Next time you’re near the gazebo on the downtown Travelers Rest portion of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, take a closer look. Tucked just off the trail is Spring Park Inn, a historic structure built in the 1820s and converted into an inn in 1852. The inn, now open for tours, is one of the few remaining examples of period architecture in the Upstate, and was placed on the South Carolina and National Registers of Historic Places in 2019.
“Spring Park Inn is a cultural and educational destination for visitors and locals alike, offering a rare window into the past,” says Mark Garrison, president of the Travelers Rest Historical Society.
As the name of the town makes clear, this is the area where nineteenth-century travelers and drovers would rest before crossing the mountains. Once Spring Park Inn opened, it became a convenient rest stop for travelers from Charleston, Savannah, and Augusta heading to the mountains on the Greenville and Northern Railway Line—better known as the Swamp Rabbit line.
The last owner of Spring Park Inn, Nell Anderson Gibson, donated the 20-acre property to the Travelers Rest Historical Society in 2020. Upstate Forever worked with the group to protect and preserve the property, procuring a grant from the South Carolina Conservation Bank to protect the property from development.
“Through exhibits and tours, we seek to connect visitors with the stories, structures, and spirit that shaped Travelers Rest,” Garrison says.
You can go
Guided tours on Saturdays at 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30. Public exhibit rooms, with authentic furnishings, artifacts, and immersive storytelling, can be visited for free Fridays 2–5p.m. and Saturdays 10a.m.–2p.m. $10 adult, $5 ages 7-17, travelersresthistoricalsociety.org
