After visiting the national park just down the road with the same name, the Beavers and Caubles drove just a few minutes to Kings Mountain State Park. The parks are adjacent, with the national park being the site of the battlefield itself, and the state park hosting some of the surrounding area. From what I can tell based on timelines, the national park was established in 1933, and then the US government donated over 6,000 acres to South Carolina in 1934.
The park is big with a lot of trails for hiking and equestrian. One trail takes you through the national park as well, and another trail even goes all the way to Crowders Mountain, NC. Though the park was created with help from the CCC, we didn’t see any structures built by them.
Instead, we focused our time at the living history farm. This is a collection of buildings either dating from or built in the style of those from the 1800s. The intent is to show what life would have been like in the 19th century, including what sort of structures and/or professions would have been needed. There is a cotton gin, a blacksmithing area, a loom, a smokehouse, a chicken coop, a horse/donkey pasture, a vegetable garden, and more.
While I’m sure the kids loved seeing the horses and donkeys, what they most loved was playing hide and seek around the structures. (They were sad that they didn’t get to play hide and seek at the national park, having not gotten to play it since Cowpens that morning.)
When we went, a lot of the buildings were locked up, but Andy said that they have farm days where they have demonstrations and such. It would be fun to return then.
The day was slipping away, and bellies were getting empty. So, we called it a day and headed to Ledo’s Pizza in Rock Hill. We had a great day hanging out with our friends, and we look forward to our next park adventures! Click below to see a few more pictures from our visit.
Beavers in the Park 