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Bill Kinney
Bill Kinney, "county history buff" and editor of the Marlboro Herald-Advocate, is delighted his office is in Shiness, a restored Georgian Revival mansion.
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Rebecca McArthur
Rebecca McArthur followed her dream to the reality of her 380-acre farm and welcoming open-air market in Blenheim.
Fresh out of journalism school in 1956, Bill Kinney was offered a plum job in public relations in Washington, D.C., working for Sen. Strom Thurmond.
He turned it down for something better: coming home to Bennettsville.
“Marlboro County has always been good to me,” says Kinney, with no regrets about passing up the attractions of a big-city life. “It’s home.”
That’s the mantra for many folks in Bennettsville and the surrounding communities of Blenheim, Clio, McColl, Tatum and Wallace. Marlboro County even built an image on that contentment with its “It’s Good to Be Home” slogan.
Visitors to this Pee Dee community can easily discover what the locals love. Take a tour of some favorite spots and give a listen to the folks who recognize the treasure in their own backyard.
McArthur Farms
Born and raised in Blenheim, Rebecca McArthur ventured off to Florence to make her way. For 14 years, she worked as an agricultural sales consultant, helping farmers care for their crops, then five more as a nurse before chasing her real dream. Now she’s back in Blenheim, farming for herself, on a mission to feed, educate and entertain local residents and visitors from her roadside market on Highway 38. And she’s grateful for the support from “regular folks” in her community.
“People of all ages, all walks of life, will give you that elbow and say, ‘You keep doing the right thing, girl, I’m pulling for you,’” McArthur says.
Starting in 2005 with about 40 acres, a strawberry patch and a modest 10-by-10-foot roadside tent, McArthur has expanded to about 380 acres, where she farms a variety of fruits and vegetables to sell at her spacious, red-roofed, open-air market.
“I’ve always loved being outside, working on the land, seeing what the Lord would bless us with,” she says.
Surprised by how little today’s children seem to know about where their food and clothing come from (“You’d be amazed at how many kids have never shucked an ear of corn”), McArthur delights in bringing schoolchildren and tourists out to her farm to see the origins of the products they buy in stores.
She hosts four festivals a year (Strawberry, Peach, Fall and Gospel) and pulls out all the stops. For the Oct. 20 Fall Festival, she will erect a walk-through “pumpkin house” and build one of the largest corn mazes in the state. Her Nov. 3 Gospel Festival will feature a local “Battle of the Choirs” and a family-style meal with farm produce.
This ambitious entrepreneur will soon launch an on-site bakery, a homemade fudge shop, two greenhouses and a permanent “farm fun park.”
And it all started with coming home to Blenheim.
“This is where I’m from—I just see nothing but opportunities here,” McArthur says.
McArthur Farms is at 1708 Highway 38 South, Bennettsville. Phone: (843) 479-3839.
Historic Downtown Bennettsville
Bill Kinney won’t claim the title “historian”—that’s for the professionals. “County history buff” is the best you’ll get from him, but his life is intricately woven into Bennettsville’s and Marlboro County’s history.
Kinney was born in the downtown Victorian cottage that belonged to his grandparents—in the same room and bed his father was born in 29 years earlier. Appropriately, that bedroom is now the children’s room of the Marlboro County Historical Museum, housed in his grandparents’ former home.
With that pedigree, Kinney, the longtime editor of the Marlboro Herald-Advocate, has been one of the community’s most impassioned voices for historic preservation and revitalization. Both his home and his office are in renovated historic Bennettsville houses, and he can hardly speak fast enough to list all the must-see sites in town—the multiple museums in one cultural complex (“very unusual for a town our size”), the civic center, the new Marian Wright Edelman Public Library and the refurbished downtown storefronts, to name a few.
By comparison, local booster Ken Harmon is a relative newcomer to Bennettsville, having arrived 50 years ago when he bought local radio station WBSC. But he is just as passionate about preserving, enhancing and promoting the city’s best features.
As head of the Bennettsville Downtown Development Association (BDDA), he has worked with the city to recapture the beauty of 98 historic downtown building facades and upgrade streetscapes. He’ll preach proudly about century-old structures, the array of locally owned businesses and even plans for the city’s soon-to-be-here 2019 bicentennial.
But the reason he stayed put and raised his family when he moved from Florida a half century ago was not just the local amenities.
“Hands down, it’s the people—caring, loving people,” Harmon says. “I’ve never regretted a day of living in Bennettsville. I love it. This is home.”
The Bennettsville Visitor Center, 304 West Main St., Bennettsville, has maps and details for touring downtown. Phone: (843) 479-3941.
Lake Paul Wallace
When they’re ready to retreat to the great outdoors, Bennettsville residents don’t have far to go. Lake Paul Wallace, a 600-acre manmade lake, is situated inside the city limits, just a mile or so from the county courthouse.
“In the winter, when the leaves are off the trees, you can see the courthouse steeple from the lake,” BDDA executive director Ken Harmon says.
And on pretty summer days and warm weekends, you’ll see the lake itself well populated with swimmers, boaters, skiers, fishing enthusiasts, picnickers, cyclists, trail hikers and bird watchers. For hunters, the lake also features a 50-acre public dove field that is open on a first-come, first served basis on Saturdays during the season.
Whatever your outdoor interest, Harmon says, no visitor should leave downtown without a stop at Lake Wallace—“It’s one of the greatest assets we have.”
For information about hunting, fishing or boating at Lake Wallace, contact the S.C. Department of Natural Resources office in Florence at (843) 661-4766.
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For information on visiting Bennettsville or Marlboro County, contact the Bennettsville Visitor Center at (843) 479-3941.