Mention the tiny community of Rimini (we pronounce it with a long “i” on the end), located in Clarendon County at the southeastern corner of the COWASEE Basin, to the generation of duck hunters and sportsmen with gray hair or no hair, and chances are you will see a grin followed by a lot of stories, mostly embellished and some outright false.
You see, for a 30- year period from the mid- 1950s to the mid- 1980s, the COWASEE Basin was the mallard capital of South Carolina, and Rimini was its headquarters.
Back then Rimini was the jumping off point to the finest greenhead hunting in the state, located in Upper Lake Marion from Billups Landing on the south to Sparkleberry on the north.
Those dark, lonely winter drives from Columbia at 4 am were all about anticipation, and by the time you hit the railroad tracks at Rimini, the vision of greenheads dropping into your decoys, orange legs outstretched, was almost real.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Rimini at four in the morning. The great mallard flights of a generation ago have nearly disappeared, but Rimini still looks pretty much the same as it did when I first came through in 1965.
The old B.T. James store has been closed for some years.
The B.T. James Store where we use to stop on the way back from duck hunting for a chocolate milk and a pack of cheese crackers has closed, but fishermen still fill up the parking lot at two nearby boat landings on Lake Marion, Pack’s and Elliott’s.
In part due to Rimini’s waterfowl heritage, the South Carolina Waterfowl Association is doing its part to keep the tradition alive and has its headquarters on the River Road just a few miles south of Rimini.
Rimini got its start, like so many farming communities around the state during the heyday of the railroad in the late 1800s. Coupled with an economy based on mules and cotton, little railroad towns sprung up across SC like dandelions in my front yard.
I’m not sure of the Italian- sounding origin for the town’s name. According to local historian Charles Broadwell, Rimini was at one time called Yorkville. Some say when the Italian laborers moved in to build the railroad trestle, it became Rimini. (Rimini is a city in the Emilia- Romagna region of Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini.) Adding to the Italian connection is the name of a nearby large island in Lake Marion, “Persanti.”
Packs Landing at Rimini is best known as a jumping off point for fishing and hunting at Lake Marion.
Rimini has seen a lot of history. The main street, the old River Road, dates back to before the founding of the state when it was used as an Indian trading path. During the Revolution it was a strategic road between Charleston and Camden that saw a lot of British and Patriot traffic.
At a former old field just south of the railroad tracks, Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” and British Major McLeroth agreed to settle a battle with a duel of 20 of the best men from each side. The Richardson family, prominent in peace and war, owned extensive holdings and plantations in the area, and the family cemetery is located just down the road
The beautiful Elliott’s Millpond just south of Rimini is a nature photographer’s ideal subject.
More recently, Rimini made another kind of history when an endangered snail kite, formerly called the Everglade kite, showed up at the Elliott’s crawfish ponds. For a rare bird such as this, normally tied exclusively to the Everglades of southern Florida where it feeds on apple snails, to appear 500 miles north of its normal range, and spend the better part of six weeks feeding on crawfish, was nothing short of an ornithological miracle.
It didn’t take long for the word to get out and thanks to Mr. Elliott’s generosity and tolerance for losing valuable crawfish to the hungry raptor, birders from all over the state and beyond flocked in by the dozens to see it.
Elliott’s Mill Pond, on the River Road between Rimini and Elliott’s Landing, is surely one of the most beautiful wetlands anywhere in South Carolina. During spring and summer the blackwater pond is covered with a solid blanket of lime- green duckweed. When combined with the picturesque cypress trees with their swollen buttresses, it makes for a captivating scene.
This part of the COWASEE Basin makes for a nice leisurely Saturday morning drive. You can get a good dose of both natural and human history and if you time it right, end up with a nice lunch at the Summerton Diner (open six days a week, closed on Thursdays).
(Next week: Fort Motte)
Love that story of Rimini S.C. I grew up their and never knew history of the smallest town in the U.S.
I remember the post office and cotton grin and train depot. LOVE IT!!
I grew up in Rimini it was a lot of History I didn’t know about but we love BT James store we were there a lot I remember the Post Office and I remember Packs Landing I didn’t go there but I know a few people still fishing there Rimini was and still is a town where everyone is family some very Good people still live there
Proud to be a resident of Rimini, it amazes me that such a small town is so rich in history and culture. And to be known as the mallard duck capital of S.C., is huge news. The town may be physically dying, but the history is alive and well.
Mr. Keith Steven remember the beat James grocery store I remember. Hunting the Johnson Stevenson the Drayton and the Dow property in Rimini I remember Tootsie and mr. Foreman Elliott
Mr.K Stevens remember Rimini and the B T James store had the best bologna of The Descent cheese for quarter lunch meat for quarter liver pudding for quarter soda for quarter you’ll never see that again in life Rimini have the best history
The Stephen family remember Rimini for years back in the days people use to 🚶 to the B T James store to buy food those was the good old days. Family depend on each other now you can’t leave your doors unlocked I remember you could leave your windows up those unlocked go to sleep and wake up the next day now you can’t do that young people killing one another.Rimini have potential
Rimini is where I was raised by my Grand Parents , We were raised by All the adults in the Community . Our child hood consisted of riding our bikes , picking and eating peaches , black berries , water melon , plums and hanging out with family members and friends , you never met a Stranger , I think of my child hood in Rimini often what a great experience .