also created to keep Black workers and their families separate from white workers.

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(1947) 1st grade students of Marysville School

"Even though we were Black and our education was second class, we still excelled and did well in school," Ruby says.

Josephine McBeth attended first grade in 1947.

Mary Ruby was there in the first grade in 1939, then again for third through seventh grade.

Ruby says up until college, all of the schools she attended were segregated.

"The kids now they have everything at hand, given to them. Our father bought our books, and a lot of times our books would come from the white schools. Many times our books where you'd be reading, and sometimes you'd be missing a page many of them would be torn out. Everything was second hand, even desks chairs," Ruby says.

"We'd walk to school, some kids would walk 3 or 4 miles.. I would walk just over 2 miles. The whites that'd ride to school, they'd throw things at us."

"It was very tough, going to school in the rain or cold weather. There were no janitors. Everything was inferior, but it didn't take from what was inside of you. It made you strive better to be better," Ruby adds.

Both women say adversities meant to keep them on the outside strengthened their friendship.

Ruby eventually moved to Detroit, Michigan, spending 63 years serving communities as the director of mental health in Wayne County.

She's now back in the upstate of South Carolina, near her children.

Ruby says, "material things can be removed. What you have here, your intelligence, no one can take that from you."

McBeth graduated from USC Upstate, then graduated from Webster University with a master's degree in counseling.

Since 2005, McBeth has been Mayor Pro Tem of the town of Pacolet, where she attends monthly council meetings.

She exclusively showed WYFF News 4 inside the school.

"We had one lady who cooked our lunch in the kitchen downstairs. Her name was Miss Littlejohn. She made food for the entire school. About 80 to 90 kids."

"It wasn't anything fancy, maybe pinto beans or slaw with a fruit cup some days. Or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with soup. And to drink, you'd have a choice of either milk or Kool-Aid, but ya'll may not know about the Kool-Aid, haha."

"Some days, we'd have chicken, not nuggets. Creamed potatoes and green beans. And something with chocolate and bread sometimes."

McBeth says, "music has been my thing all my life, you know, and I love music. I try to sing a little, but I do like music. And it's been a dream of mine ever since this building's been here. Everytime I drive up on the yard, I always say this needs a cultural center."

McBeth said when she was growing up, it cost 50 cents for music lessons.

She says her family didn't have the extra money for her to attend.

She says if Marysville School becomes a cultural center, she'd love for children to have more access than she did.

"Clean it up, and the flooring, and good lighting. You need good lighting. I would even keep the benches. I would clean them up and polish them up good."

She says, "when you bring something that you've never had, and make it grow, here I am. I'm going to make it happen."