Saving South Carolina's Forgotten Capitol

Union, South Carolina, is 70 miles from Columbia. But in reality, it's much closer to the state capital than most people know. One block off Main Street, behind USC Union, sits a rundown old house with a remarkable story.

"I find it absolutely amazing," says Mike Bedenbaugh, executive director of the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.

In February 1865, the Civil War was winding down. General William Sherman's Union army had just burned Atlanta and was marching toward Columbia. South Carolina Governor Andrew McGrath (pronounced "McGraw") knew what the result would be.

"They understood that torches were being lit," says Bedenbaugh. "The Union troops had a special loathing for South Carolina because they saw this state as to blame for the war and all the battles that had killed their brothers."

Before Sherman reached Columbia, Governor McGrath rounded up all of his cabinet officials, staff members, and important documents and moved the entire working government to Union, into the home of his old college friend, Judge Thomas Dawkins.

"The governor ran his office out of here," says Bedenbaugh. "The staff and beauracracy was housed here and in several other houses in Union."

For the next two months, until the official end of the war, the small town of Union served as the capital of South Carolina. But the location was kept secret out of fear of Sherman discovering the trick. Sherman's forces reached the Chester County side of the Broad River, but they did not cross because the river had flooded. That's as close as they came to the hidden capital. Even so, McGrath burned Confederate documents in the fireplace of Dawkins' home in hopes of avoiding prosecution.

But what soldiers with torches could not destroy, termites with time have. The Dawkins House is in a sad state of disrepair. In the front left section of the home, the floor and the joists underneath have rotted away, leaving a large open space in the floor and causing the front side of the home to sag to the lefft. The left side of the foundation is also starting to crack, and two of the supports that hold up the wide front porch roof have fallen.

Earlier this year, USC Union donated the home to the Palmetto Trust. Bedenbaugh believes it can be restored. He recently placed an ad in the September issue of "This Old House" magazine, offering to sell the Dawkins House for $1. The catch is, he says, it will cost between $200,000 to $400,000 just to stabilize the home. Even so, he has received dozens of calls from contractors and investors from all over the country. He says the Trust will carefully screen each prospective buyer to make sure they are qualified to take on a restoration project of this magnitude. Also, the Trust recently received a $3500 matching grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Bedenbaugh says they are looking for donors to raise the other $3500.

If you are interested in donating to the preservation of the Dawkins House, or if you would like to bid on the restortation project, contact Bedenbaugh at (803) 924-9979.