Orangeburg County’s newest park will give visitors the opportunity to walk along the same road bed that Gen. Nathanael Greene and his troops used during the American Revolution 250 years ago.

The park is being developed on a 10-acre tract along Moncks Corner Road in the far eastern end of the county, said Harold Donnelly, chair of the Orangeburg County American Revolution 250th Committee.

“We put this park together really quickly once we got the OK,” he said. “In the next two months, the park will have a grand opening,” with the public invited.

“We’re about 95 percent finished with the park,” Donnelly said. “About 4 acres have been cleared off. We’re waiting for some split-rail fencing and we’re going to put in metal benches and a couple of picnic tables.”

Interpretive placards will be installed and a small parking lot will be created. No buildings are planned. State and county money will pay for the improvements.

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“One of the unique things about this area is that it has the original road bed that was used in the Revolutionary War,” he said. “Gen. Greene went on that road. The road bed is pretty clear, so you’ll be able to walk on it.”

Part of the old road bed is now submerged in a pond or “Carolina bay” that “takes up most of the property,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly spoke during the Eutawville Town Council’s meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The meeting was postponed a day due to stormy weather on the council’s usual second Tuesday meeting night.

The new park is a short distance away from the Eutaw Springs Battlefield Park on Old Number Six Highway.

The battlefield park is the site of an annual commemoration of the Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781.

Gen. Greene and his troops were among the combatants, said Douglas Doster, who also addressed the council.

“This battle convinced (British military leader Lord Cornwallis) that he wasn’t going to win the war in the South and therefore he wasn’t going to win the war,” Doster said. “He surrendered three months later.”

Doster leads the nonprofit Eutaw Springs Battleground Association Inc. and is closely affiliated with the South Carolina Society, Sons of the American Revolution.

The condition of the 2-acre battlefield park “is an embarrassment to me,” Doster said. “It has a smashed-in fence and you can’t even see the water.”

But four organizations are working together “to make that area more presentable to honor the patriots who died there,” Doster said.

The organizations are the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, the South Carolina Battlefield Preservation Trust, and the Eutaw Springs Battleground Association.

Just down the road from the battlefield park is the former Chef’s Choice restaurant property.

“We thought we had an understanding with the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust that they were going to let us turn it into an interpretive center,” he told the council.

“They had already given me the keys. We were cleaning it up and I had the power turned on,” he said. “But at their last meeting, they said they decided to tear that building down, which floored us.”

Also during the council meeting:

– The council gave final reading to a non-exclusive telecommunications franchise agreement with Brightspeed. The company will pay the town 3 percent of the revenues it collects from town residents.

– Councilman Roger Adkins reported that Brightspeed crews broke several water pipes but reimbursed the town for the cost to repair them.

– Adkins reported that the water system provided 933,473 gallons of water last month.

– Mayor Brandon Weatherford reported that the State Law Enforcement Division completed its audit of the Eutawville Police Department and “we are 100 percent good to go.”

– In response to a citizen’s question, officials said they intend to seek state money to preserve the town’s long-unused jail.

The Eutawville Town Council’s next regular monthly meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, in the Community Center, 419 Porcher Ave. Contact Town Clerk Casey Hill at 803-492-3374 for more information.

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