The Pineville Chapel, built in 1810, is still the center of the historic refuge of Pineville on the pine ridge between the Santee River and Lake Moultrie. The Pineville series began on March 23, 2007. Keith Gourdin and I thought a story of our ancestral home would take, maybe, four parts. Now, at its conclusion, we have written 75 parts.

The story of the Huguenot settlements on the Santee River and the summer retreat that developed on the pine ridge south of the river quickly expanded to the rich history of the people of the area between St. Stephen and Eutawville, the community between the Santee River and Lake Moultrie. The study of Pineville became an expedition of discovery, a mini- history of South Carolina.

We discovered scholars, scientists, politicians, and warriors among the planter families who lived in Pineville, such as:

• Thomas Walter, botanist, collected and described over 1,000 native plants of the Santee in his book, Flora Caroliniana, published in 1788.

• Theodore Gourdin II, planter/businessman/congressman, owned over 150,000 acres and three ferries over the Santee River.

• Gen. Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, harassed the British with effective guerrilla tactics that hastened victory in the American Revolution.

• Hezekiah Maham, Revolutionary War hero invented the Maham Tower that was used by Gen. Marion to capture British forts along the rivers.

• Maria Louisa Porcher, refugee who rescued orphans during the Civil War, became a major benefactor at the University of The South, Sewanee.

• Rev. William Porcher DuBose, a Civil War refugee, became a leading professor, author, and administrator at Sewanee.

• Dr. Henry William Ravenel, graduate of Pineville Academy and South Carolina College (USC), became a famous botanist with the publication of Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati and was elected into the Imperial Zoologic- Botanic Society of Vienna. In 1884, he was elected to the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society at the University of North Carolina and honored with a LL.D. degree.

• Nurse Maude Callen brought health care to the poor people of Pineville and was recognized by Life Magazine in 1951. She was presented the S.C. Order of the Palmetto by Gov. Richard Riley.

Pineville was settled soon after the Revolution. In the decades prior to the Civil War, the planters who gathered in Pineville during the summer season created a unique culture. The Pineville Academy was a first- rate school. The Pineville Chapel brought the Episcopal faith to the planter families. Jockey clubs, race tracks, lancing tournaments, hunting parties, and formal dances were a part of the social life.

The nation's first major canal was completed in 1800 through Pineville. It allowed river traffic to flow freely between Charleston and Columbia. The village almost succumbed to an epidemic fever in 1833 but recovered.

Many of Pineville's sons joined the Confederate Army in 1861 hoping to protect their way of life. While they were away, Sherman's forces burned their homes. It took decades for the area to recover from the Civil War and Reconstruction. Finally, at the turn of the 20th century the Gourdin and Marion families rebuilt the village and restored some of the old antebellum social life.

Northerners bought many of the old plantations and built exclusive hunting clubs. Schools were built and churches were formed, albeit for the separate black and white communities. Nurse Maude Callen built her famous clinic to serve the impoverished black community.

Then, in 1938- 1940, a final disaster hit the struggling community. The Santee- Cooper Project confiscated much of the farmland and inundated the remaining plantation homes. Pineville became an island between Lake Marion, the Santee River, and Lake Moultrie.

Life is slow in Pineville these days. It's easier to find a church than a grocery store or nightclub. Traffic on the Old River Road (Hwy. 45) is never heavy.

At dusk, a light fog drifts in from the swamp and circles the old chapel. It used to carry the fearful malaria and yellow fever. Today, it brings memories of a planter society that is no more. They and their slaves tamed the land, made fortunes in rice, indigo, and cotton, and sent their sons to Europe and New England to return as merchants, doctors, and lawyers.

The antebellum glory has disappeared, but the people have not. The descendants, black and white, are now scattered around the world. Perhaps our stories of Pineville have made them a little homesick… and will give them cause to visit the old homeplace one more time.