Chester, South Carolina

The city on the Chester City Hall Chester, S.C., is known around the state as "The City on the Hill" for the hill in the center of town. It offers a wide variety of interesting historical, recreational, and tourism opportunities.

Chester was originally chartered in 1840 and grew through the late 1800s from the benefits of being a major railroad hub. The downtown area features a number of architectural styles with Victorian- era facades that feature ornate appointments to simple brick store fronts.

Chester's business district caught the eye of Hollywood producers for its unique blend of architecture and visual appeal. Downtown Chester has been the set for several Hollywood movie productions. The mini- series

Chiefs took over a majority of the downtown area for the summer filming schedule in 1983 and

Patriotville completed filming in 2006.

The significant attraction in the downtown area is Monument Square at the top of the hill. Monument Square features the Aaron Burr Rock, a Civil War cannon, an original city cistern, and an obelisk shaped Confederate Memorial. On the edge of the square is City Hall, opened in 1891 as a multi- use building. It houses the city offices, fire department, and an 800 seat opera house. Today, the building houses the city offices and the Police Department.

The Chester County Transportation Museum Chester is the home of the Historical Museum and the Transportation Museum. The Historical Museum, located in the 1914 jail, houses collections, which include American Indian artifacts, a large firearms collection, reference material, a photo- negative collection of approximately a million negatives, and many interesting mementos of Chester County's history.

The Transportation Museum, located in the 1880 freight depot of the Georgia, Carolina, and Northern Railroad, contains cars, farm equipment, license plates, and a school bus representing transportation history of Chester County and the Upstate.

One unique aspect of Chester is the presence of 18 murals painted on buildings throughout the downtown area. In some cases, the murals represent advertising themes, but the majority of the murals are purely decorative to express the talents of their creators.

Civil War cannon located in Chester Chester's Parks and Recreation Department maintains eight community parks for the enjoyment of residents. Wylie Park is a 48- acre recreation complex containing two walking/nature trails, a playground, an 18- hole putt- putt golf course, seven tennis courts, and an Olympic sized swimming pool.

The Fairgrounds is a multi- use recreational complex, which consists of newly renovated softball facilities and newly renovated historical Joe Collins Stadium. This complex is the home field for several softball leagues and the home field for multiple football programs including the Carolina Crusaders, a home/private school football team, and the Carolina Scorpions, a local semi- pro football team. The department sponsors many youth and senior activities each year for the recreational needs of the community.

The HILLarity Festival, the third weekend in October, has been a fixture in downtown Chester for 19 years and is now drawing approximately 20,000 visitors to Chester each year. Events for the weekend include car shows, beauty pageants, dog shows, flower shows, live entertainment on two stages, and craft and food vendors.

Joe Collins Stadium Next Week: Batesburg- Leesville