Please help us promote The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span>. We're open to the public this <span class="il">Saturday</span>, June 20, from 11:00-5:00. See details below. Pictures are available on our website: <a href="http://www.spartanburghistory.org/seayhouse.php" target="_blank">www.spartanburghistory.org/seayhouse.php</a>.<br>
<br clear="all">Thanks,<br>Becky Slayton<br>Executive Director, Spartanburg County Historical Association, 864-278-9664<br>Administrator, Walnut Grove Plantation & Price <span class="il">House</span>, 864-576-6546<br>
<br>PRESS RELEASE<br><span class="il">Saturday</span> at The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span><br>
June 20, 2009<br>11:00-5:00<br><br>Join us this <span class="il">Saturday</span> at The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span>,
Spartanburg's oldest home. Located at 106 Darby Road just off Crescent
Avenue, this home showcases the dwelling of a local farmstead managed
and maintained by three maiden <span class="il">Seay</span> sisters in the late 1800s. Come relax for an hour or two on this historic property! Visit <a href="http://www.spartanburghistory.org/" target="_blank">www.spartanburghistory.org</a>, email <a href="mailto:seayhouse@spartanburghistory.org" target="_blank">seayhouse@spartanburghistory.org</a>, or call 864-596-3501 for more information.<br>
<br>The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span> is open by appointment year-round and on the 3rd <span class="il">Saturday</span>
of the summer months except July. Sponsors allow us to open at no
charge to the public, though donations do help us maintain the
property. A local realtor, Mrs. Sandra Parker, has sponsored June's <span class="il">Saturday</span> at the <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span>. The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span> is one of 3 historic homes maintained by the Spartanburg County Historical Association.<br>
<br>General Information:<br>The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span> is the oldest <span class="il">house</span>
in the city limits of Spartanburg. Although a definite construction
date for the log portion has not been established, evidence indicates
that it was built prior to 1850. Two of the frame additions made to
the home in the late 19th century still remain. The oldest portion of
the <span class="il">house</span> is a typical Scots-Irish, one room, one-and-a-half story, log <span class="il">house</span>.
The logs are hand hewn and the foundation consists of fieldstone. The
pipestem chimney, also made of fieldstone, is a style commonly found in
Virginia but quite unusual for upstate South Carolina.<br>
<br>The <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span> is a
modest home and reflects the kind of life that the majority of the
settlers in Spartanburg County and the Carolina Backcountry lived.
Interpretation at the <span class="il">Seay</span> <span class="il">House</span>
focuses on the lives of women in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. This was a farmstead, and the three daughters of Kinsman <span class="il">Seay</span> - Ruthy, Patsy, and Sarah - who lived in this <span class="il">house</span>
up to the times of their deaths lived a simple farm life. While today
this home is largely surrounded by a modern neighborhood, when you step
onto the grounds you can begin to imagine what it must have been like
to live without electricity or running water, to grow and raise your
own food, and to make your own clothing.