GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) - Although she now lives hours away in Georgetown, it may be said Limestone College graduate Virginia Skinner’s dedication to her alma mater is set in stone.
Recently, the college held a brief dedication ceremony for the historical marker sign Skinner donated to recognize the significance of the college’s quarry, a stone from which was used in the construction of the Washington Monument.
During the unveiling ceremony, Limestone President Walt Griffin went over the highlights of the quarry’s history, which included furnishing lime for the production of iron during the American Revolution. By the 1820s, U.S. Congressman Wilson Nesbitt owned the open-pit quarry on a large tract of land that later became a popular antebellum resort. Limestone Female High School was founded nearby in 1845 and later became Cooper-Limestone Institute and then Limestone College in 1898, making it the oldest women’s college in South Carolina.
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Griffin said before the Civil War, the college acquired the quarry, then sold it to pay debts in 1883. The quarry closed in World War I, but reopened in 1933 after Franklin D. Roosevelt became president. A small, “dummy” railroad line ran to the quarry at that time, Griffin said. The quarry was in operation until 1953, when it closed after the limestone deposits were exhausted.
Perhaps the quarry’s most significant contribution came in 1848, when each state in the union was invited to contribute a stone to the construction of the Washington Monument.
“South Carolina was one of the first states to respond,” Griffin said.
The college president at the time, Thomas Curtis, had a stone roughly cut from the western end of the quarry, where the water now drains from it.
“I subsequently caused it to be conveyed to Columbia, where it was converted into a block of the necessary size (four feet by two feet), adorned with the arms of the State, and otherwise furnished in a style that has commanded universal commendation.” Gov. G.B. Seabrook said in his annual report to the General Assembly in 1850.
“I feel compelled to dispel the myth that there are tunnels from the quarry, that go under the college, into the cemetery and even into uptown Gaffney,” Griffin said. “It’s not true. There are tunnels, but they only go to the road on this side. The college is not in danger of caving in.”
Griffin said students learn during their orientation as freshmen the importance of the quarry in the school’s history, that it’s not just a lake on campus.
Griffin thanked Skinner for her latest contribution to the college. College officials say she also played an instrumental role in the $4 million restoration of the Winnie Davis Hall of History, which closed in the 1970s due to ill repair and reopened in 2010. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Skinner also worked to obtain the first historical marker for the college itself, and in placing nine smaller plaques noting the history of other buildings on campus.
“The quarry needed to be recognized because it has such a history,” said Skinner, 86.
A native of Georgetown, Skinner earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Limestone, minored in physics and taught high school chemistry. She served as senior class vice president, directed the 1949 Limestone Follies and served as president of the Chi Beta Phi Scientific Honors Society.
“She’s grown to love this community, and we support everything she does here,” said Marguerite Oliver, one of Skinner’s four granddaughters who attended Thursday’s ceremony.
Another granddaughter, Ginny Haynes, said although Skinner taught chemistry, she’s always been drawn to history and historic preservation as well.
“She’s a historian,” Haynes said. “That’s kind of her niche. This has so much meaning for her. She still feels very connected to Limestone.”
Skinner has been elected into the Limestone Hall of Fame. She served on the Limestone Board of Trustees from 1998 until 2003, and returned to the board as senior trustee in 2011.
Skinner also received an honorary doctorate of public service at Limestone’s graduation service Thursday. Haynes said she heard her grandmother practicing her speech for the occasion, which included memories of her time at Limestone.
“She said, ’This is where I learned everything about life,’” Haynes said.
Blacksburg resident Bobby Fulton presented Skinner with a special gift after the marker unveiling: A large, glittering stone containing a “pretty good grade of limestone” mined from the Blacksburg quarry.
“This was the only limestone deposit in this part of the country that was accessible,” Fulton said of the college’s quarry. “This vein goes on to Blacksburg.”
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Information from: Herald-Journal, https://www.goupstate.com/
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